Okay, this is definitely one of those "why didn't I think of that" moments! Thanks!!We raised the feeder to chest height and put the 45 degree sloped cover over witch only allows the chicks to the front of the feeder only. This keeps all the poop out.
You're right, chicks need heat. I just don't like heat lamps. The chicks are in a lighted area 24/7, which means they peep and run around all night long. Heat lamps heat up the material the brooder is made of, heat up the entire space in the brooder, heat up the bedding, the dust and dander, and heat up the walls and surrounding area. They scare the pee-wadddin' out of me. A mama hen heats just the chicks....when they need the heat. Otherwise they are out running all over the place with her, even in temps below freezing.
So I use a heating pad. Yep, a heating pad, a wire frame, and a towel. This makes the third time I've used this system and my chicks are even being brooded in a pen outside here in Northern Wyoming. The first chick I did this with is now a strapping 5 month old rooster. He was out in the coop under his "cave" when it was 4 below zero, and that was even after recovering from a serious injury to his feet. The second time there were 15 chicks, with one group being a week older than the other. They are still outside, fully integrated with the rest of the flock, and they are now 5 and 6 weeks old. Night time temps were in the 20s when they went out - even got down to 17 one night. No problems. They spend most of their time watching the big chickens, exploring, running all over the place, and ducking back into the dark, warm cave for a quick warm up or to sleep at night. They are healthy, strong and doing great. The newest batch just arrived Thursday. I kept them in the house under a smaller cave for the first 24 hours to watch them for shipping stress, then they went out yesterday, all except for two of them. One was pretty weak from shipping and so I kept her in along with a companion just for company.
No more chicks in the house, no more noise all night long, no more dust and feather dander everywhere, no more light 24/7, and no more danger from heat lamps.
