Brooding chicks outside in winter

[Ol Grey Mare]

I do brood outside in winter, but I do not use my heat plate to do so because the one I have is not rated for those temperatures. My heat plate is for the indoor brooding of those that need a little extra TLC or, the first day or two after shipped chicks arrived so I can make sure everybody is doing well, or, this year, the first few days after hatch for the eggs I am incubating. I do use it outdoors when I'm not doing winter chicks go to for those cold winter broods is the mama heat pad...

 

[debid]

So looking at your pictures you don't bother with wrapping in towels and using cling wrap? I'm reading that in the original post about it and it's confusing how she did it.
Maybe I am replying to the wrong person @debid

I have Press & Seal on the diaper piece. I wrap it around before stitching it to the heating pad cover.
I did mine so the framework fits inside the heating pad cover. There is a rectangular piece of hardware cloth about the size of the pad and then a couple pieces of stout wire harvested from broken tomato cages in a big X shape to make the legs. I have some little wire hooks on the fencing piece that clip onto the X sandwiching the pad itself in between. It's hard to explain without pictures and it's in use now so I can't disassemble to show you. But, the concept was to have only the wire legs exposed, they fit through tiny holes in the corners. Everything else structural is inside that cover, and all the sides are lifted enough that the chicks can pop right through in any direction if needed.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I do use my brooder plate outside. I put it inside a cardboard box facing away from any drafts, and it works perfectly. I've never had it fail below 50 degrees.

I put the chicks out as soon as they have all hatched.

 

[hanneke]

Brooding outdoors with a Mama Heating Pad is the way to go! I used one of these off Amazon (https://a.co/d/06qy3jZ0) and secured a large heating pad to it. Just make sure you buy a heating pad that doesnt have an auto shutoff

I do use my brooder plate outside. I put it inside a cardboard box facing away from any drafts, and it works perfectly. I've never had it fail below 50 degrees.

I put the chicks out as soon as they have all hatched.

Interesting. I use a brooder plate but it specifically states that the ambient temperature should not fall below 60F.
Do you put any insulating material around it?

 

[centrarchid]

My son has been doing it in a coop setting. Problem has been when power went out and much occurred when ambient was about 0F. I do chicks under broody hens in a manger setting without troubles although keeping them in fresh liquid water is a difficult deal.

 

[hanneke]

My son has been doing it in a coop setting. Problem has been when power went out and much occurred when ambient was about 0F. I do chicks under broody hens in a manger setting without troubles although keeping them in fresh liquid water is a difficult deal.

I love the broody hen setting. I've done it a lot but my chicks are too old to be accepted by the hen. She now is broody so part of my next batch of chicks will go under her. She's an older hen but tested and trusted. She will get the job done.

 

[kattabelly]

I have one of the Brinsea heat plates and while they say it isn't meant to be used at temperatures below 10C/50F, I strongly suspect it'll actually be fine down to at least low single figures (mid to high 30s F) when used in conjunction with a huddle box. It feels a bit warmer to the touch than underneath a broody hen.

We might not still be getting temperatures that low by the time I get round to setting it up with a leisure battery and solar for charging, but I'll report back if we do.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Interesting. I use a brooder plate but it specifically states that the ambient temperature should not fall below 60F.
Do you put any insulating material around it?

Just the box. I have never put babies outside when there was a risk of freezing, so they still have water, but mid to high thirties, no problem. Maybe I've just been lucky. I have an incubator batch going into lockdown, so they'll be outside within the week. Next week's lows are supposed to be 40s and 50s, but I'll keep an eye on it and bring them in if there's a risk of freezing.

 

[Debbie292d]

We used a Cozy Coop radiant heater.

At the end of September last year, I hatched 30-something silkie chicks. I had what I thought were two broody silkie hens, and wound up with just one that would take them. Too many chicks to give to one hen, so we put a Cozy Coop heater out there. We heat the coops to 40°F, so they definitely needed more heat than mom could give them. That isn't in the picture, but it's over to the right.



A week later, we started letting them go outside on sunny days.


Then they got moved to a bigger pen. A Cozy Coop heater was in that hutch. They'd zip between mom and the hutch to warm up. It was in the 20F's.