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

[PaisyQ]

Had a bad experience last night/this morning, and wanted to share, mainly so others can maybe learn from my mistakes.

Very, very early this morning one of the chicks started chirping, loudly. Since my bedroom shares a wall with the brooder room, it was easy to hear. I went in to check and see what was up, but didn't turn the overhead light on, only a little night light I have in there, so my visability of things wasn't that great. All the chicks were under MHP, but I couldn't really see under there, but noticed the cheeping chick sounded like it was on the left side. I carefully felt under, came to the conclusion that all of the chicks were on the right side, save the noise maker, and figured she was missing her buddies, so gently moved her over by them. Went back to bed, cheeping stopped, so thought everything was well and good.

Couple hours later my alarm went off, and I went back to check on the chicks. 8 of the 12 came out immediately to greet me when I turned the overhead light on. Other 4 didn't show themselves, so I peeked under to see what they were up to. Didn't see any of them. At which point I panicked, which may have made things worse, I don't know. I started to pick up MHP. There were 3 chicks in the back left corner; two seemed to have found there way to the outside, and were trapped between the wall of the brooder and MHP. The third had somehow become caught underneath the back support. I was using a piece of old fencing, much like the one Blooie uses, except I had it bent to create a flat top, instead of bending it into a cave configuration, because space limitations I found a little late in the game. I also noticed, that the spot the chick was caught under did not sit level in the brooder, but was raised a bit off the floor. I didn't notice this before, I'm thinking maybe because I set it up right away covered with the outer towel, so in the future I'll be doing a check on everything before I cover it up completely. The fourth chick somehow found a way to get under the dog pads I'm temporarily using for their bedding.

All chicks are alive, thankfully. The little one who was caught got scraped up a bit, and may have some trouble with one wing. But he is acting normal, and eating and drinking fine.

Made some emergency modifications to MHP, and am looking at doing more. Purchased a small shelf after work today. It's narrower, so has more room between MHP and the sides of the brooder, and has 4 thin little feet, so hopefully it'll be harder to get stuck under. Taller, too, which I don't like, but that can't be helped, and the chicks seem fine with it right now. I attached one of those cube grates things to it, because it was too narrow to hold the heating pad completely on it's own.






Anyway, I know we all love MHP; and I still do. I just want to share my experience so hopefully no one else has to make the same mistakes I did.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Sorry, accidentally quoted that last one

 

[aart]

4sqft is minimum IMO.

First Pip, whohoo!!!

 

[Blooie]

@PaisyQ I'm so glad that it all turned out alright, and we appreciate you taking the time to share what happened and what you did to correct it! Things like this are the reason that some are configuring their setup so it's less of a cave - open in the back so any that get trapped can find their way back out. I haven't run into this, and so I'll continue to use mine as a cave, closed off in the back, but remember that I brood my chicks outdoors from the start so I like having the warmth kinda of held in all the way around except the front, and even there I have the awning that comes down.

@aart I'm all excited for you!! Keep us posted and share some photos, if you would be so kind!

 

[dyorto]

I was gonna say that beat me to it, been Blooie'd LOL

But yeah, I go by 4 sq ft too. Some people will say 2 is fine but imo nope. Others say (which I never heard until recently) that the 4 sq ft is for leghorn sized birds and bigger dual purpose breeds need even more room but don't know.

I am going to go by 4 sq ft inside the coop and 10 sq ft outside in the run.

But that also ofteb assumes they'll be let out. If they're confined they might need more.

I have 8 22 week old pullets in just a 3x3 coop kit from TSC and 6x12 chainlink dog kennel but the coop is in the middle of it so it's fairly broken up. They have been in there since around 7 weeks so it was fine as chicks but now it is REALLY not big enough. We are hoping to build a much bigger coop and run asap. I was thinking 4x8 coop (actual coop not coop/run combination like you often see advertised) but I may just go 8x8 or buy a prefab shed. There were a couple on sale at Lowe's right now for pretty cheap for the size but that's for do it yourself, installed it's still over 1000 so I was thinking since we'd have to build it ourself anyways we may as well just get the materials and build a better quality one from scratch. I was thinking though I might as well go bigger. 8x8 or 8x12, something like that. My dad initially thought even 4x8 was big but now realizes that we may as well just go bigger partially cause my uncle said it.

Bigger is easier because it means less work for you. Less cleaning, less behavior and health problems, happier birds, etc.

For 4x8 the max is 8 and like I said, for bigger birds that might be a bit tight. I have 1 Barred Rock, 2 Black Australorps, 3 Buff Orpingtons, and 2 Easter Eggers.

For 6x8 I would say no more than 12 and even that could get tight. Some will say though that you can cram 24 birds in there but I would never do it even free ranging.

Also I know you have to calculate for feeder, waterer, and nest box space but honestly personally for me I would put the food and water outside and have nest boxes accessible from outside as well. That frees up a lot of space. You can,also add shelves and vertical space to squeeze more square footage in but I'd still stick to 12-15.

Thanks. Nesting boxes would be on the outside, and 12 birds would be the max probably. I have 6 now. Will mostly likely add a few over time. So I think I'll go with the 6x8

 

[beautifulpirate]

How do you deal with the constant cheeping noise? Man, I'm just now not hearing it when it's quiet LOL! I thought I would eventually tune it out...nope

We are brooding inside too and they seem pretty quiet for the most part. They chirp throughout the day but just soft gentle ones. Unless they are chasing each other for treats and then its hilarious and loud.

 

[koopmaster]

Blooie
GREAT idea, and thank you for sharing

 

[ShrekDawg]

Thanks. Nesting boxes would be on the outside, and 12 birds would be the max probably. I have 6 now. Will mostly likely add a few over time. So I think I'll go with the 6x8

Sounds like a great plan!!! We have 8 now so in a similar boat except that starting with 2 less birds you have a little bit more room to expand. I mostly just want a couple breeds that they didn't have at the time but have heard eventually I'll have mostly non layers, whicb I forgot about, so makes no sense to add more now so, as hard as it is, will probably wait a few years. still hoping to expand eventually though. I think the 6x8 is definitely a good size. Gotta plan for chicken math

 

[Blooie]

Thanks, @koopmaster ...can't take credit for it, though. I got the idea from a video by Patrice Lopatin, and I told hubby then and there that I would never brood chicks in the house again! Soon afterward I found a thread by my friend @Beekissed who used a heating pad in an incubation experiment and it just cemented my determination. Then we had a broody hatched chick who was injured and had to come in the house to recover, and that marked the first time I ever used the heating pad. I was sold! In fact, when he went back out to the coop, we just moved his entire brooder out there, formed the heating pad cave, and he thrived, even with no other chicks to cuddle with when it was 4 below zero. I've never looked back. I was just the one who had some spare time and decided to use it to start this thread. The thread, and the people who are now using Mama Heating Pad, are the ones who make it work!

Um, you know that if you decide to use this and join the Broody Brigade, your membership dues are photos of your setup/chicks!

And welcome to BYC!

 

[mobius]

@Blooie how did you like my suggestions for questionnaire?