Consolidated Kansas

[Ivywoods]

Hawkeye-The marans info is very interesting. They are definitely more difficult to hatch than the rest. Fortunately, my fertility and hatch rate have SLOWLY been inproving.

Congratulations, Grandma Tweety. Beautiful grand daughter!

I'm 56 years old and STILL no grandbabies in sight!

I had the night off, but it was a frequently interrupted sleep. I was checking a goat that should be kidding soon. Checked her about every 2 hours. She STILL looks like she could go any minute.

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

HEChicken - I really like your ideas with the incubator. I have been trying to figure out how to make a brooder using the same principals but since I have never kept reptiles don't know the products. Would you mind sharing the basics, like where to get the heat mat, etc?

My idea is to put the heat source in between two plastic totes so it will be clean and dry. That would be the heat for the chicks and then a light can be just for what light is needed. If the heat pad can be controlled well enough to use as an incubator, it should work ok for a brooder.

 

[chicken danz]

I've used a regular human type heat pad inside a styrofoam chest for a brooder for less than healthy chicks. I simply wrap it in heavy plastic and place cloth, normally a towel on top of it. I set the heat pad on low. They seem to function quite well. The problem with this instant brooder is there is no real level place to set a waterer. If one made a small wire platform and placed the cloth on top of that close to the surface of the heat pad it should work.
Tweety congratulations on your new granddaughter. Isn't it wonderful! I have 5 granddaughters and am hoping to one day have a grand son. Maybe some day.
Thanks for the suggestions and sentiments on my Mom and Dad. Believe me we have discussed all of this stuff. The going rate for home health care is $15 an hour. That is $360 a day! If you could even find someone to do it. Having a stranger in the house creates a whole new set of problems. Plus since they live in a small town there just aren't people available to do this sort of thing. People have their own lives. I sure can't drop everything to go in and spend the night every night.
I have two sisters and one brother. My brother lives in Texas. One sister lives nearly 2 hours away. The other sister is an executive for the rural electric company here. She works sometimes 80 hours a week. Plus goes to my parents house every evening to help them afte work with meds and wash the dishes. Yesterday she was at the hospital with me all afternoon. Then went back to work all evening. Went by to check on my Dad, then got home about 9:30 PM and called me. She had been going since 5:30 am. She really does more than I can do for them.
Unfortunately my Mom needs help around the clock. She can't get up and go to the bathroom on her own strength. She thinks she is going to barely make it but it takes her about 30 minutes just to pee. She gets in there and it doesn't happen. She's been getting up maybe 4 times a night and my Dad is totally exhausted. It would totally wear me out, let alone someone in his poor health.
The preacher suggested we could work it out with some ladies from the church for a few days but you cant' expect people to donate their time for more than a few days. My Dad is afraid of running out of money and loosing what little they have. It's very irritating to think you work hard your whole life to get what little you have and then the government takes it away to pay your rest home bills. (that is what medicare does.) You qualify for medicare to pay the rest home and they put a lean on all your personal property so when you die they require it to be sold and take the money. That was explained to us by the social worker yesterday. That just bites.
I am sure we will work it out someway. I just want my parents to be able to live together the rest of their lives regardless of what it takes.

 

[HEChicken]

I had the night off, but it was a frequently interrupted sleep. I was checking a goat that should be kidding soon. Checked her about every 2 hours. She STILL looks like she could go any minute.

Well duh, the weather is too nice for kidding. There is a possibility of storms tomorrow so that's when she'll go

HEChicken - I really like your ideas with the incubator. I have been trying to figure out how to make a brooder using the same principals but since I have never kept reptiles don't know the products. Would you mind sharing the basics, like where to get the heat mat, etc?

My idea is to put the heat source in between two plastic totes so it will be clean and dry. That would be the heat for the chicks and then a light can be just for what light is needed. If the heat pad can be controlled well enough to use as an incubator, it should work ok for a brooder.

I purchased most of my products a LONG time ago so was lucky to just have them on hand, but I think most of the same items are still available now. Rather than try to send pics of my actual products which no longer have the associated packaging, I will search for images online and attach those below.

This looks exactly like the thermostat I am using now:

I found it here:http://www.petsolutions.com/C/Repti...97637501&utm&gclid=CMz6j5-B5K4CFUhjTAodDlVbIA

The price hasn't changed much. I remembered it being "about $35" and I see they are asking $35.99 for it. Of course there would be shipping on top of that, but I think I bought mine at either PetsMart or Petco so didn't pay shipping.

The main unit sits outside of the incubator and it has a probe that feeds through a small hole in the side. The probe is on about a 2' cord so I can place it anywhere in the incubator and the thermostat will then base the temp on that position. I was able to place the probe between two eggs so that it is about the level of the middle of the egg.

This is the heat mat I used:

Here is a link to where you can find it on Amazon: http://www.petsolutions.com/C/Repti...97637501&utm&gclid=CMz6j5-B5K4CFUhjTAodDlVbIA

but again, I purchased mine at a pet store. They come in a variety of sizes. The back has adhesive so that it can be stuck under a glass aquarium for herps. I never peeled the adhesive paper off as I never wanted to commit to leaving it in a specific location forever. I've found that it works just as well with the adhesive paper on, so in my incubator it just sits on the bottom - it probably wouldn't adhere that well to styrofoam anyway.

