Quail brooder help?

[TeePants]

I thought I had this figured out, but I was very wrong!

I put the brooder together today, and I was under the impression quail need a lid on the brooder. I took a large Rubbermaid bin I had, cut a viewing/vent window and covered it in hardware cloth.

Next (and I thought I was being clever!) I mounted the heat lamp inside of the lid. I’m using a ceramic bulb. Well, it occurred to me as I was doing this that it might get too hot, and risk damaging the plastic, so I ran it for about half an hour and came back to check.

Yep. The lid is hot, and the lamp is too hot to touch. I unplugged everything. How do those of you using a Rubbermaid tote as a brooder deal with the stupid heat lamps?!

photos of my set up:

no freaking idea why it put the images sideways and upside down.

 

[TeePants]

This is the type of lamp I am using btw.

 

[Nabiki]

That's what I use. Can you hang it with a chain?

 

[TeePants]

That's what I use. Can you hang it with a chain?

I don’t have any chain - wouldn’t it hang too low at that point? It’s already super close to the bedding. Can just do without the lid or will they all escape?

haha, I had those dinky LED lights in there because without them it’s super dark, and taking the lid on and off knocked them loose and they broke. Not my day today.

 

[birdnoob]

I made the entire lid out of hardware cloth. Made a rectangle 4" larger than the tote top, cut out 2" squares from the corners, then folded the 2" edges down. Mine ended up warped, so I use 2 bricks in opposite corners to keep it flat and keep rodents from opening it. I then attached mounts to the wall above the brooder to clip the light on to.

 

[TeePants]

Cool. I’m shoving mine under my desk, and I think I can run a cable or rope or a shoelace or something through the supports of the desk and hang the lamp from that. Then yeah, I guess I’ll just use more HWC. IKEA desk for the save!

 

[TeePants]

Actually, would this work? Or would the little dummies have enough clearance to fly up and get out?

 

[birdnoob]

That looks close enough to cook the chicks. Have you checked that the temp is correct with the lamp on? Mine is high enough that I can easily reach between the bin and the lamp (maybe 9"?) and directly under the lamp still gets a little too warm in the afternoons. I actually fried a thermometer trying to put the lamp even with the top of the brooder like you've got.

Also, based on my limited experience, they will eventually escape that. My oldest ones are 4 days old and already practicing jumping and flapping.

 

[Nabiki]

I was thinking of having the heat lamp on top of the lid. You should have hardware cloth or something over the top. Here is what I have.

 

[Ravenlover]

I hang mine from the ceiling and have the brooder on a desk or something but thats me i like to be able to lower and raise it as temp needs