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The plan is to move them Out to a protected area in the run in 2 weeks, as long as the weather is reasonable.

It's at 4... 6 is the max. They're in the basement, so it's chilly but not as cold as outside. Probably 60 degrees at night.

Quick MHP error question. Last night I inadvertantly turned off the MHP on my 3 (approx 2-weeks-old) chicks... it was turned off about 2 hours before I went to bed, and I checked on them at bedtime and they were quiet, so I didn't realize anything was wrong. This morning when I went on to turn...

:thumbsup I agree, and I wanted to continue with the positive feedback. I think that even with its glitches there is so much more that can go wrong with a heating lamp. Even with our close call, i would choose the MHP every time! I would also recommend (besides having a spare) that if you’re...

Thanks! I think we’re good with the old one for another day and night. They’re silent and huddled under now... but good to know for future reference.

UPDATE and DRAMA: I bought the recommended Sunbeam King Size heating pad that I learned about here and loved it... until today. My babies, who are brooding in the basement (which was NOT my original plan, but hey, plans change) started kicking up a real fuss about an hour ago - that loud...

So here are some better pics. It is really the least amount of maintenance possible... You can see that I wrapped the heating pad in plastic (right forward corner) but then put an old kids t-shirt under the bungee cords so that the chicks wouldn't pick at it. 1 small BBQ rack for $1 at...

I'm on round 2 with the MHP... We used a grill rack from a small BBQ grill ($1 from the local Good Will), 2 small bungee cords, and a rope threaded through the rack and attached to the walls of the brooder to hold up the front. We can adjust the height as we go. I'll get a picture of it...

Interesting... There's a part about how quickly the "hot" strains kill; Estrella died very quickly... less than 2 days after she started "acting sick" and only 4 days after she started acting "differently". Not sure how this changes any course of action on our part, or if it does.

Thanks again for all the ideas! Now, a new glitch... and a big glitch. The two chicks we lost (out of 5) had different causes. The first was dying of peritonitis due to a yolk sac that was in her reproductive tract. She was 16 weeks. The second one died 4 weeks later, at 17 weeks, of Marek's...

Thanks for the pics and links! Our run can be partitioned BUT, it's kindof odd shaped (think square sitting next to a kite, with one of the shorter sides of the kite adjacent to a side of the square)... we built it this odd way because we wanted the run to bump up to a retaining wall. So, we...

I love love LOVED the MHP so much we're doing it again in the spring... We wouldn't be, but of the 5 chicks we got in May, 2 have died of bacterial infections due to yolk sacs that didn't pass - they were too young to start laying. :hit (14 weeks and 16 weeks) We also lost a hen mid-summer due...

"They're growing up so fast!" (my 15 year old daughter as the chicks went up the ramp into the coop at bedtime for the first time tonight :)) Those crazy chicks LOVE the coop... they're in there for about 1/2 of the day off-and-on... even though it's hot and stuffy. They love to roost on the...

I think the youngest is 4 weeks and the oldest is 7 weeks. Today they spent the majority of the day in the coop... going up and down the roosts, looking out the window, just resting. They seemed to think it was their own private play house. :) Then, after the hens went in for the night, they...

So... getting the chicks into the coop at night... From what I've read, it sounded so easy (place them on the roost at night and everyone wakes up together)... OR the chicks will follow the hens into the coop at night... Not.so.much. First of all, they didn't/haven't followed the big ones...

That is the best case scenario: feed everyone chick starter and make sure there's plenty of oyster shell available (always!), right?

Integration Question (not about MHP): First of all, an update: we're ready for the babies to join the big girls at night. They no longer huddle under the heating pad at all... they position themselves in a big ball right out from under it, in the corner of the brooder. Every night as I sit...

Thanks. A couple do, but I have a couple that still need their head feathers, although they're coming. So pretty soon!

I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your attitude and patience. I am SO grateful for your wisdom... that I don't have 4 week old chicks in my house still, that I didn't need a huge brooder to accomadate their constant growth, that they're pretty much hands-off at this...

"Them" being the doors (that I shortened). Not the chicks. :D