Regarding using these items for a brooder, here are my thoughts. The difference between an incubator and a brooder is that an incubator is a closed environment so the heat is "contained". The thermostat has a little light indicating when it is on or off (i.e. when the heat mat is on or off) and I see it cycling on and off frequently so that it maintains a precise temperature. However a brooder is not as closed up, so it would be harder for the thermostat/heat mat to maintain temperature.

I'm intrigued by the idea of sandwiching it between two plastic totes and I'm trying to picture that. Would the heat be above, below or on the side of the chicks? With my first batch of chicks, I tried using a heat mat as the heat source, placing it on the bottom of the brooder with a towel over it for the chicks to sit on, thinking that a normal day/night light cycle would be good for them. What I didn't take into account is that chicks are used to their heat coming from above (i.e. snuggling under Mama Hen). They aren't programmed to seek out a heat source that they have to sit on to stay warm, so they didn't really "get" where the heat was. I would put them on the heat pad, and they would be happy for awhile, but then they'd wander off to get food or water and didn't instinctively seem to get that they had to return to that warm corner in order to get warmed back up. Ultimately I did replace the heat pad with a traditional heat lamp for that reason. So I would suggest that your plan involve heat that radiates down, rather than something they have to sit on. I'd love to hear more about your ideas!

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

HEChicken - Good point on the heat above the chicks. It has been a while since I have used a regular set up for incubator or brooder, thanks to the multiple broodies here. But, I had a few chicks small enough to want heat that I was "playing" with one day and they kept going under my hand to snuggle. So you are right, they do want to snuggle under the heat source.

I was thinking under the chicks, but that does not seem to be a good idea, so back to the drawing board. I will think on it, even as some thoughts are coming up. LOL I don't want to spend a lot of money or make items not usable for something else with this project. A lot of hatching is not in my future, but I have a chance to get some midget white turkey eggs so if that happens need to be prepared to take care of them.

I did see some heat tape that is marketed for reptiles that you can buy any length you want and then hook up the necessary "things" to make it work.

 

[chicken danz]

When I've used a heat pad it was in a regular small styrofoam cooler. It covered the entire bottom. I also placed an old thin kitchen towel over the top so air could get in but it also kept some heat in. A person could use a simple Christmas house light or night light on an extension cord as an attraction light. A red Christmas C-7 (same as a nite light) bulb would work great. The chicks seemed very comfortable with heat from below. I had a little thermometer with a probe stuck down in the box and it stayed about 95 degrees down on the floor level. Not a perfect solution but good for just a few chicks.
I'm not sure about the plastic bins either. Would you have some way to insulate the sides to keep the heat from escaping? I use plastic bins as beginning brooders with a screen top but I use heat lamps with them. Shoot if it were me I'd try putting one together with whatever you have available, test the temperature and see how it worked before spending extra money.

 

[HEChicken]

I did see some heat tape that is marketed for reptiles that you can buy any length you want and then hook up the necessary "things" to make it work.

That heat tape is wonderful stuff! I bought quite a few feet of it and used it when I made my snake rack. It is easy to hook up, and is still going strong after 8-9 years of use. Its about 6" wide, and I used aluminum tape to tape it to the back of the shelves of the rack. I drilled a hole through the side of the rack next to each shelf of the rack, and threaded the ends of the cords through the hole. When the weather turns cold each year, I plug the cords into a rheostat, and set it to the point that the snakes are moving around comfortably from the back of their enclosure where the heat is, to the front where it is cooler. You could probably use it in a similar way to heat a brooder or incubator.

 

[Ivywoods]

That heat tape stuff sounds kind of interesting. I don't think I've ever seen it.

As far as chicks wanting to snuggle under the heat, they will snuggle under anything. A fun thing to hang in their brooder is a feather duster. It is just natural for them to want to hide under it just like it's their mama. I'm sure it give them a more secure feeling.

I've thought about the ecoglow heaters but I would have to buy a bunch of them and the price would be too much. I'm going to finish out the year with what I have right now, but next year I may change things around completely.

 

[Trish44]

tweety, congrats on the grandbaby, she's beautiful! Won't you have fun spoiling her, that's what grandmas are for.

Danz, do your folks qualify for medicaid? I know things are a little different with that, but I also know that they can't have any money or property. Their money would have to be put in someone else's name & their house too. Then the government couldn't take it. That's what my DH's family did with their mom's house & money, it went into the kid's names. Someone in the family is living in the house now. His mom is living in an "apartment" at the nursing home, it's basically just a room with a small kitchen area. She developed Alzheimer's & could no longer live at her home any more, so they had to put her in the nursing home. To this point so far she has not had to go into the regular part of the nursing home. But this "apartment" costs $400 a month more than what she gets paid by medicare or medicaid so the 4 kids divide that up between them each month to get it paid.

It's going to be another nice day again, so it's back out to do more coop cleaning, see you all later. Have a great day!

 

[justhatchin]

Hi everyone! I have been way to busy to keep up here but with all the good information I'm going to have to make time somehow. Hope you are enjoying this great weather! This is a pic of the first pea chick of this year it is about a month old. If anyone is interested in eggs please let me know I have not put any up for sale yet. pm me.