I figure out a what a hen cave
Not fond of most of the 'cave' configurations, most are not adjustable for height and have too many things wrapped around them creating trap points. Many folks don't understand that the chicks need to be able to
touch their backs to the heat pad and 'cave' infers a single egress point which can trap chicks that need to get away from the heat.
About the same time that concept got 'hot'(haha!) I was devising a '
pseudo brooder plate' using a heating pad. It works really great, but they do have capacity constraints.
Took several iterations before I got one that is easy and safe to use and am still tweaking the adjustable leg attachments. Biggest issue for me was being able to easily lift/tip the thing up(and back down) to take a look underneath for chicks in distress or dead without reassembling the thing. I fuss a lot during design/build, but hate to fuss while a thing is in use. Fuss first, Flow later.
I still use a heat lamp those first few days, just during the day, to make sure they are all moving/eating/drinking/pooping OK. It
sure is
nice to have it dark and quiet at night, not to mention the removal of the fire risk that is inherent with using heat lamps.
Whew! Am quite verbose this morning. Apologies to those offended.
