Mama Heating Pad in the Brooder (Picture Heavy) - UPDATE

[Victoria-nola]

Nope....just a myth. Chickens have been eating their own eggs since the beginning of time and out of necessity~to keep their nests clean. When an egg gets broken or cracked enough to leak into the nest it can cause bacteria growth there and even attract predators, so eating their own eggs is not only instinctive for an omnivorous creature, but also serves to protect them and their nest.

This will not cause them to cannibalize all their eggs nor produce dedicated egg eaters...or their specie would have died out long, long ago. I've been feeding raw eggs and their own egg shells back to them for 40 yrs and never had a dedicated egg eater in any of my flocks....and that's hundreds of birds over that length of time.

It's just a misguided notion to imagine that eggs and egg shells need to be cooked and altered in order to serve them back to the flock.

ok, "food" for thought. I give them their eggshells, dried and crushed but not cooked or anything. It does make sense about nest cleaning and such. Thanks.

--V

 

[Jensownzoo]

Cook?  Why not just throw them to the chickens and let them eat them raw, at their most nutritious?  I do that or just hand them to the dogs....good nutrition and not to be wasted. 

Hmmm...the protein bioavailability of eggs increases by a significant amount with cooking when it comes to humans. I wonder if the same holds true for chickens? Down the rabbit hole I go...

 

[aart]

Well, and if one is more comfortable cooking the eggs before feeding back....nothing wrong with that either.

 

[Beekissed]

Hmmm...the protein bioavailability of eggs increases by a significant amount with cooking when it comes to humans. I wonder if the same holds true for chickens? Down the rabbit hole I go...

I'm doubtful about that or God wouldn't have designed the yolks as nutrition for the growing chick. No chicks out there munching on cooked yolks that I know of...not unless that 'bator temp is WAY too high and then the chicks are dead and not in any need of nutrition.

 

[lazy gardener]

It was a dark and stormy afternoon, with the darkness of night quickly approaching. The rain was beating on the windows with a steady rhythm. The trees were swaying and groaning in the wind. When, suddenly, the power flickered. Did the lights go out? Not quite. But it was enough to cause the woman to hobble to the closet in search of a hooded jacket and boots. To cause her to hobble down the stairs, and out into the driving rain and approaching darkness to check on the chicks. They were experiencing their first wild storm. They were smashed into the corner of their coop, in a pig pile of very high proportions, screaming their little hearts out! In spite of the rain and the power flicker, there was a warm red glow coming from the control panel of the MHP. All was well, or should have been, except for the writhing huddled mass of panic in the far corner, trying to escape the sounds of the storm. Move MHP over to the corner where they are screaming. Screaming continues. Stuff some of the bodies under MHP. They squirt back out. So, the old woman scratched her head, and decided to try to think like a chicken. Back to the house she slogged, grabbed an old towel out of the rag bin, then sloshed back to the coop. Folded towel over MHP to provide more darkness, a bit of draping down over the edges of MHP... Again, she started stuffing the panicked mass under the MHP, and used her hand to block the corner where they were pig piling. A few chicks stayed under MHP. Continued stuffing and blocking... followed by the AH-HA!!! moment she was waiting for! A soft trill coming from some of the warm little bodies under the MHP. Finally, there were more chicks under the MHP than there were trying to go into the corner. Did they need the heat from the MHP? No not really. But, what they did need was the sense of safety that it offered.

 

[ChickNanny13]

My first chick respite, spring of 2014, with huddle box and creep 'door'.
I later removed the crate door and changed access opening and feeder.
These chicks were about 6 weeks apart in age.
By the time the littles 'outgrew' the crate they were integrated with the olders.




This years chicks.... I found lounging on the roost and board yesterday afternoon.
Some have finally figured out the HN's...I took the VN away yesterday...so HN's the only choice.

Love your water bottle idea!

 

[bruceha2000]

Quote:
But LG! A dog would also chase away the rabbit and the deer and the turkeys and the Great Blue Herons and the migrating ducks and Canada geese.

Can't I PLEASE just ship the !@#$woodchucks out?

