Mama Heating Pad in the Brooder (Picture Heavy) - UPDATE

[SandyRiverChick]

Bumping up for chick season

Mine get here any minute today!!! Turning my MHP on right now....

 

[Eleos]

So glad to have found the mama heating pad idea as I always like to keep things as natural as possible without making it so complicated. Chickens have lived long before electricity and precise temperature guidelines so I knew mine would be good if I could somehow imitate a mama hen.
I got my dozen chicks last week and started them outside in their brooder inside the coop. I was tempted to start them in the house just to be able to keep an eye on them to make sure it would work, but decided against that with the thought of having to transfer everything outside. Too much work! I just had to trust it was going to work. And it has...for the most part. As far as heat goes, they're doing great. One morning I went out to check on them and the coop was down to 28°F! but they were comfy cozy under the pad. It warmed up quickly during the day to around 40 or 50° and they were coming and going under the pad, curious to get acquainted with their surroundings.
Unfortunately, I've lost 3 chicks in the first week. I'm not sure exactly why one of them died. The day after I put them in the brooder I found one of the chicks had managed to get underneath the top blanket (draped over the heating pad) and on top of the mama hen cage getting her leg caught in the wire. Not sure how long she had been like that but I gently removed her leg and she seemed to be fine. I also duck taped the top of the wire cage so that would never happen again. A few days later I noticed one of the chicks was very weak, couldn't stand up, dragged itself under the pad and just laid there. I can't be sure but I'm guessing this was the one who got stuck. I tried to get her to eat and drink but she was dead by morning.
The other two I found under the pad (at separate times) and they looked squished to death, like they were smothered. After I found the first one I tried to adjust the height of the pad to give them more room but after the second one died I'm wondering if there's a limit of how many birds can comfortably fit under the pad, especially as they get bigger. Has anyone else had this problem? I bought the 12"x15" Sunbeam heating pad so that's about how big my mama hen is. Was 12 chicks too much for that size? For the record I haven't notice pasty butt on any of them so I don't think that would've caused any of the deaths. Thanks for any suggestions or advice.

 

[RoyalChick]

So glad to have found the mama heating pad idea as I always like to keep things as natural as possible without making it so complicated. Chickens have lived long before electricity and precise temperature guidelines so I knew mine would be good if I could somehow imitate a mama hen.
I got my dozen chicks last week and started them outside in their brooder inside the coop. I was tempted to start them in the house just to be able to keep an eye on them to make sure it would work, but decided against that with the thought of having to transfer everything outside. Too much work! I just had to trust it was going to work. And it has...for the most part. As far as heat goes, they're doing great. One morning I went out to check on them and the coop was down to 28°F! but they were comfy cozy under the pad. It warmed up quickly during the day to around 40 or 50° and they were coming and going under the pad, curious to get acquainted with their surroundings.
Unfortunately, I've lost 3 chicks in the first week. I'm not sure exactly why one of them died. The day after I put them in the brooder I found one of the chicks had managed to get underneath the top blanket (draped over the heating pad) and on top of the mama hen cage getting her leg caught in the wire. Not sure how long she had been like that but I gently removed her leg and she seemed to be fine. I also duck taped the top of the wire cage so that would never happen again. A few days later I noticed one of the chicks was very weak, couldn't stand up, dragged itself under the pad and just laid there. I can't be sure but I'm guessing this was the one who got stuck. I tried to get her to eat and drink but she was dead by morning.
The other two I found under the pad (at separate times) and they looked squished to death, like they were smothered. After I found the first one I tried to adjust the height of the pad to give them more room but after the second one died I'm wondering if there's a limit of how many birds can comfortably fit under the pad, especially as they get bigger. Has anyone else had this problem? I bought the 12"x15" Sunbeam heating pad so that's about how big my mama hen is. Was 12 chicks too much for that size? For the record I haven't notice pasty butt on any of them so I don't think that would've caused any of the deaths. Thanks for any suggestions or advice.

Sorry to hear about your losses. I use a brooder plate which is the same principle as a MHP. I find it important to set it at an angle so everyone can decide how close to the heat they want to be, and also to make sure that there is easy exit on at least 3 sides.
I hope someone with more experience will weigh in on the size - it sounds a bit tight to me, but I have only ever brooded 5 chicks at a time.

 

[fuzzi]

