Setting Eggs 12/28 - Hatching Buddies? Hatch-Along

[eggorthechicken]

do any of you have the brinsea ecoglow brooder/warmer. I have one coming!

 

[DraigAthar]

do any of you have the brinsea ecoglow brooder/warmer. I have one coming!

I do! I got it last year. The chicks LOVE it. They snuggle under it like it's a momma hen. We laugh and call it the electric momma. You should see them, watching their little butts as they disappear under the electric momma is just the cutest.

I think the only drawback is that if the ambient temperature drops below about 50, it won't keep very young chicks warm enough. Here in NH, we brood outside in a shed, so this time of year the ambient temp out there could drop below 0F easily. The ecoglow doesn't heat an entire space like a good old fashioned brood lamp does. So we use the ecoglow to stage the chicks. We set up a small brooder in the house in the winter and the chicks go in there with the ecoglow. Then when they are 2-3 weeks old they move outside to the shed brooder with the 250W red bulb brood lamp. What I'd like to try and do is get an outlet with a thermostat to plug the brood lamp into, so that it turns on automatically when the ambient temp hits 50. That way on sunny days when the shed warms up more, the lamp could turn off and the chicks could just use the ecoglow. But I haven't got that sorted out just yet. If I can make it work and keep the chicks safe and happy, it'll help cut back on my electricity costs during brooding!

 

[eggorthechicken]

mine will be brooded inside until fully feathered so i think it will work great. I've read its better on the chicks and just safer all around so im excited to get it.

 

[hokankai]

I just ordered an Ecoglow too! I've wanted one for awhile and love the idea of it. Got the 50, go big or go home right? Haha

 

[ducksinarow]

I was thinking about using my pet warmer mat set on blocks. It is a 40 or 50 watts. What do you guys think?

 

[DraigAthar]

I was thinking about using my pet warmer mat set on blocks. It is a 40 or 50 watts. What do you guys think?

You can always try it and see how the chicks do. They'll always let you know if they are too warm or too cold, you just have to pay attention to their behavior. I would keep a backup heating method on hand if it turns out the warmer mat is not going to work. Chicks that get too chilled die very quickly.

 

[ducksinarow]

Yes I understand. I have a heat lamp with a 150 watt red bulb I used last time in incubating my ducklings. I brood them in the house. I was just not all that happy with them being in the light 24 hours a day.

 

[DraigAthar]

Yes I understand. I have a heat lamp with a 150 watt red bulb I used last time in incubating my ducklings. I brood them in the house. I was just not all that happy with them being in the light 24 hours a day.

I understand that. Well, you'll have to make it an experiment and then let us know how it works out!

 

[laseterlass]

As of this morning my Coturnix are in lock down. They hatch Wednesday thru Friday of next week! I have about 50 in there. My fertility should be good. 14 hens to 4 roos. I cant wait to hear my babies cheeping in the office all day! My husband says I am crazy. I told him I HAVE to hatch them now. The window of fertility on Coturnix is only a year. He still thinks I am crazy. There is another Chinook coming. If we lose power I will scream! I lost 93 out of 100 James Marie coturnix eggs last fall to a storm. I was soooo mad. FYI That man knows how to ship eggs!

 

[hillfloweranch]

Well, I'm starting way earlier than I intended with my hatches this winter! I was going to wait until March, but I have one hen in particular who has NEVER let a roo on her before, and all of a sudden she decided one of our newer roos was acceptable and she has fertile eggs, haha! She also tends to go broody at the drop of a hat, so I figured I'd better collect some of her eggs and set them, before I lose the chance. I'm planning to set eggs this Friday evening, 12/28/12, which would give me a hatch date of 1/19/13. Anyone want to hatch-along? I've moved my entire spring hatch schedule up a bit to accommodate my one silly hen, that's how much of a crazy chicken lady I have become.

Come join in, tell us what you're hatching! How many eggs, what breed(s), what incubator, whatever you want!

I set a few eggs on Dec 23 and have 3 starting to hatch...my first time but so far my experiment has been fun. The only downer was during a candling session I dropped one of the eggs :-(