Mama Heating Pad in the Brooder (Picture Heavy) - UPDATE

[lazy gardener]

IMO, it's not possible to foster an older chick to a hen. Ideally, it needs to happen within 48 hours. This is when the chicks were created to imprint to the hen. From a natural instinct perspective, this makes oh so very much sense: The chick has enough yolk reserve to last 48 hours. During this time, Mama keeps the chicks tucked under her, and sits tight to the nest, allowing late hatchers to join the brood. When all have hatched, the babies are ready to eat, and Mama comes off the nest. What's the first moving object they see? It's Mama, calling them to their first meal. So, they come to her, and imprint on her. The entire brood typically is between 0 and 48 hours of age. An older chick is past the age of imprinting. So, even if Mama wants to brood an older chick, the older chick may not be responsive to her calls.

 

[kesrchicky16]

They will need to be able to get back to heat for about 4 weeks. If you have no power out in the coop they will need an alternate solution or (@Blooie don't tell DH) an extension cord. It MUST be plugged into an outlet in a building or one that is designed to be used with something plugged in, NOT the "outdoor outlet" that has flaps to cover the outlets when they are not in use! And if you HAVE to join two together, get one of the encapsulating devices meant for that purpose.

Curious what the difference is between outlets, in your opinion. When I installed them on the outside wall of the house there was no difference just covered for when not in use. Kinda like baby proofing plugs for in the house.

 

[bruceha2000]

By the way, if you have a broody raise them, she likely won't let other hens anywhere near them (*) so they should be off in a brooder area in the coop rather than in a nest. The other hens may not be able to get in a nest if she is protecting her chicks.

Don't worry about her forgetting where the chicks are, she won't go anywhere without them.

* Other than 2 other hens, Zorra never let the older hens within 5' of her chicks until she kicked them to the curb at 8 weeks old.

 

[bruceha2000]

Curious what the difference is between outlets, in your opinion. When I installed them on the outside wall of the house there was no difference just covered for when not in use. Kinda like baby proofing plugs for in the house.

This is NOT OK:

This IS OK:

 

[Blooie]

Blooie, not gonna tell you how to manage your thread... but here's a suggestion: Why not set up an outline form, and either link pertinent post #'s to it, or take bullet points of the outline, and address them, one at a time. Then, in your signature link, include a reference to that one outline. Kind of like an article within this thread. Then, ask the mods to edit your first post with a big high lighted reference to your updated outline, covering the many pertinent important points. You could also include a cross reference to that outline in your article. That would help the newbies glean from the thread without reading for 3 months! It would also eliminate the "tried that and it didn't work" or some of the not so brilliant "reinvent the wheel" posts.

First of all, young lady, it's not my thread, it's OUR thread. There. That's out of the way and I feel better - sorry about your black eye though!

I never thought about doing an outline...I'm not even sure I'd know where to start. But the idea has a lot of merit and I'm going to research it and figure it out. Thanks!

.
Still works tho....I miss the 'view all images' more

Me too. <sigh>

 

[lazy gardener]

What Bruce says. The bottom one is clearly weather proof. The top one, not at all. Also, GFCI is necessary, IMO.

 

[kesrchicky16]

This is NOT OK:

This IS OK:

I'm guessing because you have had the door push the plug out? The outlets are identical with identical power in them. That was my question why does the one not work?

 

[BBZZZZTT]

I'm guessing because you have had the door push the plug out? The outlets are identical with identical power in them. That was my question why does the one not work?

The one with the cover keeps water out. The one with the flaps, while something is plugged in, can get water in if it rains etc. That can cause a short. Worst case fire hazards, best case outlet shorts out and you have dead chicks when their heat source goes out.

 

[kesrchicky16]

The one with the cover keeps water out. The one with the flaps, while something is plugged in, can get water in if it rains etc. That can cause a short. Worst case fire hazards, best case outlet shorts out and you have dead chicks when their heat source goes out.

Thank you very much for the explanation. I wasn't understanding. Now I will take that under advisement.

 

[lazy gardener]

I think @lazy gardener has raised larger broods under MHP - maybe she'll pop in and offer her expertise.

Thanks, Blooie. I have no expertise to offer. But, last season, I did raise 48 chicks with MHP system. I believe it was @duluthralphie who tried a double MHP, and had some chicks get stuck in the middle and perhaps die b/c they may have gotten overheated. ((2) 12 x 24 pads set to make a 24 x 24 footprint) (It may have been someone else.) So, based on that information, I first tried setting up the 2 XL Sunbeam in a L shape. That was a total bust. So, I put the 2 pads parallel to each other, with a space of about 4" between them. It worked like a charm. There was enough sq. inches total between the 2 pads to get the whole job done, yet, the chicks viewed the 2 pads as a single brooder area, b/c they were in close proximity to each other. The alley way between the 2 pads allowed chicks to squirt out through that area as well as the other sides of each of the 12 x 24 pads. If I had separated the pads into 2 distinct areas, the chicks would have all chosen one pad, and tried to fit under that, and left the other pad