What's your chick brooder look like?!

[Storybook Farm]

What type and wattage bulbs did you end up getting?

Sorry for the delay: I wanted to give an accurate response based on some observation time. For us, it’s been 20° at nights and in the high 30s-low 40s daytimes. So, we’ve been watching our digital thermometer which is place deat middle of the hover, at shavings level.

So far, we have two 65 watt white floods in there, and it’s gotten to 85° on our coldest morning, and up to 110° on warmer days. The higher temp is fine because the chicks can go out of the hover into the rest of their pen. We’ve decided to suspend a heat lamp over the shavings to the immediate right of the hover to make a more even heat transition for those who want out of the hover (not a shocking different in temps), and also we plan to put the “curtains” that the designer suggests on the left and back sides (these prevent drafts under the hover) down to the shaving level.

Because our hover is in a suspended pen, we also will probably put a board under the shavings for insulation. The hover is designed for a ground-level application. Being suspended allows for far colder air under the whole thing than the designer intended.

Again, this is all experimental with us, so we’re learning as we go! I am also intrigued by the Mama Heat Pad, and am thinking that I’d put one at the other side of the hover and see which the chickies prefer but I can’t find a heating pad that won’t go off automatically (love those modern safty features, don’t you? ). Does anyone know where I can find one? @Blooie?

 

[NNYchick]

I can’t find a heating pad that won’t go off automatically (love those modern safty features, don’t you? ). Does anyone know where I can find one?

Just a few weeks ago I purchased the Sunbeam 732-500 off Amazon for around $12 dollars. I just check and they have the price up to $18.59 (they must be on to us MHP people getting our spring chicks), Walmart also has this model on their website.

 

[Storybook Farm]

Just a few weeks ago I purchased the Sunbeam 732-500 off Amazon for around $12 dollars. I just check and they have the price up to $18.59 (they must be on to us MHP people getting our spring chicks), Walmart also has this model on their website.

THANKS!!!! @NNYchick: I am looking right now on Amazon, and it’s not coming up. Can you put the link in a reply to me, please? (I think it would help everyone! )

 

[aart]

Does anyone know where I can find one?

https://www.amazon.com/Sunbeam-2013-912-XpressHeat-Heating-Extra/dp/B005NZ66KU?th=1
Look for the feature that allows you to disable the auto-off,
or one that doesn't have an auto off at all.

 

[NNYchick]

THANKS!!!! @NNYchick: I am looking right now on Amazon, and it’s not coming up. Can you put the link in a reply to me, please? (I think it would help everyone! )

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000...technology&dpPl=1&dpID=41zZl1FQabL&ref=plSrch

 

[Storybook Farm]

Thanks, all! Just ordered three of them!

 

[careeka22]

This is my current set up, we went with a lamp vs a pad/eco glow just because we knew it would be short term and we don't plan to brood any more chicks for a few years. I have the light hanging from my kids art easel with the cord wrapped so it can't fall. They are in a baby pool and I have mesh baby gates around the sides. They love it. They are 4 weeks tomorrow and I'm going to start integrating soon. I have a huge outdoor coop and I'm going to divide it with a small door to let them meet my only 2 remaining older hens. We currently just have a small run attached while we build a larger one.

 

[Blooie]

I wasn't on last night, so I missed this question. Baaad Blooie!! I prefer the Sunbeam xPress Heat, which you can find either at Amazon, Walmart, or chain pharmacy stores. I sent you the link in a PM, but I'll put it here too. I see others have beaten me to the response, but I'm doing it anyway because I'm old and I can get by with things.

http://www.amazon.com/Sunbeam-2013-...kmr1&keywords=Sunbeam+x-tra+large+heating+pad

There's another pad that a few others have used as well - also by Sunbeam, but while the link takes you to the correct pad, the information and the reviews are somehow NOT the ones for that specific product. Caused a lot of confusion in the beginning, I'll tell ya, but we just tell people not to go by that stuff and they should be fine. This one doesn't have the autoshut off feature at all, and if there's a power outage it turns itself back on automatically to the last setting. I briefly entertained the notion of changing to that pad, but then I decided that I'd rather take the few minutes out of my time to physically go out after an outage, check the chicks, and KNOW that the pad was turned back on myself than rely on something that "does it all for me." Here's a link to that one.

http://www.sunbeam.com/pain-relief/...ology-blue/000771-810-000.html#sz=12&start=18

I had one outage happen during a wintery night - cold, snowing, high winds, and since the power went out after we went to bed we didn't realize it was out until hours later when the sounds of it coming back on woke us. We bundled up and ran out to check the one week old chicks...they were fine - more disturbed by the flashlight than by the weather. The cave and the straw held enough residual warmth to keep them safe. I won't say they were toasty, but they were snuggled down at the back of the cave where the straw was thickest, sound asleep. Just always remember that if the pad goes out for any reason - if you turn it off, unplug it, or the power goes out, you have to physically reset it to the temperature you want and remember that "stay on" switch. But the XPress Heat heats in 30 seconds, so it doesn't take long to warm those babies right back up.

 

[Storybook Farm]

Thanks for that response, @Blooie. I have a couple of “finer point” questions... forgive me if you’ve already answered elsewhere...

1. Can you use shavings and/or hay just as effectively? I don’t have straw.

2. I’m a little confused between yours and Bee’s setup... Do you now advocate putting the heating pad UNDER the wire, and THEN wrapped in a garbage bag and THEN wrapped in a felt pillowcase? OR do you do the three layers and THEN secure it to (which side of) the wire?

3. If the plastic is inside the pillowcase, of course the pillowcase will be a goner from dirt/pee... so how often do you replace?

4. Do I see in your videos/comments that you are combining hatches? We hatch a week apart, and one of the big headaches is the need to proved separate spaces for each hatch. In the picture below, you see that we have long, shallow pens that we can bisect. These are new to us, and I seem to be seeing that you have found a way to combine younger and olders, or is that just when they get really big—7-8 weeks? I have found that I can combing 7-8-9-10 week olds pretty easily without mortality/pecking issues, but when they are 1-6 weeks old, it seems they must be brooded separately. Thoughts?

 

[CorvusFarm]

My first 2 brooders were "wardrobe boxes" I got from a moving company for $5. When it came time to expand, I just got a second box, cut one end out, and joined the two together. It was perfect and easy.

This time, I'm pulling out all the stops. They're in the bathroom in a closet area that is plenty big enough. I just put a piece of plywood in the door, hung my Sweeter Heater from a towel rack, put down some puppy pads on the floor and my bedding. They're happy as clams in there.