Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Espresso]

All of you are familiar with our weather... Assuming I get my eggs in the bator Monday... I'll have ducklings for the winter. Any tips for brooding in our cold? I don't start heating my house until mid-nov and I keep it around 65. I have small kids so I'm a bit anxious about the heat lamp...

 

[Espresso]

Also... Since I've just started frequenting this chat... Where is everyone at? I'm in Tacoma.

 

[ochochicas]

All of you are familiar with our weather... Assuming I get my eggs in the bator Monday... I'll have ducklings for the winter. Any tips for brooding in our cold? I don't start heating my house until mid-nov and I keep it around 65. I have small kids so I'm a bit anxious about the heat lamp...

I'm in the same boat, except with chicks. Could have 20+ hatching next week and they will probably have to stay in the house until spring if it is too cold for them outside. I suppose I could set up a brooder box in the garage, but that really isn't much warmer than being in the coop. Heat lamps are one of the leading causes of barn fires, so there won't be one going into the coop/barn. The chicks will be 6 weeks by Christmas, so I might be spending my vacation in December setting up some kind of pen for them in the garage.

 

[Hinotori]

Quote:
Ecoglow brooder. Chicks don't spend all their time in heat that way. More like how they just go under the broody when they are cold. They don't get hot enough to catch anything on fire and use very little power. I love my little Ecoglow 20. Now they are a little pricey, but if you raise a lot of chicks it will pay for itself in power savings. I like the safety of them.

http://www.brinsea.com/c-36-chick-brooders.aspx

 

[Hinotori]

So for my first incubator hatch, out of 22 eggs, I had 2 blood rings and 1 that died around day 16 and one around day 19 (badly deformed). Not to bad.

 

[Hinotori]

Well, all the new girls made it into the coop last night, and slept right next to the old ones (minus the bully). But today they've been hiding out in the coop. I placed extra hiding areas in the run for them, and there are several feeders and waterers. I also placed one of each in the run (along with some fodder), but should I force the issue of them coming out into the run?

You're doing what I'd do. I think they just need to get comfortable in their new place. Maybe try some treats and see if they will come out for them. Several of my birds won't come outside right now with the weather.

 

[Espresso]

Pricey considering I plan to do this just this once...

 

[elizmartin]

Hi, google Robert Plamondon, may be on BYC….speaks alot about raising chicks successfully. i don't like heat lamps so never used them…I use regular bulbs. Hens get up and walk around with chicks regardless of weather but think they sit down more often til the chicks are more used to the weather.
There is a side wall for chicks that are flat with reversing slits on each side that You can slip together and make bigger as they grow ( could use heavy cardboard or) and get used to the environment while having a heat source ( i use a ceramic light fixture clip light ). You can also buy a heat emitter which is a ceramic disk bulb for reptiles that have wires inside that provide heat….less chance of fire….but does not provide light...

 

[catface]

I use ceramic heat emitters for reptiles with a reptile thermostat. They work really well and the ceramic "bulbs" will work constantly for a couple years. I used to rescue reptiles and have relied on them for years to run 24/7 in my house on the lizards and have never had an issue with them.

 

[NanaHess]

Pricey considering I plan to do this just this once...

I vaguely remember saying that 12-18 hatches ago