Will this work as Hatcher / Brooder???

[WVduckchick]

Sweet! Good luck! Quail are fun to watch hatch.

 

[hailstorm97]

This is it without the wood im worried they'll bang their heads ontop and knock off the lamp into the cage- main reason for covering up top. You're right though, it could reduce airflow and make it too hot...

 

[hailstorm97]

WVduckchick -Thanks very much! First hatch. Took me weeks to perfect the incubator I feel like.

 

[WVduckchick]

Oh, I thought the screen covered the whole thing. My fault. You definitely want the whole thing covered. I made a frame from some scrap pieces of wood and stapled welded wire to it. It's got enough weight alone. Could you do something like that?

 

[hailstorm97]

Not with any tools I have currently, but I'm sure I can figure it out its 2.5 - 3 ft tall do you think they will be able to jump out?-Note they are being moved to a rabbit hutch style setup as soon as they build a tolerance to lower temps. I originally planned on moving the wood piece off of it more and more to slowly trap less heat over time as they need less heat, but still wanted a good sized screened portion to allow set amount of airflow initially

 

[WVduckchick]

I think you will just have to experiment as they grow. But I do remember them being very "adventurous", very quickly! Lol

Maybe someone else will chime in with better ideas than me.

I hope you will post some pics when they hatch.

 

[hailstorm97]

Of course! Lol I find myself on BYC everyday lately, believe me I'm gonna go nuts when these chicks come zippin out! XD

 

[yellowherb]

I use a 3 ft long clear plastic bin with a 40watt desk lamp. Wood shavings on the bottom and I have a mama heating pad set up in there too for the chicks who want dark and want to feel like they are under mom's wings. This has worked for button quail, coturnix and chickens. I use the bin cover on the brooder since I keep them inside the house in the A/C. The bin box has some holes drilled in the side for ventilation and I also have a 6" square cut out of the lid with a plastic mesh taped in for even more ventilation.

Light bulbs are changing and it's getting hard to find a true 40watt bulb. We have been having to go with 60watts which equates to the power usage of 36 or 38 (can't recall off the top of my head). It's slightly cooler than the true old 40watts but they have the heating pad cave for backup.

Be very careful with how high wattage of a bulb you use with the little bin box. While your setup is taller than mine I have used a slightly larger bin box like yours. We had to enclose it more to keep the quail warm enough with the desk lamp.


this is mine without the lid. I slide the lid up to the clip on the light and it's good to go. Forgive the mess, just put the chicks outside yesterday and was too busy to clean the brooder today.

 

[hailstorm97]

Yes, that would be a very ideal setup. However, I am doing all of this on a close to nothing budget. Mistly everything I've build is just sanitized recycled or reused things. I will spend good money on nutrition and health though. I have a nice warm, ammonia resistant, moisture absorbant paper substrate that I will change often in their separate larger home (for when they out grow the rubbermaid). I like the dark solid color rubbermaids because I feel as though the chicks could peck at their reflections, or jump/run into the wall not knowing otherwise. In the hatcher/ Brooder I'll be using towels for the first few days so that the little babies will get lots of help with their footing from the very beginning. I have many clean garage sale towels to use so I can always keep it clean for em. These little guys are gonna be like family lol <3

 

[hailstorm97]

I took a large screen off of my mesh chameleon breeding pin (not using it yet, so maybe until chicks get transfered). Could it work?