I just did a search, and the first site that came up reminded me of some things (it was also a page I'd posted on thirteen years ago, LOL!). First, in 2012 I built, and raised two batches of chicks in, an oil-lamp heated brooder. At the time I had no place to put it indoors, so it sat outside. The first batch of chicks arrived in March, and I had to use two lamps to keep them warm enough; the second batch came after the weather had warmed up somewhat and I needed only one lamp for them. It worked just fine (don't have pictures, as we moved last year and I disassembled it, and have re-used the parts for other things), but used a lot of kerosene, which isn't cheap. It also took quite a bit of maintenance, as the lamp wicks had to be kept trimmed, and the lamps filled. But it did work. My older rooster and hens were raised in it.
Second, someone on that thread that I found said she had raised chicks in a box next to the wood stove, which I think is probably the best idea for those of us who have wood stoves in regular use. (But how can we minimize the dust problem?!?)
Someone else said he'd raised chicks without any supplemental heat at all, though I think he may have had them in the house for a while. I know I've put very young, BUT fully feathered chicks, into outdoor chicken tractors without any issues, and it's always cold here at night, even in mid-summer (semi-arid climate and high elevation).
Other people have used hot bricks or hot water bottles to keep chicks warm. Again, more work and keeping track of things, but it would work.
A story my grandmother told, and I don't remember all of it, but her mother had found an egg that she wanted to hatch -- may have been under a broody hen for a while, I can't recall the whole story. Anyway, Great-grandma put that egg into her bra, in her cleavage, and kept it there -- and it hatched! Lots of ways to skin a cat -- or hatch eggs, or brood chicks, LOL!
Kathleen
