Brooding an Eyas.

[BestBeagler]

Could all of you that have/are raising an eyas give me some pointers and advice when it comes to brooding and eyas? Pictures would be nice to. Thanks, Isaac

[Lee Slikkers]

how about under your armpit fishslap

[wesleyc6]

Could all of you that have/are raising an eyas give me some pointers and advice when it comes to brooding and eyas? Pictures would be nice to. Thanks, Isaac


The easiest way is a box(large shoe box size) with a lightbulb hanging down. Just a plug-in cheapy drop light is perfect. Cut the cord in half. Wire a dimmer in the middle. Put the dimmer in the middle position. Plug it up and hang your light. Put a thermo in the hottest spot which should be on one end. Change the heigth you hang the bulb until you hit the temp you are aiming for. Don't move the bulb again. Adjust the dimmer to din tune it until you get it to the point you want. The chick can move away if they are a little warm.

[BestBeagler]

how about under your armpit fishslap

Good one Lee! :) Isaac

[BestBeagler]

The easiest way is a box(large shoe box size) with a lightbulb hanging down. Just a plug-in cheapy drop light is perfect. Cut the cord in half. Wire a dimmer in the middle. Put the dimmer in the middle position. Plug it up and hang your light. Put a thermo in the hottest spot which should be on one end. Change the heigth you hang the bulb until you hit the temp you are aiming for. Don't move the bulb again. Adjust the dimmer to din tune it until you get it to the point you want. The chick can move away if they are a little warm.

Thanks Wes. What kind of temperature am I looking for? Red light or white light is there a difference? Isaac

[BestBeagler]

Is there another meathod to use besides using a light and your armpit? Isaac

[FredFogg]

I took a heating pad, wrapped it around a Bottle of water and then wrapped all of that around a towel and put it at the end of my plastic container that I kept my eyas in. She would go down to that end and sleep up against the towel and move away when she got to hot.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii68/FredrickFogg/IMG_0036.jpg

[BestBeagler]

I took a heating pad, wrapped it around a Bottle of water and then wrapped all of that around a towel and put it at the end of my plastic container that I kept my eyas in. She would go down to that end and sleep up against the towel and move away when she got to hot.

Fred, perfect. Is this all you used and she seemed warm enoungh? Do you think if I got one that was younger then the one you pulled that it would be warm enough with this setup? Where did you get the heating pad and how much did it cost? Thanks, Isaac

[FredFogg]

Fred, perfect. Is this all you used and she seemed warm enoungh? Do you think if I got one that was younger then the one you pulled that it would be warm enough with this setup? Where did you get the heating pad and how much did it cost? Thanks, Isaac

Isaac, as you can see in the picture, Inya was about 2 days old when I pulled her, hard to get one any younger than that unless you help it out of the egg. LOL I had gotten the heating pad at a Wal-Green, actually for me, as I pulled a muscle in my back. I was told to do it this way so I just got it out of the closet. I can't remember how much it cost, but I can assure you, if you stay in falconry long enough, you will need a heating pad anyways. LOL. This was all I used, I actually put a towel over the top of the plastic container and covered it half way to hold the heat in at one end for about the first week. After that, I just left it open and she was able to move away from the heat when she wanted. As you can see in the pictures, I put some rolled up socks in to try and keep her near the heat those first few days because I was afraid she would venture away and get to cold. But I was worrying over nothing, she stayed close to it and moved when needed.

[goshawks00]

Issac for a single bird the way Wes recommended, is about as simple and fool proof as it gets. Be careful of temp flucuations esp. from day time to night time.
Start at 97-8 degrees and plan on decreasing the temp about 1/2 degree for a week. Once you see the gray down instead of white... figure it's about 12 days by then ( I think you were talking about a coop)..it will be well on the way to self regulating it's own temp...

A few things to watch for :

..if cold it will huddle up , head tucked under it's body... may shiver and cry because of discomfort.... raise temp( ALWAYS, no wait..ALWAYS keep an accurate thermometer at the same level as the chick).

