Disaster in the Brooder- Averted! a warning...

[aubreynoramarie]

As the whole universe knows, I had the worst hatch on the planet. So I ordered me some two to four week old baby showgirls yay! I had gotten my brooder ready for day olds, and am hoping that it's big enough for seven 2-4 weeks olds, yikes! Anywhoo... So they're supposed to arrive tomorrow, and am getting the brooder ready. I put the food and water dishes in there, lined it with paper towels ( then remembered I am not getting day olds anymore and re-lined it with three inches of pine shavings.) and hung up my heat lamp. Last night I figured it would be a good idea to stick some thermometers in there. The brooder is in my mudroom and it gets super chilly in there at night so I wanted to ensure that the brooder was at least 75 degrees. I stuck my hand in there and it felt nice and toasty warm and perfect, but better safe than sorry.

When I went to check the temps this morning, the digital thermOmeter had melted and the mercury one had exploded!!!

Golly I'm glad I made sure it wasn't too cold! My chicks could have-well- exploded from the heat!

 

[GeneJordan]

Ouch

 

[debid]

What is your brooder made out of and what was the wattage on the bulb? And yes, an excellent reminder to set everything up and try it out BEFORE you add chicks.

 

[aubreynoramarie]

It's a clear plastic storage tub. The wattage? I have no clue- I'm guessing too high though!

 

[smchickfarm]

I am sorry about your explosion BUT SUPER EXCITED THAT YOU ARE GETTING CHICKS!!!!!!

Let us know when you get them!

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Day olds, paper towels. I add pine shavings in about a week. 60 watt house light bulb works fine if kept inside the house for a brooder box. Outside a 250 watt heat lamp if kept in something larger than a tote box. Plastic tote a 75 watt or 100 will work. No drafts! Water and feed kept away from the heat.

Always have everything set up and running before adding chicks!

 

[AlienChick]

WOW!
Good for you to avoid a potential disaster!
Like you, I, too, always set up well before I add chicks!

 

[kla37]

I had a similar problem when I set up a brooder for our chicks. The problem wasn't keeping it warm enough, it was keeping it from getting too hot! I'm so glad I set the whole thing up a few days in advance to work out the temperature.

 

[Lawnman127]

I had a mercury and dig type in my brooder.
Came home and the numbers on the didi were all messed up and the the mercury was
pegged at the top. all before the chicks arrived.
I have since removed the mercury type because the chicks love to peck at it, and I was worried
they may crack the glass.

 

[FMAFarms]

We had that same issue with our brooder lamp and the bulbs... the 250-watt red and white bulbs brought the temps up to 130 beneath the lamp, 120 at the far ends. And that was with the lamp more than three feet in the air! We changed to 125 whites, which at just about two feet above the brooder floor brings the temps to a 90 to 96 range. What a pain! Someone needs to invent a self-heated, temperature-adjustable brooder!