Help! We need Recommendations/Thoughts on these items for chicks?

[aart]

If/when their backs do touch the bottom, how should she check the temperature to see what they're feeling on they're backs?

You don't really check the temperature...you go by behavior.
Can be hard for folks who have never had chicks before and don't understand their behavior...distress peeping is pretty hard to miss tho.

 

[Little Farm Girl]

She knows the exact cheep y'all are talking about. They will cheap until they're happy & content!

 

[aart]

She knows the exact cheep y'all are talking about. They will cheap until they're happy & content!

She'll be fine with it then.
Sometimes you have to shove the chicks under the plate and hold them there until they 'feel the heat' and figure out how to go there.

 

[RoosterML]

Sometimes you have to shove the chicks under the plate and hold them there until they 'feel the heat' and figure out how to go there.

No you don't the space is already warm remember.

 

[Blooie]

No you don't the space is already warm remember.

It is warm, but they sometimes don’t figure that out instantly. You put ‘me in, they pop back out, repeat and repeat. What we want them to understand is that this is Mom and it’s safe and warm under there. So you hold your hand in front, and within a minute you hear this purring, churring sound that tells you, “Okay, they get it” and take your hand away. Not all batches need this - I can’t recall that any of mine did - but chicks stressed from shipping or those from feed stores where they’ve been under a heat lamp with many more roommates sometimes do.

@Little Farm Girl, tell her she’s got this! No matter what method she chooses to use, steady, gentle heat, a lot of cooler area to wander around in (because they need that too) fresh water and food and the rest is just keeping them safe and clean will giver the best results. If she opts for a heat lamp because she’s used to that, then have her secure the heck out of it, and have it just in one spot so they can go out of it when they want. For brooder plates, follow the instructions that came with it, and for MHP we have a thread for that. And we’re always here to help, again, regardless of how she chooses to do things there will be someone (or many someones) with experience. And sad as it is, losing a chick here and there isn't unusual, nor should it necessarily be a time to rip everything apart and stress her or the chicks out by changing things all around UNLESS it’s obvious what the problem is. Chicks sometimes die....I once lost almost an entire shipment of Silkies for no reason that I ever found. I’m sure @aart remembers that fiasco. We ask a lot from those tiny, fluffy babies, and sometimes their little bodies just can’t handle it all.

 

[aart]

No you don't the space is already warm remember.

You just want to argue, eh?

Not all batches need this - I can’t recall that any of mine did

No, not all of them need it.
I actually remember you doing this, before I needed to...it had stuck in my mind when one of my batches would not go under....or maybe I just remember it from your thread and it was someone else.

 

[RoosterML]

You just want to argue, eh?

Not at all, the OP asked this:
"Question about the heating pad method-
How do you regulate/check the temperature? Or know what to set it at? She wants to try a heating pad method, but she doesn't want to mess up and kill another batch of chicks..."

and I answered her question for a heating pad method.
You said "you dont have to check the temp" correct with MHP maybe you dont. (Because they actually touch the pad itself)
With the way I do it and that is all I referred to I would say you have to check the temp as they do not touch the pad.
In the end we are using two different ways with heating pads. They may look similar but function differently.
MHP heats via contact.
My way uses radiant heat.
Again not arguing was simply explaining how to do it using my way with heat pads. I could see why you were trying to correct me as the rules for one don't really apply to the other.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

You don't check the heat really, not like with a lamp.
You basically go by behaviors. I actually use a lamp over the feed/water station for the first few days(only during the day).
....

I quit checking temperature after my very first brooding. I just make a hot spot and lots of cool space. Just like a hen.

 

[RoosterML]

I quit checking temperature after my very first brooding. I just make a hot spot and lots of cool space. Just like a hen.

What method do you use?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

What method do you use?

Like I said in my previous post. "I just make a hot spot and lots of cool space. Just like a hen."

A mother hen doesn't make all ambient air 90F and the chicks don't need it. They run around in cool air most of the time and run under her for a quick warm up when they get chilled.
In a brooder with one or two sufficiently warm spots, they will find their comfort zone.
When I have a lot(50 to 100 or more) of chicks, I use one or two Ohio brooders. They've worked in buildings down to 30F for any age chicks.