MAMA Heating Pad....I'm getting cold feet!

[lazy gardener]

I'm about to get some chicks in the mail. I have a heat lamp with 150w ceramic bulb and automatic shutoff. I have to get it pretty low to get to the 95 degree mark. But there is plenty of room for the chicks to get under safely. My question is, will having food and water on the cool side hurt anything in these first few days?

You NEED to have the food and water on the cool side of the brooder. And, I can't stress enough the absolute importance of having the brooder be big enough to allow the chicks to HAVE a cool end. With my first batch of chicks, I used a heat lamp, and faithfully checked the temps. I had a dimmer switch. Yet, shortly after doing a temp check, I walked into the living room to find my chicks panting. The temp under the heat lamp had risen to 110*F. CRISIS situation. If I had not walked into the room at that time, I have no doubt that those chicks would have died.

Thank you @Blooie for introducing me to MHP. I am convinced that I will never use a heat lamp again, as long as it is in my power to have a functioning heating pad. IMO, the fact that feed stores push the 250W heat lamp on unsuspecting customers is unethical. IMO, they see the heat lamp as yet an other quick easy sale to boost their revenue during chick season. A 250W lamp is simply not appropriate to use in a heated home. It becomes even more dangerous when set up in a rubbermaid tote

The place where a 250W heat lamp is appropriate: when brooding large numbers of chicks in a LARGE BROODER in an unheated area.

 

[poulet2016]

Thank you everyone, for your insight and words of encouragement! Since it is supposed to be pouring tomorrow and the day after here and quite cold, I've decided to set up the chicks with the MHP in my garage or basement..see how everyone is doing and then set them up in the the coop this weekend when I have more of a chance to set up in the coop just right with the MHP. I will keep you posted. @Blooie I truly thank you for your insightful articles and info! I am really excited to raise these chicks in a more natural way and hoping the integration with the rest of my girls will be much, much easier.
Thanks again everyone!!

 

[Blooie]

I’m sure folks get tired of me saying this, but the bottom line is you have to go what you think will work best. You are there, I am not, and you know your setup, your situation, and your personal comfort zone far better than I do. I don’t think starting them in the garage or basement is a bad idea, given the weather and the fact that this is all new to you. As I mentioned, I don’t put them out for the first day or so either.

Good luck! Keep us posted. There is always someone over on the MHP thread to help if you run into a problem. And between @aart, @lazy gardener and all of the other people who use it and are willing to share what they know, I think you’re going to be pleasantly surprised. Shoot, @aart was doing this for over a year before I was!

LG -

 

[blackdog043]

I am really excited to raise these chicks in a more natural way and hoping the integration with the rest of my girls will be much, much easier.

I raised my last 9 chicks in an unheated coop with the MHP, with temps that you have now. I used a dog x pen and crate hooked together. When they were 4 weeks old, I started integrating them with a panic door.(the cardboard panel with the holes cut out) This has been the easiest way to raise and integrate them and the only way I will be doing it from now on. My chicks are 7 weeks old right now. You got this!

just to add, I did have them in my garage the first couple days, to keep an eye on them better. Then off to the coop! When integrating, the chicks got a peck here and there but nothing more than that. Give them some hiding places in the coop and run when you start integrating. Pieces of plywood or small pallet leaned up against a wall, just somewhere they can get to but the big girls can't, besides the panic door.

 

[poulet2016]

I raised my last 9 chicks in an unheated coop with the MHP, with temps that you have now. I used a dog x pen and crate hooked together. When they were 4 weeks old, I started integrating them with a panic door.(the cardboard panel with the holes cut out) This has been the easiest way to raise and integrate them and the only way I will be doing it from now on. My chicks are 7 weeks old right now. You got this!

just to add, I did have them in my garage the first couple days, to keep an eye on them better. Then off to the coop! When integrating, the chicks got a peck here and there but nothing more than that. Give them some hiding places in the coop and run when you start integrating. Pieces of plywood or small pallet leaned up against a wall, just somewhere they can get to but the big girls can't, besides the panic door.

View attachment 1346116 View attachment 1346124

That is such a cool set up! Thanks for the pictures. Excited to get this going!

 

[poulet2016]

They are home and happy under the MHP in the basement right now...will put them out on Saturday in the coop! I'll keep you updated!

 

[poulet2016]

Happy to report the girls made it out to the coop this morning and seemed happy and comfortable all day long- they venture out from the MHP to play and eat and drink and then they go back in to warm up. I'm a little nervous since this is their first night out there and it's in the 40s.. but...I think they're going to be fine! I checked on them and hour ago and all was silent and they were all tucked in. Thanks again for all the help and suggestions earlier!

 

[blackdog043]

They will be fine, all's quiet or contented peeping are good signs that they are happy. Now just pay attention to them, for the signs when to turn down the heat a notch. By the third or fourth week they may start to hang out on top more than underneath, that's totally normal.(even at night) Does your pad have numbers or low, med, high? If numbers turn it down 1 number every week.

 

[poulet2016]

good to hear- my heating pad is only low, medium and high. It's on high now- I can bump it to medium next week (actually it was on medium when they were in the house for the past 2 days, but I figured it's cold outside they could use the high tonight. ) I will keep an eye out and slowly start weaning them off it. It's supposed to warm up quite a bit next week which is really good news!

 

[aart]

Happy to report the girls made it out to the coop this morning and seemed happy and comfortable all day long- they venture out from the MHP to play and eat and drink and then they go back in to warm up.

WooHoo!!
Are those cloth diapers on top?
Can we see an end view?