Condensation on inside of brood box?

[flickerfarkle]

Is there anyone else using a plastic tote for a brood box that's holding so much humidity that water's running down the walls?

I'm heating with an infrared lamp in a 6" reflector that sits on an 8"-diameter hole in the box top that's covered with hardware cloth. I'm hard-pressed to believe that the hole surrounding the reflector doesn't provide adequate air exchange but I'm also wondering if I might need to put extra holes in the sides of the box to create airflow within the box.

 

[Coops Dad]

What wattage bulb are you using? What temperatures are you getting inside the box? It should have a warm side and a cool side. And where in the thing is the waterer?

Pics of your setup would help.

 

[flickerfarkle]

I'm not sure how pics of my box will help you decide whether you're having condensation.

 

[Coops Dad]

I'm not sure how pics of my box will help you decide whether you're having condensation.

No, but it would help with determining whether you've created a chick sauna instead of a chick-friendly brooder. Pics and answers to the questions would weed out the possibility of your setup being a 200-watt IR bulb suspended over a waterer in a too-small brooder, causing massive humidity and high temperature, making the room temp walls of the brooder feel like a cold glass of ice water by comparison.

You wouldn't believe what kind of insanity has shown up on these pages before you. There was a nutjob who did something similar to what I laid out above, asking why her chicks were dying. Ended up all her chicks died over the course of three days because she essentially built an E-Z Bake oven, not a brooder.

Can you answer the questions and post a couple of pics, please?

 

[TLynne1]

Is there anyone else using a plastic tote for a brood box that's holding so much humidity that water's running down the walls?

I'm heating with an infrared lamp in a 6" reflector that sits on an 8"-diameter hole in the box top that's covered with hardware cloth. I'm hard-pressed to believe that the hole surrounding the reflector doesn't provide adequate air exchange but I'm also wondering if I might need to put extra holes in the sides of the box to create airflow within the box.

I was using a plastic tub with the red light. No problems. I expect they do need good air flow. Instead of putting holes in the plastic top, I used chicken wire over the top. They can breathe and see.

 

[Kiki]

Do you have a thermometer on the floor of that plastic bin?

 

[TLynne1]

Do you have a thermometer on the floor of that plastic bin?

No, I don't have it too low and it hasn't melted the plastic. When the babies get too hot/warm, they move away from it. Now that they're older, the light isn't on every day or night.

 

[Huntmaster]

I'm also wondering if I might need to put extra holes in the sides of the box to create airflow within the box.

I'm not sure how pics of my box will help you decide whether you're having condensation.

No, but it would help with determining whether you've created a chick sauna instead of a chick-friendly brooder. Pics and answers to the questions would weed out the possibility of your setup being a 200-watt IR bulb suspended over a waterer in a too-small brooder, causing massive humidity and high temperature, making the room temp walls of the brooder feel like a cold glass of ice water by comparison.

Yes, you don't obviously have enough air flow.