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

[bruceha2000]

Whatever will hold up the pad attached underneath is fine

 

[aart]

Hey, is chicken wire okay to use in place of the hogwire I've seen in pictures of the mhp?

Not sure what you mean by 'hog wire'.....but chicken wire probably won't hold up.
Whatever you use needs to be stiff enough to hold the weight of the pad and a dozen chicks once they start sitting on top of it. Better to have something with smaller holes so heads don't get stuck.

 

[biophiliac]

First you might try putting feeder up on a block of 2x4 or a brick so they can't scratch it out.

I devised these, pretty much spill/scratch proof. Chuck of 2x4 screwed to bottom for lift and weight. I put another funnel or shoulder and neck cut from a one liter bottle on top of feeder to keep them from getting up there.

That's very nice!

 

[luckyplucky]

Ok, picked up the chicks this morning and they seem to be loving it so far (only been a few hours but fingers crossed). We did decide to start them inside after all for observation and just because we always like having the babies in the house! And I apologize the pictures are terrible because my phone hates me. They're from various steps in the process of putting the MHP together based on recs from this thread. My husband converted our bantam coop into a better coop/brooder that we can use whenever we get banties again. 17 chicks had no problem finding "Faux mama" after being shown once, and go in and out at will, sleep under her, and come out to hop on top, eat from their feeder (inspired by @aart) which is a 32 oz. yogurt container fed by a funnel fashioned from a paper bowl and toilet paper roll and is working much better than our other chick feeder) and drink from their nipple drinker (not shown in pics because was mounted after they were taken). Rack was a white metal shelving rack as suggested by someone here (sorry it's far back on this thread and not sure where to find it to give credit but thank you!), with the connection between front and back legs cut off, and the remaining legs bent in (front less than back to provide an angle) with a "king size" 12 x 24 Sunbeam heat pad (which seems to not have the auto- shutoff despite some reviews to the contrary as well as inconsistent info on Sunbeam website!) attached to bottom of rack with bungee cords - snugly, chicks cannot get in between layers) topped with a Seal N' Pressed towel (again, thanks to whoever suggested this).
Hopefully in about a week we will just move the entire brooder outside back to the enclosed bantam run (MHP can stay plugged in and the chicks can safely observe and interact with the big gals). Right now the roof is off and we have hardware cloth/wood "lids" to keep cats out but once it goes back outside roof will go back on as well!
Heat lamps are around as a backup but I hope they gather dust! I keep checking the pad to make sure it's warm, haha...

 

[aart]

Nice!
Keep in mind you'll have to sprinkle some feed outside the feeder at first...on the floor, then on the wood bottom of feeder, then eventually they'll find it in the feeder.

 

[coopintheburbs]

Not sure what you mean by 'hog wire'.....but chicken wire probably won't hold up.
Whatever you use needs to be stiff enough to hold the weight of the pad and a dozen chicks once they start sitting on top of it. Better to have something with smaller holes so heads don't get stuck.

Weve always called the sturdy square fencing hog wire, like this

 

[luckyplucky]

Nice!
Keep in mind you'll have to sprinkle some feed outside the feeder at first...on the floor, then on the wood bottom of feeder, then eventually they'll find it in the feeder.

For sure yeah that pic was taken before the chicks were here and before the brooder was even ready, but when I was putting it in a few crumbles spilled out onto the paper towel next to it, and that was enough for them to come check it out, all good!

 

[luckyplucky]

Hey, is chicken wire okay to use in place of the hogwire I've seen in pictures of the mhp?

I don't think it would hold up structurally. After putting one together for the first time the heat pad is heavier than I thought it would be, plus the chickies are already hopping up and running around on top. Something as flexible as chicken wire would equal smooshed chicks I would think.

 

[aart]

Weve always called the sturdy square fencing hog wire, like this

That might work well for a flat heater....if you can cut it to the same size as heating pad.

 

[bruceha2000]

Heat lamps are around as a backup but I hope they gather dust! I keep checking the pad to make sure it's warm, haha...

They will . And your check for if the pad is warm is to watch the chicks. From your description of the chicks coming and going: it is JUST RIGHT.