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

[Blooie]

Listen to them....they know! You can leave MHP set up with either no heat or down to 1 for a day or so, and if they’re still doing as well....well then, let them be, just as you said, but without MHP! Congrats!!

 

[ash_en_em]

Okay, okay. As a follow up to my previous post, my chicks (really now they're small chickens) are 5 weeks old now. For the past two nights I have herded them into the MHP at night since the temps are so cold at night still. They have been raised with no other heat source so they should know what it is. I also turned it down a click in case it was too warm.
Today three of them went to sleep on a perch and the other 4 in the corner again. I huddled them under the MHP and they're staying there. But I think if they still continue to sleep wherever tomorrow I'll just let them be? They have the idea now. I think at this point they're fully feathered and can keep themselves warm anyway, right? They seem well adjusted to the temps.
It's been consistently high 20s at night. Warm up coming next week though!

Mine haven't been outside yet in this temps, I'm a new chicken momma, but I have seen how mine act. I had a previous MHP that I would gather them into at night. I made a new one yesterday, and there is no more "gathering" them into it. I found the height made a difference (new I've is a bit taller) and the new one is wider. I also bought the XL version mentioned and they seem to WANT to go in. Just what I have seen. This is my first batch so I could be wrong, but they seem to say what they want

 

[Blooie]

They do, don’t they! And what really amazes me, every single time, is how fast people learn to read them!

 

[Leigti]

My five little chicks have been here for a week now under the MHP. It is supposed to rain this weekend so I was thinking maybe next weekend I would move them outside with a larger MHP. Should I do an in between stage, like in the garage for a few days? They sure are growing their new feathers fast. They change daily.

 

[aart]

I huddled them under the MHP and they're staying there. But I think if they still continue to sleep wherever tomorrow I'll just let them be?

Can they fit under OK....post a pic?
I just keep raising it higher as they grow.
They'll sleep on top or just partly under the front if they get too warm underneath.
Have they slept on top of it at all?

 

[bruceha2000]

Today three of them went to sleep on a perch and the other 4 in the corner again. I huddled them under the MHP and they're staying there. But I think if they still continue to sleep wherever tomorrow I'll just let them be? They have the idea now. I think at this point they're fully feathered and can keep themselves warm anyway, right? They seem well adjusted to the temps.

All 3 of my batches of chicks were up on the 4' high roosts by 4 weeks of age. Of course the ambient temp was warmer than what you are seeing. The first 2 batches would have been 4 weeks in early July, the last in late May. You would need to have the MHP cave substantially higher for a 5 week old chick than for younger chicks to go under comfortably. All they should really need now is a draft free environment.

 

[BBZZZZTT]

I've been raising it up. They all fit under now and when I corral them in they stay there. But they definitely seem to be hitting the limit, I even switched to the larger pad and they're starting to spill out of the sides when they are l under it.
They rest on top of it sometimes during the day, they used to sleep on top when they were in the basement sometimes.

On another note, last night it was forecasted to get down into the 20s, like usual. Turned out it dropped to 15!! I'm glad I didn't know about that beforehand or I would have been worried. Haha.
They are all totally fine of course, they even broke through the thin ice to take a drink before I got out there to change their water 9.9
These babies are going to be winter experts before they're even adults if we keep having this colder than usual weather!
High temp of 42 and sunny today is going to feel like a heat wave. Okay I guess I'm less worried. They got this

 

[aart]

They are all totally fine of course, they even broke through the thin ice to take a drink before I got out there to change their water

It's hard to understand how tough they are until you witness it.

 

[Blooie]

It's hard to understand how tough they are until you witness it.

Yep!! And it's been a while since I've received any nasty "You are telling people to kill their chicks!" messages too, so maybe it's getting around that they are tough little stinkers, very well equipped to thrive despite the conventional wisdom! Even if folks still prefer raising with lamps, or are in situations where lamps are just more practical than MHP (which is absolutely fine!) at least most are now acknowledging that chicks can be raised safely in alternative ways.

 

[bruceha2000]

And all my pads are brand new, so that’s good.

Had another thought re: "on all the time". Besides physical flexing and bending of the wires stressing them, heating up and cooling down also stresses them. Similar to an incandescent light bulb. The filament will last for years and years and years if the light is left on 24x7. Lifespan is much shorter when it is turned on, the filament heats up, then it is shut off, filament cools down, repeat many times a day. All the heat/cool cycles slightly expand and contract the wire. All those little "flexes" weaken the wire. Same would be true in a heating pad that was used very frequently for relatively short periods of time.

I do believe that the 2 hour auto shut off on heating pads isn't so much about safety of the pad related to fire but in case it is under a person's body and they fall asleep with no air to dissipate the heat and potentially burning the person's skin. Used as we are in a MHP cave setting, there is always ambient air on one side of the pad, even if it is covered with a towel or pillowcase.