second guessing my brooder choice

[quailtrail]

Hubby has me in a panic right now! We had planned on the rubbermaid tote. But now he is thinking we shouldn't due to the fire risk.

 

[Keltara]

If he's afraid of the plastic melting, then he has a valid point. I used a plastic bin twice for brooding my babies. What I learned was this. If you fold aluminum foil over the side of the brooder (where the heat lamp is near), it will refract the lamp, and the plastic will not get hot or melt. Problem solved.

Keep this in mind though. Be sure to put your heat lamp on one side of the brooder and the food and water on the other. This will keep the water cooler, and also allow the babies to move out of the heat if they get too hot. Many people put the heat on the babies, and they have no way to escape it. That is dangerous. Have fun!

Kelly

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Our Country Chronicles

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[quailtrail]

Great idea!!!! I decided to put the tote inside the dogs kennel we no longer use. So testing temps right now.

 

[missnu01]

I used a tote to brood a couple of mallard ducks for a couple weeks, and at one point I got the ducks out to hold them, meaning I just scooted the lid and lamp back...Well I had scooted the lamp right over one of the handles and it ended up a sticky plastic mess...noone was harmed though.

 

[quailtrail]

Hopefully being on top of the kennel will solve the issue. Waiting on temps now. I'm a wreck!!! 10yo is so excited and I am just hoping one hatches for her!

 

[Keltara]

Great idea!!!! I decided to put the tote inside the dogs kennel we no longer use. So testing temps right now.

Why do you want to put the tote inside the kennel? I wouldn't advise this. The reason being, is that it would make it very inconvenient for you to get to know your chicks. We handled our babies often and if I had to scoot the whole operation in and out of a dog crate, I think I would have gone mad. Here's what my set up looked like. Very simple yet perfectly functional.

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This was taken before I came up with the aluminum foil idea. But the main point, is that we were able to so easily reach in and pull out a little peep to give it love. I can't imagine having to pull everything out of a dog kennel. Our lid just easily lifted up but it was great for keeping them peeps inside when they were big enough fly. Putting the tote in a dog kennel would not have worked for us and our babies.

 

[quailtrail]

Keltara - I was getting nervous about it being too hot and using a soft screen over the tote. Plus the advantage of them being extra safe from the dogs. The tote does slide right out...but am going nuts trying to get it warm enough and have raised the tote in the kennel. Had started the process days ago but 10yo fractured her collar bone and stopped everything...but could have hubby do something similar to yours as thats what I originally planned until the "fire" fear creeped up...

 

[Keltara]

Keltara - I was getting nervous about it being too hot and using a soft screen over the tote. Plus the advantage of them being extra safe from the dogs. The tote does slide right out...but am going nuts trying to get it warm enough and have raised the tote in the kennel. Had started the process days ago but 10yo fractured her collar bone and stopped everything...but could have hubby do something similar to yours as thats what I originally planned until the "fire" fear creeped up...

I'm sorry to hear about baby girl's injury. That's rough. But show your husband what I did. My tote was pretty large. I never had a problem getting enough heat to them (even the first week when it needed to be 95 under the lamp. What I did was so effective. If you click on the photo in the above link, it'll take you to my blog post, and you'll be able to see if from different angles. What I loved about my set up, was that the heat was there, and also more than 1/2 of the brooder was cool, so when they got hot, they could get out of the heat. You'll find that you will be trying to cool them off more than you'll be trying to heat them up! They will self regulate as long as you give them a brooder with enough space. As mine got cold, they'd move closer to the light. When they got hot, they'd move away. They will be your indicator. I'll be just fine. It is way easier than you think. I promise. ✿◠‿◠

Kelly​

 

[quailtrail]

Kelly TY!!!!! The quails are our stepping stone to chickens lol!!! The whole process was a bit of a joke. My 10yo went over to a coworkers house. She has quails and chickens. I said she could go check them out but she couldn't come back with a bird. So being funny she sent her back with an egg. My daughter was so excited I told her if she could hatch it she could keep it. My friend laughed and said it will prob hatch...on the way home it got dented. She still believed it would hatch. We read up on all we could. We candle waxed it, she used her bday $ for an incubator, and I thought oh no if it doesn't hatch. ..so my friend gave us 3 more. Now after all the research I've done I want these to hatch, want c hickens, and all the excitement that comes with them. ..lol

 

[Keltara]

Kelly TY!!!!! The quails are our stepping stone to chickens lol!!! The whole process was a bit of a joke. My 10yo went over to a coworkers house. She has quails and chickens. I said she could go check them out but she couldn't come back with a bird. So being funny she sent her back with an egg. My daughter was so excited I told her if she could hatch it she could keep it. My friend laughed and said it will prob hatch...on the way home it got dented. She still believed it would hatch. We read up on all we could. We candle waxed it, she used her bday $ for an incubator, and I thought oh no if it doesn't hatch. ..so my friend gave us 3 more. Now after all the research I've done I want these to hatch, want c hickens, and all the excitement that comes with them. ..lol

I didn't realize your were raising quail. That changes EVERYTHING I told you.......Just kidding!! It'll be a fun family project. Your daughter is going to love it. I can't wait for you to graduate to chickens. They have so much personality!! Enjoy your adventure!!