June Hatch-A-Long

[LadiesAndJane]

That's what I have been using!

 

[SnapdragonQ]

I use both heat plates and heat lamps. I don’t prefer the MHP because I freak out about the off label usage, especially outside in humidity.

I love the natural aspects of the heat plates for sure.

but now I brood anything that isn’t under a broody hen for 3 days at least under a heat lamp. I’ve learned a ton the last year about commercially raised meat birds and have started applying some of the brooding aspects to my regular rearing and it seems to make a huge difference. One of those things is jump starting the digestion of newborn chicks to give them the best success in life. I’ve drastically reduced the space they get and I fairly uniformly beat the brooder to a temp of 85-90 degrees. 6 inches square per chick and more feeders than you could think they need.

there is SO MUCH science behind the way they brood chicks for commercial production because theres billions of dollars riding on it.all the larger pastured poultry producers and the factory farm producers say everything about the success of your birds comes down to how they are brooded.

anyway, a bunch of rambling to say I use heat lamps for a week and then plates.

We like rambly!

So, you start with a target temp of 90, instead of 95? I'm not overly picky the first week and try to aim for 95 but am not obsessive about it. I've heard of others who start at 90 and say the chicks feather in faster that way.
Do you do regular chicks this way? I know the CX tend to just run hotter to begin with and I found I would go through the temp step downs faster with them and be at 70 in about 3 weeks.

Also, how do they take the switch from the lamp to the plate? Do you still leave a light on overnight because they are used to it, or do you just cut them off cold turkey.
When I have them in the house and they are fine at 75 I start switching over to a small night light and eventually work up to complete lights before I kick them out of the house.

At my other farm I had a concrete floored garage and used my stock tanks. It was a whole lot easier!
I'll have some Red Rangers in the mail chicks, but plan to raise them as regular/layer chicks, not meat chicks.

 

[CindyinSD]

I like

How many of you guys have tried the Mama Heating Pad and how many still use the tradition heat lamp?
I usually have the brooder in the house and find a typical 60 or 75 watt (old round type) bulb does fine for 15 to 20 chicks. But I've got a shipment of 15 coming this week plus whatever hatches out of these 18 eggs.

If you do the MHP, how do you like it vs the lamps?

the MHP better. (Note: if you're buying a heating pad, try to get one on which you can override the auto-off setting. If you can't find one, you will have to cut out the controller and reconnect the wires without it. The fact that doing this leaves you with only full power shouldn't be a problem. Brooder plates have no settings either. They are 1.) plugged in, or 2 not plugged in.

I use an armature of hardware cloth to make the "cave" moldable, and wrap it in a good quality plasticized feed bag, taping it with duct tape. It's awkward to mold but not impossible. I go for a low bridge, higher in the front, quite low in the back. This allows the chicks, etc, to choose their own comfort level. I keep it on high, then adjust downward as I seek to wean them from heat and depending on the ambient heat of the room. With a brooder plate/panel, I just unplug it and watch behavior.

You should check under the heater at least every day. Sometimes chicks will naturally pass and you'll need to remove them. The more chicks you have, the more the odds increase that you'll see this. I've seen several in the moment of death even in feed store bins, and not from ill treatment or rough handling (they don't allow touching and do watch closely). You're less likely to catch this right away with a brooding device that hides them from view.

When using lights, the chicks will remain wakeful through the night, cheeping & peeping. I think it causes them as much stress as it causes their owners. You can get dark ceramic bulbs intended for keeping reptiles, which will screw into your brooder fixture or incandescent garage/shop light fixture. Then your chicks will sleep at night, and so will you.

Either will work. The MHP or brooder panel are always safe. With lights/heat bulbs, you'll need to be very careful not to let a fire start.

 

[GhislaineDel]

You may not need to. I needed to buy something anyay so chose the thermostat controlled one, but if you already have a mat try making a make shift pad and let it run for a day with a thermometer under it to check it.
The thermostat doesn't exactly control them like the incubator's thermostats do, just mainly gives them a target range to aim for. Supposedly it will cycle on and off as needed for normal use.

I am glad you said that because I was thinking about trying it anyway.

 

[jolenesdad]

We like rambly!

So, you start with a target temp of 90, instead of 95? I'm not overly picky the first week and try to aim for 95 but am not obsessive about it. I've heard of others who start at 90 and say the chicks feather in faster that way.
Do you do regular chicks this way? I know the CX tend to just run hotter to begin with and I found I would go through the temp step downs faster with them and be at 70 in about 3 weeks.

Also, how do they take the switch from the lamp to the plate? Do you still leave a light on overnight because they are used to it, or do you just cut them off cold turkey.
When I have them in the house and they are fine at 75 I start switching over to a small night light and eventually work up to complete lights before I kick them out of the house.

