Chick Heating pad?

[Sungrove Farmstead]

So...apparently I am raising baby chicks indoors now (weren't planning to this year) - my last 3 broodies are being mean to chicks (one had all of her eggs taken after killing 2 chicks) so now I am removing chicks as they hatch because I don't have an incubator but I'm not risking losing more chicks, they are getting pecked or thrown out of the nest boxes...

Anyway, I never knew about heat pads for chicks until recently, what is a good one for chicks that are newly hatched up until they can go outside?

 

[trumpeting_angel]

I used the old heating pad I had laying around the house. And while it’s not the proper way, I draped it on a wire toilet paper holder (might hold 3 rolls stacked inside) I got at Walmart. Using the shaped hardware cloth would have made it more adjustable.

When they got bigger and spent all day outside it, I turned it from high down to medium. I did have a thermometer in there but I was watching the chicks more than the thermometer after the first few days.

The other day they were sleeping next to it in a heap. So I turned it down to low. Tonight it’s colder in the room and they are under it.

Presumably it will stop snowing and spring will come, and then they will likely be able to do without extra heat. Green Mountain Power has started sending me emails about my increased electric bill!

 

[Noy]

I am currently using the Sunbeam Xtreme (or is it express??) Heat, King size.

I have it attached to a piece of wire cloth (slighgly bigger than the pad) with small bungee cords, then put it into a pillow case, and taped it shut so nobody does something stupid and gets stuck inside.

Make sure your pad has a "stay on" option as many of them shut off automatically after an hour or two, otherwise.

No thermometer. Mine are in the barn, so they feel the cold, but no direct drafts. At first they slept under it, then on top, then next to it in a pile.
I'm only leaving it on because it's going down to 45 tonight and 15 of my 21 are only about 2 weeks old.

But they're all feathering out very quickly!

 

[ThreeOfSeven]

I am currently using the Sunbeam Xtreme (or is it express??) Heat, King size.

I have the Sunbeam Express (King Size) too. You found heat levels to be sufficient with this heating pad? I have chicks scheduled to arrive in mid to late June, so local temps won't be extremely cold. (This will be my 1st set of chicks. I got my other girls as pullets.) I somewhat constructed the cave and checked its internal temp. Only goes to about 80-degrees with front height set at about 2.5 inches (sloped down in the back). I thought I read somewhere that internal temp should be 90-degrees, although I may be wrong.

Just wondering.

 

[trudyg]

look at the mama heating pad thread, so much great advice. then be sure to get the kind that doesn't turn itself off.

 

[Noy]

It was plenty hot!
Don't worry about the 90-95 degree stuff.
They can get nice and warm by pressing their backs to it (so watch the height!), and they'll get their feathers within a couple of weeks.

Mine stopped using it at about 2+ weeks, as it rose to 70s outside. They started sleeping in a pile of chicks in the corner next to it, after perching on top for a couple of nights.

Also, don't worry about the thermometer, since it's not designed to warm up the air!
Just watch your chicks' behavior, and you'll know if you need to adjust anything.

Good luck! They are so much fun!

 

[trumpeting_angel]

Just watch your chicks' behavior, and you'll know if you need to adjust anything.

She is so right! Only weeks ago, I was keeping the thermometer reader next to my bed. Now I am unworried. Their signals are clear, at least they were as soon as I took my eyes off the thermometer!

 

[ThreeOfSeven]

Excellent advice! Thank you. I feel much better about this now. Chicks might be in the house for a week so I can keep an eye on them, and then I'll move them outside into a coop.

The heating pad, Sunbeam Express, has a nice convenient bypass of the 2-hour shutoff, so it will stay on indefinitely.

 

[HopeSprings]

My 17 chicks arrived this afternoon !!! and have settled down for the night under the heating pad "cave". I can hear one chirping a little, but the rest are quiet, so I'm assuming they're warm and happy! Has to be better than crammed into a small cardboard box!

 

[trumpeting_angel]

Happy new chick day!