# Homemade brooder



## Seijun (Apr 14, 2010)

*Homemade chick brooder*

I thought I would post this for anyone who might be interested. This is a little brooder I made for Fij the dove, now 10 days old. The most expensive part was the heating. Please note that I am a novice, and am not an expert at this sort of thing.










The main compartment is a thin metal pot from a large rice cooker, complete with glass lid. I found it out by the trash, but you might be able to find something like this at a goodwill, yard sale, or from a very compassionate friend or relative. Actually, any large metal pot will do so long as it's deep enough and has a see-through lid. The lid I am using has a small hole on one side, but I went ahead and propped the lid open with two pieces of stiff cardboard just to be safe. It gets too stuffy in there otherwise. 
I wrapped the outside of the pot with tinfoil and a small towel to help hold in heat (as the bird feathers out I will remove the towel and foil). All of this is placed on top of a very low-heat heating strip for reptile terrariums. Heat strips can be a little pricey and in this setup probably aren't even necessary, but I liked it because it gives a little added warmth to the underside of the bird. The pot and heat strip are placed on top of another small towel inside a large cooking pan because I have a phobia of house-fires. It also makes it easier to move everything around.
For the main heat source, I purchased a lightless 60w ceramic heat emitter and screwed it into a small clip-on light fixture (right). The heat emitter, being lightless, stays on 24/7, as does the heat strip. 
The actual nest is a plastic bowl with some paper towels and straw. This is housed inside the pot with a single sheet of paper towel between the bowl and the bottom of the pot. I lightly dampen the corners of the extra paper towel to provide humidity. I would have preferred to use a small dish of water for humidity but there wasn't enough room. 
The finishing touch is my little digital thermometer. The sensor is on the end of a 2.5' long cord, so I can place it in the nest and check the temp remotely. 

If you wanted to go all-out, you could also buy a temperature controller. I would recommend it for an extremely young bird since the temp of my setup does fluctuate by several degrees (+/- 3 or 4) during the day and night, which would probably not be good for an infant. I didn't move Fij into this brooder until he was 9 days old. Before that, I kept him in an incubator. I could have moved him in a little sooner, but I wanted to wait until he was a bit less fragile since I didn't know how well all of this would work. He seems much more content/calmer in his new home.

Alternatively, you could just use a cardboard box with a warm lightbulb as described over at diamonddove to keep chicks warm. It probably works just as well and is a lot cheaper. I felt more comfortable with my setup because I can see the chick better and I have a little more control over the heat. Fij will only be living in this brooder until he fledges (about a week more).

Not shown in my picture is the webcam I hooked up so I can keep an eye on the chick and thermometer while I am at work. Also makes you very popular with coworkers.

Suggestions for improvement are welcome. 

Cheers!


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## doveone52 (Aug 3, 2009)

Very innovative! Seems like it's working well for Fij and the webcam is a great idea!


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