.. if to warm it will lay with wings and legs stretched out , may pant , and cry because of discomfort.... change temp lower to help it cool down...

... also PLEASE make sure it gets small bone from 3 days age on... best bone I've found was the toes off what you are feeding... cut small( like BB size), with sharp toenails cut off., next best is the soft gristle part of the breast bone... not the keel itself but the lower extremes of it. Watch for any sharp bones... if not it's about as good as any way to kill or at a minimum put your baby off it's food. Also another good bone source is mouse bone , for the most part they are soft and easily cut and digested... third choice ... powder scraped of a parakeet cuttle bone, ground to powder and sprinkled on food. BTW always soak food in warm water, both so the digestive system of the baby isn't shocked by cold water, and just as important , it will help keep the chick hydrated.

Here's something else I've always done...

Being that I've had the priviledge to help feed numerous gos chicks , I have noticed a phenom... not mentioned before. The gos will salivate profusely when feeding their chicks , esp. early on... talking to a vet friend he thought the the hawk has a built in mechanism to transfer
enzymes to the newly hatched chick through the saliva,to promote bacteria for digestion purposes in the gut. So being a curious kind of guy I ask the vet how to substitute this and was told we have the same enzymes in our saliva. So.. now, and for the last 100 + chicks , I have always spit in the palm of my CLEAN hand and fed the first few bites of meat with enzymes added to newly hatched chicks....
Does it help.... who knows ... but I also do know I haven't lost any because of it either , and it makes perfect sense to me and at least several vets I'm talked to about this with... Guys... just something to ponder.
.02
Barry

[Zoe Jones]

I use a bog standard heat lamp for small babies. Just watch them, they soon let you know if they are too hot or too cold and the sooner they are off heat the better. The british peregrine I'm raising at the moment only had heat over her in the evenings by nine days old and had no heat at all by eleven days. It's all down to your local weather and keeping an eye on the baby.

[BestBeagler]

Barry,
Thanks for taking the time to wright that all up. That was just what I was looking for thanks. Isaac

[BestBeagler]

I use a bog standard heat lamp for small babies. Just watch them, they soon let you know if they are too hot or too cold and the sooner they are off heat the better. The british peregrine I'm raising at the moment only had heat over her in the evenings by nine days old and had no heat at all by eleven days. It's all down to your local weather and keeping an eye on the baby.

Thanks for the advice. I see it's your first post. Welcome to NAFEX. Isaac

[John]

Wow, Barry. Great little tidbits of info in there!

[Zoe Jones]

Thanks for the advice. I see it's your first post. Welcome to NAFEX. Isaac

Thanks Isaac, was posting an intro at the same time but this one was listed first. Good luck with your eyas!

[Chris L.]

Barry great idea on the saliva. I am sure it does help get the gut going on the new chick..

Isaac,
I will snap a pic of my brooder tonight. It uses a light bulb on a dimmer swithc. I do keep a thermomter in it but I do as barry does. I just watch the chicks.. they will tell you how hot or cold it is. Make slight adjustments as it only takes a few degrees to get it right.

Also, have it running a few day in advance to make sure the ambient air is nice and warm so you dont have huge temp fluctuations.

All of the above is very important for a newly hatched chick but you can have a less stable environment for a older chick. But the more stable the better for any age.

[hcf]

hi guys,
you can also get a dull emmiter bulb that gives off heat but not light. they come in various wattages. you can also hang a red bulb up too.

andy

[tumble]

Being that I've had the priviledge to help feed numerous gos chicks , I have noticed a phenom... not mentioned before. The gos will salivate profusely when feeding their chicks , esp. early on... talking to a vet friend he thought the the hawk has a built in mechanism to transfer
enzymes to the newly hatched chick through the saliva,to promote bacteria for digestion purposes in the gut.

There are enzymes on the market for people with digestive problems. I wonder if any of these would be useful.