Brooder???

[Miss Lydia]

bummer hopefully it will go fast.

 

[blayt90]

Your going to have a brooder full. lol look forward to more videos and pics.

I got home to 12 ducklings and two eggs left to hatch!!!!

 

[blayt90]

I have them in a box in my garage for now going to monitor them a few days there then move to the outside brooder.

 

[blayt90]

Then I will say no more......I wish you a successful hatch, a successful brooding experience, and a strong healthy flock!

@Blooie I built my mhp this morning and have it in my brooder now heating up. How long did you allow it to heat before you let your babies in there to make sure it was warm enough?

 

[blayt90]

 

[Blooie]

About 5 minutes! Remember that MHP doesn't heat the air or the cave space...it works by warming the chicks directly. That's why you want the heat right at their backs. You'll never hit that "expert recommended" 90-95 degrees under the cave, and you'll drive yourself crazy trying. Warming the chicks directly means just that......the air surrounding a broody hen isn't warmed, and she doesn't warm the entire space they are in. She just warms them when they scoot under her. Temps under MHP have varied from 82 degrees to 85 or so, but very few of us bother to measure it. Why, when we know that we aren't trying to hit some magic temperature inside a cave? And the cave doesn't need to be as high as it is in the first post of the MHP thread....remember that I was learning as I went along that first time and just documenting what I was doing as I was doing it. The chicks under the cave should look more like this:

 

[Blooie]

You posted your photos while I was looking for mine! That looks fine....keep an eye on them and you will need to fine tune a bit for the first couple of days. I forgot that you're raising ducklings, my mistake, so you'll be dealing with bodies that aren't constructed to be as squat as chicks are. Longer necks might mean you have to raise the pad slightly. If you post these photos over on the MHP thread, we have folks there who have raised ducks with MHP who might be more help to you.

 

[Larry Rose]

I am going to try it and see how it works. Wife said garage was stinking from the ducklings.

 

[Larry Rose]

I use a 50 50 Apple Cider Vinegar in a spray bottle. I spray the roosts every day, and the floor beneath. Keeps odors at a minimum. It was getting "Stifling" before I started doing this. Now, it barley smells like a chicken coop at all. It's cheap at $1.50 a quart, and it works. We drink it so it should be safe to use. Just don't spray your birds directly. It may burn their noses or eyes.

 

[blayt90]

Here are some pictures with the ducklings in the brooder.