DIY Thread - Let's see your "Inventions".

[Phoenixxx]

OKey doke, you can follow those directions but from first hand experience and reading hundreds of posts on the subject.....95-100 is too hot.
Chicks are more likely to get sick from being too hot than too cold.

Checking brooder temps 90 directly under light on one end of brooder to about 80 at the other end of brooder is a good starting point.
Then watching chicks behavior will learn you to adjust the heat according to the ambient environment and the chicks age/condition.

If they are huddled/piled right under the light and cheeping loudly, they're too cold.
If they are spread as far away from light as they can get and panting, they're too hot.
If they are actively running around eating, drinking, pecking, chest bumping and just resting near the edge of the light, it's just right.

Yup, let common sense prevail! The newly-hatched stay directly under the lamp, the fluffy ones just off to the side but still well within the light's beam I will be watching them closely, in fact I literally came out of the room they're in just for a smoke break! I am OBSESSED, lol - my first hatch and all! Gotta go, expecting baby #14 any minute now! Thanks for your advice!

 

[aart]

Yup, let common sense prevail! The newly-hatched stay directly under the lamp, the fluffy ones just off to the side but still well within the light's beam

I will be watching them closely, in fact I literally came out of the room they're in just for a smoke break! I am OBSESSED, lol - my first hatch and all! Gotta go, expecting baby #14 any minute now! Thanks for your advice!

I know, right!! Almost a bigger addition than the smokes, I spent hours between ciggies watching the hatchlings.

 

[Leahs Mom]

y'all chicken keeping smokers crack me up.

 

[bruceha2000]

The instructions with the incubator said 95-100 for brooder. I also took the measurement at the top of an egg carton, app. the same height as the chicks' bodies. I am noticing that they're sleeping around the edge of the "nest" I built them (towel with the edges rolled under to form sides) once they're fully fluffed. The older ones (up to 24.5 hrs old for the eldest) are already having fun running around the space!

I'm thinking once they're all hatched and fluffed, I'm gonna just move the "nest" a few inches away each day until they get to the room temp area. Also thinking I'll unplug the heatlamp during the day after a couple days/week.

You are both hatching and brooding in the same space? I'd have to look it up but I think the directions that came with my 2 day old chicks said something like 90-95 for 3 days, then drop it 5 degrees every 3 days until it gets to 70. Take heat out when they are fully feathered (4 weeks??). They were in an unused bathtub with the shower curtain closed to help contain the heat. Bathroom door closed to keep the heat in and the cats out. I can tell you that bathroom was intolerably hot for many days.

I still think if they are sleeping around the 'nest' rather than all together, it is because it is too hot in the center of the nest.

 

[bruceha2000]

good Idea Bruce. How long did it take to dial up or down the temp and get it to the temp you wanted.

deb

Don't recall but not long. I had to figure out a height for the lamp that had 1 end of the bathtub at 95. I might have actually set it so the dial was full on or a little less. Then just turn it down a bit every few days. the remote sensor and thermometer were side by side right under the lamp.

 

[Phoenixxx]

You are both hatching and brooding in the same space? I'd have to look it up but I think the directions that came with my 2 day old chicks said something like 90-95 for 3 days, then drop it 5 degrees every 3 days until it gets to 70. Take heat out when they are fully feathered (4 weeks??). They were in an unused bathtub with the shower curtain closed to help contain the heat. Bathroom door closed to keep the heat in and the cats out. I can tell you that bathroom was intolerably hot for many days. 

I still think if they are sleeping around the 'nest' rather than all together, it is because it is too hot in the center of the nest.

Goodness, no! Hatching in bator, moving newborns to brooding cage. When they go down for a nap, they snuggle together, some choosing to be under the heat but most away while still being snuggled in the cluster. I'm after cold-hardy birds, too, so i'll be reducing and removing the heat as quickly as is safe. Also, they'll be going outdoors in a few weeks and it hasn't exactly warmed up here yet thanks to the polar vortex. Today was SUPPOSED to be 21 (shorts, tank/swimsuit) but with the windchill I couldn't stay out for longer than a minute without winter gear :'(

 

[bruceha2000]

Goodness, no! Hatching in bator, moving newborns to brooding cage. When they go down for a nap, they snuggle together, some choosing to be under the heat but most away while still being snuggled in the cluster. I'm after cold-hardy birds, too, so i'll be reducing and removing the heat as quickly as is safe. Also, they'll be going outdoors in a few weeks and it hasn't exactly warmed up here yet thanks to the polar vortex. Today was SUPPOSED to be 21 (shorts, tank/swimsuit) but with the windchill I couldn't stay out for longer than a minute without winter gear :'(

OK, sounds like you've got it covered!

It was 5C this morning. Definitely NOT what I want to see this time of year. Nice warm sunny day though and I got my mowing finished. Good thing since we have 80% chance of rain tomorrow. It rained a bit Monday afternoon (the day the new garden tractor arrived so I could mow the now foot tall grass!) and again yesterday.

 

[seminolewind]

y'all chicken keeping smokers crack me up.

 

[ChickCrazed]

I wanted to share my low feed alert system. I built several of the pvc feeders for my pens but wanted an easy way to see when they started getting low on feed. I tied a "flag" on one end of a long string, drilled a hole into the feeder and fed that string through and tied a weight on the end that is inside the feeder. The weight sits on top of the feed and as the feed level drops, the weight also drops and pulls the string. When the "flag" gets near the top of the feeder I know it is time to add feed. It enables me to know what the feed level is without going into each pen. I need to fashion something similar for the waterers. Anyway, I am proud of it and it was really easy to do. It could be added to most DIY feeders.

 

[Angelicisi]

Awesome! Great job! For my waterers I use fishing bobbers - no outside notification tho just able to spot bobber level really easily and it helps, but I have light colored buckets. If you fashion an out of water notification please update us!

I wanted to share my low feed alert system. I built several of the pvc feeders for my pens but wanted an easy way to see when they started getting low on feed. I tied a "flag" on one end of a long string, drilled a hole into the feeder and fed that string through and tied a weight on the end that is inside the feeder. The weight sits on top of the feed and as the feed level drops, the weight also drops and pulls the string. When the "flag" gets near the top of the feeder I know it is time to add feed. It enables me to know what the feed level is without going into each pen. I need to fashion something similar for the waterers. Anyway, I am proud of it and it was really easy to do. It could be added to most DIY feeders.