So glad to have found the mama heating pad idea as I always like to keep things as natural as possible without making it so complicated. Chickens have lived long before electricity and precise temperature guidelines so I knew mine would be good if I could somehow imitate a mama hen.
I got my dozen chicks last week and started them outside in their brooder inside the coop. I was tempted to start them in the house just to be able to keep an eye on them to make sure it would work, but decided against that with the thought of having to transfer everything outside. Too much work! I just had to trust it was going to work. And it has...for the most part. As far as heat goes, they're doing great. One morning I went out to check on them and the coop was down to 28°F! but they were comfy cozy under the pad. It warmed up quickly during the day to around 40 or 50° and they were coming and going under the pad, curious to get acquainted with their surroundings.
Unfortunately, I've lost 3 chicks in the first week. I'm not sure exactly why one of them died. The day after I put them in the brooder I found one of the chicks had managed to get underneath the top blanket (draped over the heating pad) and on top of the mama hen cage getting her leg caught in the wire. Not sure how long she had been like that but I gently removed her leg and she seemed to be fine. I also duck taped the top of the wire cage so that would never happen again. A few days later I noticed one of the chicks was very weak, couldn't stand up, dragged itself under the pad and just laid there. I can't be sure but I'm guessing this was the one who got stuck. I tried to get her to eat and drink but she was dead by morning.
The other two I found under the pad (at separate times) and they looked squished to death, like they were smothered. After I found the first one I tried to adjust the height of the pad to give them more room but after the second one died I'm wondering if there's a limit of how many birds can comfortably fit under the pad, especially as they get bigger. Has anyone else had this problem? I bought the 12"x15" Sunbeam heating pad so that's about how big my mama hen is. Was 12 chicks too much for that size? For the record I haven't notice pasty butt on any of them so I don't think that would've caused any of the deaths. Thanks for any suggestions or advice.

Sorry to hear about your lost chicks. I brooded twice outside with my MHP, didn't lose any but one did get its head stuck in the wire frame. I was able to free it without injury.

I recommend keeping the sides open as others have suggested, and elevating the front.

 

[azygous]

Twelve chicks is too many for one pad. I use two side-by-side for more than six chicks. They do pile and the ones on the bottom will suffocate. I had a chick get caught between the wire frame and the pad. So I made an envelope to enclose the pad and frame and I stitched it closed so no gaps would trap a chick.

When a chick is trapped and immobilized, it can go into shock. Treating any chick with sugar water after such a stress episode might save its life.

 

[junior67]

So glad to have found the mama heating pad idea as I always like to keep things as natural as possible without making it so complicated. Chickens have lived long before electricity and precise temperature guidelines so I knew mine would be good if I could somehow imitate a mama hen.
I got my dozen chicks last week and started them outside in their brooder inside the coop. I was tempted to start them in the house just to be able to keep an eye on them to make sure it would work, but decided against that with the thought of having to transfer everything outside. Too much work! I just had to trust it was going to work. And it has...for the most part. As far as heat goes, they're doing great. One morning I went out to check on them and the coop was down to 28°F! but they were comfy cozy under the pad. It warmed up quickly during the day to around 40 or 50° and they were coming and going under the pad, curious to get acquainted with their surroundings.
Unfortunately, I've lost 3 chicks in the first week. I'm not sure exactly why one of them died. The day after I put them in the brooder I found one of the chicks had managed to get underneath the top blanket (draped over the heating pad) and on top of the mama hen cage getting her leg caught in the wire. Not sure how long she had been like that but I gently removed her leg and she seemed to be fine. I also duck taped the top of the wire cage so that would never happen again. A few days later I noticed one of the chicks was very weak, couldn't stand up, dragged itself under the pad and just laid there. I can't be sure but I'm guessing this was the one who got stuck. I tried to get her to eat and drink but she was dead by morning.
The other two I found under the pad (at separate times) and they looked squished to death, like they were smothered. After I found the first one I tried to adjust the height of the pad to give them more room but after the second one died I'm wondering if there's a limit of how many birds can comfortably fit under the pad, especially as they get bigger. Has anyone else had this problem? I bought the 12"x15" Sunbeam heating pad so that's about how big my mama hen is. Was 12 chicks too much for that size? For the record I haven't notice pasty butt on any of them so I don't think that would've caused any of the deaths. Thanks for any suggestions or advice.

I have a 12x24 MHP and have had 18-24 chicks under it at a time and haven't had any issues. It is open on all 4 sides so they can get out and put at an angle.

Sorry for the loss of your chicks. Not sure what happened.

 

[azygous]

The people who brood a dozen or more chicks under a heating pad will leave it open on three sides so the piled-on chicks can "squirt" out the sides instead of being squashed.

 

[aart]

Twelve chicks is too many for one pad.

Depends on the size of the pad and the shape of it

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome!
So sorry for your losses, and I agree that open on all sides, and higher on one side than the other, works best. And I like to have plenty of space, so a larger brooder plate is also good.
Also, the chicks we've ordered from cackle, so they are shipped and stressed, are under a heat lamp for a couple of days, as recommended by the hatchery. We too lost a couple of chicks the first time we used a brooder plate, which was actually too hot for them until we adjusted it's temperature.
Mary

 

[Eleos]

The people who brood a dozen or more chicks under a heating pad will leave it open on three sides so the piled-on chicks can "squirt" out the sides instead of being squashed.

I tried to do my research on sizing but nobody seemed to have any suggestions about that and I never saw anyone with a bigger heating pad than mine or anyone that doubled it. I was going to use the heating plate I bought that said it would hold more than 12 chicks but it was smaller than the pad I'm using now, so I'm glad I didn't.
I do have it open on both sides and one side is a little lower than the other, so they have two ways to get out, but I see the wisdom in having more "escapes" now. I'll try to modify what I have to allow them to get out from the sides as well. Thanks for the comment!