BROODER thread! Post pics of your brooders!

[cowcreekgeek]

Havin' only days 'til arrival left me w/ a case of the woulda/coulda/shoulda's, but this brooder's still got a bit of design under it's tarps!

To see the gallery > PECK HERE < (opinions welcome ~'-)​

 

[franko]

2'x10' rolled aluminum insulation works great. Stands up on it's own. Start out with ends taped together and then enlarge as peeps get bigger. Cost $9:00 at Home Depot. Just add the usual items and you have a brooder. Easy to clean and roll up when they go to the pen and save for next time. Franko

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Havin' only days 'til arrival left me w/ a case of the woulda/coulda/shoulda's, but this brooder's still got a bit of design under it's tarps!

To see the gallery > PECK HERE < (opinions welcome ~'-)​

2'x10' rolled aluminum insulation works great. Stands up on it's own. Start out with ends taped together and then enlarge as peeps get bigger. Cost $9:00 at Home Depot. Just add the usual items and you have a brooder. Easy to clean and roll up when they go to the pen and save for next time. Franko

Excellent comparison: Mine is ridiculously complicated, whereas your is ingeniously simple.
But, in my defense? Mine still cost less (as my own labor truly has no value ~'-)

 

[al4x]

mine

comprises a super safw setup!
2 lights that i use simultaneously (i have 60w/30/15w bulbs for temp control)
one heat mat controlled by thermostat
that black box with the blue lcd display is a ups.
the ups for those that dont know is like a massive battery that connects to the heat matt

so
if a bulb fuses there is a second one
if both go the heat matt will come on under the brpoder as temp drops
if we have a power cut the ups automatically supplys the heat matt with 4 hours of power. so i can get home from where ever and sort it out

ive had both bulbs fuse at same time during the night only to wake up to find the chicks huddled on heat matt! worth it! they would have died otherwise

the ups also works the same way with the incubator. just in case theres a powercut during that!

 

[cowcreekgeek]

mine

comprises a super safw setup!
2 lights that i use simultaneously (i have 60w/30/15w bulbs for temp control)
one heat mat controlled by thermostat
that black box with the blue lcd display is a ups.
the ups for those that dont know is like a massive battery that connects to the heat matt

so
if a bulb fuses there is a second one
if both go the heat matt will come on under the brpoder as temp drops
if we have a power cut the ups automatically supplys the heat matt with 4 hours of power. so i can get home from where ever and sort it out

ive had both bulbs fuse at same time during the night only to wake up to find the chicks huddled on heat matt! worth it! they would have died otherwise

the ups also works the same way with the incubator. just in case theres a powercut during that!

Thanks for helpin' me feel better, in regard to my tendency to over[think/kill/do/complicate/etc.] stuff ~'-)

A few things for you to start kickin' around, since you're clearly never gonna be fully satisfied 'til you take things further ...

1. To reduce costs, and increase both the available power and the time that it can be off, I've combined three things that most folks already have: A car battery charger, a 12v DC to 120v AC inverter, and a lawn tractor (or old car) battery.

• When the power's off, the battery powers the inverter.
• When the power's on, the charger maintains the battery.
• When the power's no longer req'd, all three are useful for other things.

To better control the power consumption and heat patterns of heat bulbs, I've wired two ceramic sockets* in series, as they're often available in limited wattages, and usually cause the chicks to form a donut directly under single bulbs.

• By wiring them in series, and using two identical bulbs, each socket has exactly 1/2 of the supply voltage (so two 250w bulbs doubles the resistance to current flow, so they produce only one half of the normal heat output).
• Using two different bulbs causes the lower wattage bulb to receive voltage in reverse proportion to the percentage of combined resistance (so a 250w bulbs barely gets warm when a 125w lamp is placed in the other socket).
• If the element of either bulb fails, it breaks the connection to the other bulb (sorta like old christmas lights ~'-)

* next, I'm gonna increase both the number of bulbs in each string, and the number of strings in each set ... less chance of goin' dark, and would further improve heat pattern.

The basic formula for calculations is Power = I x E (pie is good, so it's easy to remember), where P is power in watts, I is current in amps and E is voltage in volts, and you can >>PECK HERE<< to open a page about Ohm's Law in a new window. And, feel free to send me a message if you have any questions (and, a link when you build somethin' else ~'-)

 

[kays chicks]

this is mine , on legs , plywood with plastic sliding doors at front , normal light fittings inside on electric dimmer switch to control the temp as you can see the cat likes it on top as its warm and the dog watches the chicks . top lifts off for easy cleaning

 

[al4x]

Thanks for helpin' me feel better, in regard to my tendency to over[think/kill/do/complicate/etc.] stuff ~'-)

A few things for you to start kickin' around, since you're clearly never gonna be fully satisfied 'til you take things further ...

1. To reduce costs, and increase both the available power and the time that it can be off, I've combined three things that most folks already have: A car battery charger, a 12v DC to 120v AC inverter, and a lawn tractor (or old car) battery.

• When the power's off, the battery powers the inverter.
• When the power's on, the charger maintains the battery.
• When the power's no longer req'd, all three are useful for other things.

To better control the power consumption and heat patterns of heat bulbs, I've wired two ceramic sockets* in series, as they're often available in limited wattages, and usually cause the chicks to form a donut directly under single bulbs.

• By wiring them in series, and using two identical bulbs, each socket has exactly 1/2 of the supply voltage (so two 250w bulbs doubles the resistance to current flow, so they produce only one half of the normal heat output).
• Using two different bulbs causes the lower wattage bulb to receive voltage in reverse proportion to the percentage of combined resistance (so a 250w bulbs barely gets warm when a 125w lamp is placed in the other socket). 
• If the element of either bulb fails, it breaks the connection to the other bulb (sorta like old christmas lights ~'-)

* next, I'm gonna increase both the number of bulbs in each string, and the number of strings in each set ... less chance of goin' dark, and would further improve heat pattern.

The basic formula for calculations is Power = I x E (pie is good, so it's easy to remember), where P is power in watts, I is current in amps and E is voltage in volts, and you can >>PECK HERE<<  to open a page about Ohm's Law in a new window. And, feel free to send me a message if you have any questions (and, a link when you build somethin' else ~'-)

Thanks for that. How long will a car battery power the bulbs? My UPS is a 1500kva and since I'm away for 7 hours not enough to power the bulbs for long enough but the 14w heat mat lasts a long time!

I'll definitely be investigating some of your ideas next year. And I don'tthink iit's ott. Notwhen you have
bought tthe eggs for £20 dozen
Incubated for 23 days
And invested all the time into raising them and heart break

I'd rather go to work knowing they are safe. I know with my setup I'm safe from bulbs fusing (not rare) and power cuts.
You could have 10 bulbs but one power cut will obviously render them useless.

 

[chicklover23]

does anyone have a very simply brooder idea i could use formy chicks coming in next week?

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

What do you have around or access to? They need to be warm draft free and safe

 

[chicklover23]

have a very sturdy and small birdcage and a tall shelf to put it on