Victoria said her dogs were fat, I'm just trying to help here!

 

[bruceha2000]

It was a dark and stormy afternoon, with the darkness of night quickly approaching. The rain was beating on the windows with a steady rhythm. The trees were swaying and groaning in the wind. When, suddenly, the power flickered. Did the lights go out? Not quite. But it was enough to cause the woman to hobble to the closet in search of a hooded jacket and boots. To cause her to hobble down the stairs, and out into the driving rain and approaching darkness to check on the chicks. They were experiencing their first wild storm. They were smashed into the corner of their coop, in a pig pile of very high proportions, screaming their little hearts out! In spite of the rain and the power flicker, there was a warm red glow coming from the control panel of the MHP. All was well, or should have been, except for the writhing huddled mass of panic in the far corner, trying to escape the sounds of the storm. Move MHP over to the corner where they are screaming. Screaming continues. Stuff some of the bodies under MHP. They squirt back out. So, the old woman scratched her head, and decided to try to think like a chicken. Back to the house she slogged, grabbed an old towel out of the rag bin, then sloshed back to the coop. Folded towel over MHP to provide more darkness, a bit of draping down over the edges of MHP... Again, she started stuffing the panicked mass under the MHP, and used her hand to block the corner where they were pig piling. A few chicks stayed under MHP. Continued stuffing and blocking... followed by the AH-HA!!! moment she was waiting for! A soft trill coming from some of the warm little bodies under the MHP. Finally, there were more chicks under the MHP than there were trying to go into the corner. Did they need the heat from the MHP? No not really. But, what they did need was the sense of safety that it offered.

Poor old woman! I sure hope you gave her a nice warm cup of tea or coffee when she finished this task!

 

[lazy gardener]

Rabbits will eat your Red Kuri. Deer will eat your surprise squash and they'll nibble your Fortex down to little nubs. Deer and rabbits will drop a trail of ticks every where they go. Turkeys are smart enough to out run a dog, and they will certainly leave your dog scratching his head when they take off and land on your roof. The herons will eat all the frogs in your pond. Then you'll have too many mosquitoes. After those herons eat all the frogs, they'll eat your baby chicks. And those migrating water fowl will most assuredly be carrying AI. Good for your dog to chase them away. So, keep your fat ground hogs. They are eating too much chicken feed. Your dog will eat the ground hogs, and everybody will be happy. Of course you could buy a gun, and have some great target practice. That would be in addition to the dog. Be sure you get a useful dog. So far mine is not earning her keep... but she's young yet. I still have hope that she will settle down.

 

[Blooie]

It was a dark and stormy afternoon, with the darkness of night quickly approaching. The rain was beating on the windows with a steady rhythm. The trees were swaying and groaning in the wind. When, suddenly, the power flickered. Did the lights go out? Not quite. But it was enough to cause the woman to hobble to the closet in search of a hooded jacket and boots. To cause her to hobble down the stairs, and out into the driving rain and approaching darkness to check on the chicks. They were experiencing their first wild storm. They were smashed into the corner of their coop, in a pig pile of very high proportions, screaming their little hearts out! In spite of the rain and the power flicker, there was a warm red glow coming from the control panel of the MHP. All was well, or should have been, except for the writhing huddled mass of panic in the far corner, trying to escape the sounds of the storm. Move MHP over to the corner where they are screaming. Screaming continues. Stuff some of the bodies under MHP. They squirt back out. So, the old woman scratched her head, and decided to try to think like a chicken. Back to the house she slogged, grabbed an old towel out of the rag bin, then sloshed back to the coop. Folded towel over MHP to provide more darkness, a bit of draping down over the edges of MHP... Again, she started stuffing the panicked mass under the MHP, and used her hand to block the corner where they were pig piling. A few chicks stayed under MHP. Continued stuffing and blocking... followed by the AH-HA!!! moment she was waiting for! A soft trill coming from some of the warm little bodies under the MHP. Finally, there were more chicks under the MHP than there were trying to go into the corner. Did they need the heat from the MHP? No not really. But, what they did need was the sense of safety that it offered.

Love it love it love it!!