Is this a workable plan??

[topeka]

I am due to hatch on Jan 9. I will be keeping the chicks inside for several weeks until they are feathered enough for the outside brooder.

I need to make an inside brooder. I am hesitant to use light bulbs for heat (fire?).

Why can't I take the lid off my LG 9200 incubator place it on 4 legs inside a rubbermaid container.

The chicks could run underneath it when cold.
It is thermostatically controlled.
It is probably safer than a heat lamp?

I did some searches and nobody seems to be using the idea. Am I missing something?

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Close the vents an it will work but you will have to watch, they may try to eat the foam.

 

[Bock_Bock]

if you are saying that the incubator op will only cover half the brooder it will not work, the incubators only put out minimal heat but it is enough for the incubators since they are fully enclosed, but your brooder wont be, and the incubator lid wont put enough heat down to heat your chicks lick a light can since it has light waves, do you understand? i know it is confusing lol

 

[Peeper7]

I thought of doing that for a minute, but the chicks will most certainly peck the foam -- it's like their favorite thing -- and it might overwork the incubator top.

I brood in the bathtub

and hang a 250 w infrared light bulb over them. I always use a heavy duty 3 prong cord and plug it into a GFI outlet.

 

[hinkjc]

The lid would be running nonstop trying to heat a brooder. It would likely burn out the motor and would never generate enough heat to keep the chicks warm during winter.

 

[Apprentice_egger]

We got my 10 year old daughter's baby Silkie as a 2 day old. I had nothing before we went to pick it up. I bought a heat lamp, feeder, and waterer. When we got home it's first home was a cardboard box with hardware cloth over it. Then a small wooden box with the heat lamp hung over it from the ceiling in the basement, and then a small wooden crate. I have raised the lamp 3 inches a week since we brought the little chick home and it's now a healthy little bugger. A small piece of plywood about 4 inches wide provides a cooler area of shade. It's older relative has been in a 40 gallon plastic stock tank since about the 3 rd day, also with hardware cloth covering. They both seem comfortable and safe.

 

[topeka]

Quote:
O.K. I see the problem with trying to heat the entire Rubbermaid container with the 40 Watt heating element of the LG.

What if I were to build a wooden frame to set the LG lid on? I would be more or less recreating the bottom half of the LG bator out of wood ( adding and enterance door for the chicks to move in and out).

Now the heating element is only warming the "box"

Better Idea?

 

[Peeper7]

It's still likely to run non stop. Think of the space... if the bator top is designed for 2 square feet and you have an air space under it that is 4 square feet, ... and a door...
If you are concerned about a heat lamp bulb, you can also make something with regular tungsten bulbs which will provide plenty of heat.
Or poultry suppliers have little hanging heaters etc. Any heating device can cause fire if used improperly.

 

[topeka]

Quote:
Rough measurements

Lg 9200 =1980 cubic inches inside
Lg 9200 Top sitting on wood frame = 2640 cubic inches inside

34% increase in space ( I think the 42 Watt element can handle this)

I haven't solved the door (heat loss) problem?

I wonder if the chicks could learn to push through a little swinging door?

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Plug the top vents an only have the door for a vent. Its called thermal layering. Same as a hot air balloon. The force of hot air having less weight than the outside cold are will keep it in.