Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: Draindragon on August 26, 2012, 21:20
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Confusion strikes.
We have 3 new chicks hatched yesterday. We have had to remove them from the mother as she still has 5 eggs to hatch and is not looking to happy.
I can get a heat mat very easily, will this work for the chicks or should i go for a lamp. It will have to be a lamp for reptiles due to the bank hols.
Help.
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How warm does the mat get? Our brooder box is heated with a bulb to about 37/8deg C to start with which is the approx tempreture that the incubator would be. We normally use a red bulb but have used normal bulbs too (and gave the chicks sunglasses :nowink:
Because its bulb heated, the chicks can move away if they are too warm or move nearer the bulb if they are too cold.
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You need a lamp, not mat. A mat would burn the chicks feet before it was warm enough to provide the necessary heat to keep them warm.
Why take them from their mother? A normal hatch takes upto three days, during which time the hen wont leave the nest.
It the hen gets up and leaves some eggs, it normally indicates that the eggs are either infertile or dead.