Chicks not using MHP tonight

[booth2010]

Chicks are not under the MHP tonight. I cleaned the brooder, replaced half the pine shaving today. I put the MHP in same spot and same height as it was before. Tonight the are huddled in the corner of the box instead of under the MHP. It is on same heat setting which is medium. Are they telling me it’s time to turn the heat to low? They were hatched on the 1st of this month.

Itll probably get in the low 80s or upper 70s in there tonight, will they go under the MHP if they get too cold?

 

[DesertBird]

I'd say they're telling you they are too hot, yes. They'll go under if they need it! What's the exact temperature at? You could probably go ahead and put it on low if it's getting into the 80's and they're about a month old; how much feathering do they have?

 

[Flockandfowl46]

Mine are a little less than a month old and they are outside with no heat now...its been low to mid 50s here at night and they are healthy as horses

 

[hillbilly91]

Yes there to hot. Turn it to low and if they continue to huddle away from it then turn it off altogether. If you have any more questions just let us know

 

[booth2010]

That’s what I thought, but they’re not even a week old yet so I just wanted to make sure. I’ll turn it on low and see how it goes.

 

[booth2010]

Well they haven’t used it since Saturday even with it on low, I guess I’ll just remove it. They do like to sit on it occasionally but idk if they are just wanting to be elevated or if they was the heat

 

[KikiLeigh02]

I use a heat plate rather than a MHP but I have to raise it pretty often! What does your set-up look like? I would try adjusting the height before you take it out completely. By about a week old mine seem to prefer to only sleep partially under the heat plate. It's pretty cute to see them all passed out around the edges!

 

[booth2010]

I use a heat plate rather than a MHP but I have to raise it pretty often! What does your set-up look like? I would try adjusting the height before you take it out completely. By about a week old mine seem to prefer to only sleep partially under the heat plate. It's pretty cute to see them all passed out around the edges!

I definitely need to raise it, it was a good height for them this weekend but they have almost doubled in size since then and they’ve pushed it down by standing on it.

This was the day before they arrived. Now the MHP is higher and they’ve kicked all the shavings off it. And I added a second feeder since the 10 of them are eating a ton.

 

[KikiLeigh02]

It's definitely worth a shot! Is the back side of the MHP open too? You may have already done it since this is an old photo, but if you have something to put underneath the feeder/water to prop it up it helps keep all the chick mess out!

 

[booth2010]

It's definitely worth a shot! Is the back side of the MHP open too? You may have already done it since this is an old photo, but if you have something to put underneath the feeder/water to prop it up it helps keep all the chick mess out!

The back side is open so no one gets trapped. The water is on pavers but the food is not. It typically only gets a few shavings in it that I pick out nightly so not a huge deal. I need to make the brick the water is on smaller there was poop in it today.