Simulated Natural Nest Incubation~Experiment #1 So it begins....

[foxvalleyfarm]

My #4 egg(which was always kinda clear) had a very obivous blood ring some days ago, but I left it til now. I actually just cracked it open and it may have made it to day 2, but the blood ring was very clear and the yolk seemed scrambled, I have no idea why tho...

 

[Lacy Blues]

Here ya go Bee! How I wish I had a little greenhouse like this!

 

[Beekissed]

Here ya go Bee! How I wish I had a little greenhouse like this!

Smart lady! Same conclusion I had come to and is using the same heating pad, even! My brooder pen will also be using the heating pad as a broody mama and will be in a hoop house as well(my coop). I wish more people who brood chicks and worry about them getting cold or not coming back in the coop if you let them out to range could see this video. This is how my chicks live after 2 wks in the outside brooder they are set free to range out of the coop, come and go to the heat source as they please and be normal chicks on the ground...all the while eating and mingling with the adult chickens.

I should be getting 10 meat chicks next week, so folks will get to see a video of my brooder setup with the heating pad in use as well.

Do you mind if I share that vid with the threads on heating plates for chicks? It should be educational for folks....

 

[Lacy Blues]

It isn't my video. I'm sure she wouldn't mind as she put it up on youtube.

 

[Lacy Blues]

I'm having a little trouble figuring out how to do that in a box in my living room (for now) for my two little tiny babies. I want them to have the dark at night and a place to go to warm up. Would you mind sharing with me how you plan to make your mama hen you talked about before? Or give me some place to start thinking how to go about this? I appreciate it.

 

[Beekissed]

I've got a piece of wire fencing that the heating pad will be affixed to(on the underside) with the use of bungee. The wire allows for bending it into the appropriate shape and being able to adjust the height of the pad off the surface of the floor of the brooder. I sewed a padded pillow to place over the wire for the chicks to snuggle into but I really like her use of the hay bedding instead so that they can still get on top and poop without making a mess on the pillow...I think I'll steal her idea on that one.

I'll try to get some pics of the wire with the pad strapped to it tomorrow so you can see...pictures or vid are so much more easy to understand.

 

[bdfive]

WHY??? does the woman in the video state the heating pad is not a fire hazard? Recently a heating pad started a fire at a zoo, did a lot of damage and killed animals. I'm assuming there is a reason heating pads are mostly now made with an auto shut off. Believe directions say not to cover the heating pad but in this chick warmth application it's not covered underneath and with hay some heat can escape through the top so it's safe to not over heat. I guess if nothing chews on wires or they are damaged it may be pretty safe. What say you??? It's a fantastic idea and I'd like to do it as well. I'm going to look for "Kingsize Sunbeam Heating Pad" now and hope they make it with a "leave on all time" option.

 

[subhanalah]

You know, on my different types of heating pads, they are based mainly on a heated cord-type thing that winds back and forth through the heating pad. This would explain your different rates of development?. You may be shuffling similar to a broody, but your heating pattern is not replicating that variable.

Too bad hot water bottles can't be kept warm in a better way, or at least something like that?

 

[bdfive]

I think there are electric hot water bottles.

 

[Beekissed]

WHY??? does the woman in the video state the heating pad is not a fire hazard? Recently a heating pad started a fire at a zoo, did a lot of damage and killed animals. I'm assuming there is a reason heating pads are mostly now made with an auto shut off. Believe directions say not to cover the heating pad but in this chick warmth application it's not covered underneath and with hay some heat can escape through the top so it's safe to not over heat. I guess if nothing chews on wires or they are damaged it may be pretty safe. What say you??? It's a fantastic idea and I'd like to do it as well. I'm going to look for "Kingsize Sunbeam Heating Pad" now and hope they make it with a "leave on all time" option.

I'd say the dangers are much less than a heating lamp when combining hay/straw bedding and intense heat. Any electrical devise is a fire hazard, so I'm thinking she was just comparing the two extremes and summing it up but used a poor choice of words.

I think it's a great option for newbies who don't know about heat lamps and how to use them for the well being of chicks...at least the chicks can escape a too hot heating pad but they cannot escape a heat lamp glaring down into a small brooder made out of a plastic tote, superheating the very air they breath and never a moment's rest from it. I also think, as with any type of electrical devise that will be near water that could be spilled on it, that this will also have a danger all its own as different types of pads will be used,unsafe practices will be used, etc.

For me, it's a more natural warmth for the chicks and I like the idea. I don't have many fears of things in my life.....life is hard enough without living in constant fear and worry of every little thing and it can hinder the fun and excitement of living to try to control everything by worrying...which doesn't control anything but has the illusion of doing something about it. Worrying is like sitting in a rocking chair...a lot of back and forth effort, but no one's getting anywhere.