Will this work?

[KYchickadee]

Can I use one of the wire rabbit cages with a plastic bottom for a brooder? I would use two lamps to make sure it's warm on both ends. I was worried about them possibly getting out through the bars (they're 1 inch apart).

 

[TOOCLOSE]

Sure! I put window screen around the wires to keep the babies from falling out or anything crawling in!

TC

 

[KYchickadee]

I was thinking about using cardboard to keep the heat in better.

 

[TOOCLOSE]

Oh yeah that will work too! I use the red chill chaser heat bulbs on all my outside pens. But they were pens made to where it was a wooden frame with wire around it on the ground. Then I had a dog crate with hay in it for the momma and babies to sleep in. I had heavy duty plastic wrapped around the rest of the wire.

TC

 

[aart]

Be careful of cardboard and heat lamps.
One end of the brooder should be cooler than the other.

Is the brooder inside the house or outside?



Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:
They need to be pretty warm(~85F on the brooder floor right under the lamp) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker integration to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later i still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.

 

[KYchickadee]

The brooder will be indoors. I had thought about having my dad attach the lamp to the wire on the top of the cage itself so it couldn't slide. Then I had actually considered a dimmer to increase or decrease the heat, as you mentioned. I thought this would be good though, as it gives them more room to move around when they're bigger, and the edges are already rounded so none will get squished into a corner.

 

[Madddawg]

I have my brooder on a thermostatically controlled outlet set at 90 Degrees (the highest it will go) It tuns on at 88 and off at 90. Works great.

 

[KYchickadee]

Do you know what brand your thermostat is? We have hedgehogs too and my mom's thermostat (even though it's the same brand as my two) isn't very reliable.

 

[Madddawg]

This where I got it from. Very reasonable priced. Works for heating and cooling

http://www.amazon.com/Lux-Heating-Cooling-Programmable-Thermostat/dp/B000E7NYY8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1423320060&sr=8-2&keywords=thermostatic+outlets

 

[KYchickadee]

Ooooooh. Cool.