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

[aart]

I'm beginning to wonder if I've maybe got a set of really ... erm...intellectually challenged chicks. They're 18 days old, been using MHP for about 11 days. When they were inside, we'd try really hard to keep the lighting in the room "natural" and help them under the heating pad at bedtime. They started getting the hang of it after 3 or 4 nights. On Saturday, I moved them outside to a 3'x8' run within the run where my big girls live. The weather was great and they had a blast. They'd occasionally nap on top of the pad, but never under it. My outside setup is very similar to Blooie's in the original post - heating pad cave covered in straw with some straw bedding inside.

Both nights I've gone out right around dusk to make sure they went to bed. Both times they were huddled in the corner of their coop, cheeping furiously - presumably getting chilly (I won't flatter myself by saying they missed me). I had to force them under the heating pad and obscure the opening with straw to keep them inside - they kept coming out trying to huddle down underneath me. Saturday night I was out there regularly until after 3AM checking on them. Last night bedtime was the same story, but I only checked on them once after dark, at 11, and they were still inside. Everyone was alive and well this morning.

My heating pad is set to level 2 (3 level pad). As I mentioned the cave is higher on one side and tapers down to lower on the other so they have a range of places to hunker down. Tonight it's supposed to get down to 30 and I worry they'll wander out and freeze. Am I just being a worried parent or are my chicks just not "getting it"?

Every 'change' can take some 're-training'...they've probably got it now.

 

[Robblob]

How old is chick?
Distress chirping is not always because of cold.
Is there room for them all under there?
Have you checked her butt? That's always the first thing I check with the tinys.

Most of the chicks are 9 days old with a couple that are 16 days old. I checked her butt the last couple days and everything appears to be fine. She isn't doing anything out of the ordinary other than the chirping. Eating and drinking fine. I was also concerned about the space issue under the MHP, so I bought a second heating pad and expanded the width to 30 inches. It's now 30" x 14" and probably 4-5 inches tall. I just know that the chirping stopped once I turned the heat lamp back on, but I definitely don't like using it. Should I just put my foot down and force the issue?

 

[aart]

Quote: Wonder if it's the light and not the heat?
Go out with flashlight, see if it stops...if it does might be the light and she's got you trained.
How many chicks?

 

[Robblob]

I never, ever put a heat lamp out to supplement MHP. I just kinda feel like it defeats the purpose. The idea is to get totally away from the fire risk, away from the light day in and day out, and to give them only one small spot for warmth while spending most of their time out in the cooler temps their little bodies need.

......it's that mindset of "they have to be totally warm, draft free rooms, heat cranked up, entire brooder glowing red" that was tough to shake.

I totally agree. I think I'm still wrapped up in the newbie mindset of having a perfect setup for them. I'm probably just underestimating their resilience, but I just don't want to lose my first ever batch of chicks.

 

[Robblob]

Wonder if it's the light and not the heat?
Go out with flashlight, see if it stops...if it does might be the light and she's got you trained.
How many chicks?

I have 7 chicks. You could have it nailed, but the light in the room stays on during the day regardless. Is that what you were talking about? Or are you talking about direct heat from the light being the trigger?

 

[bruceha2000]

Certainly it could be bad information. I just read several places the reason people were giving the wide roosts was because it covered their feet in their coma sleep and there were cases were mice chewed on their feet while they slept. Keeping their feet warm seems obvious. I dont know if the mice thing is true. Just what I read over and over. Its not something I would've ever thought of.

Um, where do people get these stupid ideas???

The portion of my tree limb where the cockerel is roosting in that photo is less than 1-1/2” diameter. Some chickens normally roost on that in winter. That’s where I’ve seen an adult hen’s feathers totally cover the toes when a roosting chicken squats and fluffs up. A 2x4 on edge has a thickness of 1-1/2”. That’s what I use for my juvenile roost.

I’ve seen adult chickens try to perch on a 3/8” thick piece of plywood during the day. It was a guillotine type door. They didn’t last long before they fell off, but they’d hop back up and try again. I do like to watch chicken TV. A former highly-respected member of this forum, Patandchickens, posted that her dominant hen would roost on a ¾” thick brace that was higher than the rest of the roost.

I have various reasons to say that I really don’t think the chickens care that much, but I do believe the roosts need to be thick enough so the roost can support their weight without sagging excessively. I also believe the roost needs to be big enough so the chicken can grip it with its toes or balance on a flat surface. I don’t have any minimum sizes or any maximum sizes, but 1-1/2” is probably a reasonable minimum.

Another consideration is if they go straight up and park. My girls usually hop up on the 2' high roost (parallel to the two 12' long parallel 4' high ones) then go up and walk to where they want to be for the night .... until another hen higher in the order wants to be there and she has to move. They do this every night.

SO, if they need to walk much on the roosts, 3" or wider is easier for them than a 1.5" roost.

 

[eagrbeavr]

Ok, what I hear out of it, and please take this with good spirit. Turn the heat to low, stop hovering, and leave them alone to figure it out.

 

[aart]

Quote: Thought we were talking about at night...when it's dark out.

 

[Robblob]

Thought we were talking about at night...when it's dark out.

At night with the lights out and chicks under MHP, complete silence. It's only during the day and only with MHP provided heat that this one little chick chirps like mad. It only stops when heating pads go off and heat lamp goes on.

 

[Robblob]

Ok, what I hear out of it, and please take this with good spirit. Turn the heat to low, stop hovering, and leave them alone to figure it out.

I agree 100%. I think i'm just paranoid as this is my first batch of chicks. Very hard for me not to hover, but I get it. I need to back off and let them find their way.