At my other farm I had a concrete floored garage and used my stock tanks. It was a whole lot easier!
I'll have some Red Rangers in the mail chicks, but plan to raise them as regular/layer chicks, not meat chicks.

Where are the red rangers coming from?

they Make these ridiculously developed guides for the cx rearing. I got knee deep in actually talking directly to Hubbard genetics this year about potentially housing my own breeder flock of red ranger type birds as a future business endeavor... THATS another whole topic (which I do have a longer than life now thread in the meat forum that includes some of the genetics and corporate info Ive found.

ANYWAY yes Cornish run hotter. I have found 90 degrees works best for me because I have zero drafts and I follow the strict 6 inches a bird space, so they’re sharing some body heat too. Yes, I use it for heritage birds, too. It should be at *least* 90 degrees. But i find 90 is absolutely fine. The science and literally trillions of dollars in this industry have so much research poured into things, and, at first I thought naturally brooding completely was the way to go and the methods of rearing for meat birds were just to get them larger than maybe they should be anyway.

However, over time I have modified my understanding. While I still don't agree with the CX particularly, I love my hybrid broilers, red rangers, etc. I also have realized that while the "industry" is going for meat and growth, I was thinking about it too literally. What they are doing in a general sense is maximizing the potential of the bird from a young age, and now I understand we can all follow this, even if you're looking to maximize the potential for an egg layer.

Meat birds - I do this for 1-2 weeks. I still don't know if I like 2 weeks of non stop lighting on the chicks, but, even the label rouge program and humane standards programs at the highest levels allow for a period of time at the beginning of life for 24 hours of light. The most stringent ones call for a regular lighting period after 4-7 days.

heritage birds - I do this for 1 week.

A day or two before I move to a grow out pen with heat plates, I add the heat plate. its important to clarify that i heat the ENTIRE space to 90, no hot spots. When I add the heat plate, I do not overhead heat that area, I put it off to the side and i reduce the heat by a couple of degrees. I use multiple thermometers in the brooder to ensure there aren't hot spots.

With meat birds, I keep them on paper towels with feed scattered EVERYWHERE. They don't have to travel more than a few inches anywhere they are to find food. The more times you can get a chick to fill and empty its crop during the first 3-4 days of life, the more efficient it will be its entire life at converting food to energy. Also to note, I now give grit from day 1. Giving grit to chicks ensures super efficiency in the gizzard, and, they make more use of the resources in the feed. I see a MASSIVE change in the overall robustness of my birds since offering them grit from day 1.

 

[CindyinSD]

Reading about the different brooding methods has been interesting. I bought a heating plate back in early April when I thought I would be getting chicks locally. After I ended up hatching my own I was finally able to put it to use but it just didn't seem warm enough. Chicks plainly weren't happy. Lots of loud cheeping. So I checked it with an analog thermometer which said it wasn't getting much above 75-80° if that. After a bit of thought pulled out one of my seedling mats and put that under the shelf liner under the brooder plate so they have heat top and bottom. Analog said over 100°. Bit more thought remembered I had a seedling mat temp controller and set it to 90°. Now everyone's happy .

According to my brooder plate instructions you're supposed to have it low enough that the babies' backs can touch it. I put mine a bit higher in front. Some want more or less heat than others. I've never had any of them complain of cold, doing it this way.

Keeping a temp at floor level is the way a heat lamp works, but the brooder plate is different. Like cove heaters in a house, it heats objects (chicks), not room air. The brooder panel can't be allowed to heat up as hot as a cove heater does (which must be kept a specified distance from inflammable objects), hence it needs to be quite close, for snuggling against.

 

[RoseHawke]

When using lights, the chicks will remain wakeful through the night, cheeping & peeping. I think it causes them as much stress as it causes their owners.

I've got my chicks in a bin in my bedroom. I'm very glad I don't have them under lights!

 

[RoseHawke]

According to my brooder plate instructions you're supposed to have it low enough that the babies' backs can touch it

I did have it at that level, but for whatever reason they weren't happy with it.

 

[CindyinSD]

Using the Brinsea heat plates for the first time. The chicks LOVE it. I too, used the heat lamp, but only for the first 2 days, seemed to work well. The heat plate definitely does not cover as many chicks as they advertise though (kind of like the ready made coops exaggeration of the number of chickens they can house...). Overall very happy with the brooder plates.

I bought a non-Brinsea brooder plate. It also works great. They seem to be pretty simple devices.

 

[Cturber]

Reading all these posts about humidity issues has me a little worried. I have eggs under a broody and I guess she handles everything? Just so wet right now with Christobal.