^------- See that post up there from
@lazy gardener? In all the time I've been doing this, there was no "new user" I was more antsy about. Here I was trying to reassure her that it was all going to work well for her, and because we'd been friends before Mama Heating Pad was ever used for my flock, she was probably the one I most worried about. She'd been waiting so long for this hatch, and was so nervous. She is now a staunch supporter!
Mine are always in the house for the first day or so. I want to make sure they aren't suffering any shipping stress (although I know that can show up days after they arrive) or hatching stress. I want to make sure they understand how to use MHP for warmth, and that they are eating and drinking. Then out they go.
I understand that using MHP is a huge leap of faith. It was for me. When I started the thread, I wasn't trying to "instruct" - I started out just trying to document what I was doing as I went along. And brooding outdoors with it is scary as all get out! I understand that too. But I haven't had any issues at all. Is it infallible? Nope. But then nothing is - chicks die under heat lamps, under commercial brooding plates, and even under broody hens.
Safety is a legitimate concern. That's why I always tell people never, EVER to use a older heating pad that's been rolled or folded and stuffed in the back of a closet somewhere. Rolling and/or folding can cause teeny breaks or weak spots in the heating element wires, and that can cause shorting out. Make sure that cords are firmly attached and go one step further and cover the connections, either with electrical tape or those special clam shell connection protectors. Anything electrical is a fire risk, from a cell phone charger to a coffee pot. Shoot, wires within walls can start a fire even with nothing plugged into them. The key is using common sense and making sure that you've done everything you can to use an appliance safely, in the proper outlets, and check things as you go along.
A heating pad isn't designed to do anything but soothe aches and pains on humans, and we are doing something totally different with it. BUT it's also designed to come into contact with fabric - it can be used on upholstered furniture and right up against our bodies. Touch a running heating pad. Now touch a running heat lamp. Yeah, like that. The precautions against falling asleep with it on us or under us make total sense. That's the reason so many manufactures went to putting in a safety shut off switch - to prevent that by having the pad automatically shut itself off after a couple of hours. And the elderly, disabled, or otherwise infirm can't always get away from a heating pad that is running continually. The pad in this application is on a frame with air circulation around it. And goodness knows chicks are anything but sedentary! The reason I push so hard for the Sunbeam x-Press heat is that it is designed to be able to bypass that automatic shutoff....there's a "Stay On" switch right on the control. And by taking the power cord off, it's 100% machine washable. When I take mine down after raising a batch of chicks, I wash it in the machine, then lay it flat to dry and store it flat after that.
As for safe temperatures, I've had chicks out there in temps that were in the twenties, dipping into the teens. Not always advisable, of course, but by the time real springtime chick season rolls around those are still our temps, often with snow and howling winds. My first year with chicks we got our last snowfall on June 6th. MHP allows the chicks to regulate their own comfort levels. By 3-4 weeks, they don't even need the heat at all anymore, because they are so well acclimated to ambient temperatures. MHP will NOT heat their entire space. Lay a running heating pad down on the couch for half an hour or so. Then go back and lift it up to feel the couch under the pad. Nice and warm. Move your hand a couple of inches and there is no warmth. You'll never reach that golden "95 degrees the first week, 90 the second....." wisdom with MHP. Temps underneath on the floor of the cave average between 82 and 86. But that's okay...the chicks warm themselves by having the level of the heat right at their backs, and when you add in their own combined body heat under there they are nice and cozy.
Is MHP perfect? Nope. Nothing is when we're dealing with living little critters. But it's as close to a broody hen as we can get with artificial brooding, and that's good enough for me. I figure if a two pound hen can do it with no charts, no books and no experts, why do we do it so differently and think we're doing it better? I just feel better knowing that I am duplicating her skill and instincts as closely as possible.
