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

[Blooie]

You’re right, Bruce....I did indeed miss the question about keeping them in the house! Thanks for catching that and responding, my friend!

 

[aart]

Seems like if the "walls" were made of 2x4 wire, the chicks would have an entire wall of portals. Now the question is: in the absence of a protective hen, would the littles get in trouble going in the main part of the coop with the bigs?

Hmmm...they might, tho the multiple 'portals' might work.

I use 'portals' but call them 'tiny doors' and strongly suggest they be adjustable in width.....because, had a couple hens get thru the 5x7 portal I added to my partition wall. Thankfully this happened before chicks were in residence and tested until I came up with a 3 1/2" width to exclude hens from chick area.
This is how I brood and integrate chicks in the coop:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/

 

[Leahs Mom]

I had the same problem @aart. I had a couple of the adults that could squeeze through my sliders. Had to keep them pretty small.

We put in 2 different kinds. The side to side one under the gate and one that goes vertical - both adjustable. (The sideways one was the one the adults could squeeze through.) The vertical one in the photo had a temporary frame with hardware cloth so that there was more contact between the babies and adults when they were little. It's removable to use as an adjustable height that the chicks can go through but not the adults.

 

[PetesChicks]

Ok, did some more measuring today. I guess I'll start them in the house for the first night, then move them to the 5 1/2 x 3 area I can make in my side of the coop, and use 1/2" hardware cloth for that. They will be in sight of my older girls, but safe. I can also easily take away a small part of the coop, connected to that broody box, it is about 4x3. I think I'll let them in there after a couple weeks, and put in a couple "tiny doors" so that they can spread out into the main coop.

As far as room in the coop, I'm good. Right now I have 4 hens (and 2 of them are silkies) and a rescue rabbit in the 10x11 coop - plenty of room for everyone to move around. The rabbit fit right in with the girls, she learned her spot in the pecking order quick. She's sort of above the 2 silkies, but they don't put up with much from her.

 

[bruceha2000]

You've done us one better @PetesChicks. We have had wild rabbits in the past. Not in the coop though. But the chickens don't seem to notice that there is a visitor among them. Click the pictures to make them big enough to see the wild rabbit in each.

 

[PetesChicks]

Cute little bunny!

We got ours by accident. We were asked to rescue a "chicken" from one of DWs coworkers, oh, and can you take the rabbit also? The chicken ended up being a rooster, who doesn't get along with our girls. He got put into the original coop we started with, but the bunny is living the high life in the big coop.

 

[luckyplucky]

Wow, I am so glad I found this thread when browsing outdoor brooder ideas. We are adding our 5th set of chicks to our flock in a couple weeks, and after our first few experiences raising from day-old babes over the last couple of years, I knew that this time around I was done with a) heat lamps and b) indoor brooders. Very excited to try the MHP method and modify our existing run accordingly. Yay!

 

[Blooie]

Welcome to the “warmest” thread! Sorry, bad pun, but it seems to fit! Brooding outdoors still takes some work, besides the setup. Dry bedding is important, as chicks can chill if their bedding ends up soaked. Out of sight doesn’t mean out of mind, so keep a close eye on them when they’re out there, and make sure that for the first few days you kinda escort them under the pad when it gets dark. They are usually pretty doggone quick to figure that out, but stragglers do happen.

Remember, photos = dues paid!

 

[bruceha2000]

Out of sight doesn’t mean out of mind, so keep a close eye on them when they’re out there

Good point. Not one I had to think of since the first chicks were "bathtub in the house" brooded for ~4 weeks. Thus when the next set of chicks came 3 years later I had to go out every morning "chicken chores" anyway.

 

[aart]

Luckily before I got hooked on brooding/integrating early in coop, I built a great brooder, so I keep them inside for a week or so after hatching to make sure they are all hardy.