This is a picture of paper towels over the wood chips. the paper towels  serve a couple of purposes: 1) they are softer than the wood chips for the babies to rest on, and they are easier to clean. 2) with some creative placement of the lower layer of the paper towels the wood chips can be totally isolated from the babies. Now when ever the top layer gets soiled just remove and replace the top layer.

Here we have probably one of the most important pieces of equipment you can have for a brooder/nursery. A good thermometer. this thermometer is a swimming pool thermometer. It costs a little more, but it also is easy to clean and the babies can't hurt it nor can the thermometer harm the babies. The temperature in the brooder/nursery  should be at least between 90 to 95 for the young babies 1 week to 10 days and for the older babies it has to be above 85 degrees.

This device is for those areas that have low humidity. It is a one cup hot plate, it keeps your coffee cup warm. Below it is a plastic container this is to contain spills and to act as an insulator in the event of a short circuit. I know we probably don't have to worry about such things but we would rather err on the safe side. To increase the humidity just put a cup of warm water on the hot plate. This whole set up is placed on the other side of the divider, to keep the birds from getting into trouble with this.

We are almost done now. Here we have a couple of laundry bags stretched accross the top of the brooder/nursery. This is a good idea because this prevents anything from being dropped on the babies. Note the hot plate on the left side is completely isolated from the rest of the nursery. Also note the thermometer laying on the paper towels. The perfect place for it.

This is how we do our brooder / nursery. If you have other ideas, fine and dandy. They might even be better than what we have here. If you do have other ideas then we would appreciate it if you would share your ideas. If we do use your ideas we will publish it here and give you credit for the idea. And we just might even name our first born after you. :))