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

[aart]

So do I now. But that water gets SO GROSS SO FAST!

I found keeping it raised to chest height keep it much cleaner

but he had his mom and the other adults to show him how it worked.

Yes!! Broody chicks learn way faster than brooder raised ones.

 

[bobbi-j]

Showed DH the video. He's still convinced that they're all going to die... The problem is, I have to work when they come in, so he'll be the one getting them settled. I told him he has to make sure to show them the brooder so they know where to go get warm.

 

[bruceha2000]

Can I come over and some sense into him?

He's more likely to kill them with too much heat from a lamp too close to them. Or they will get chilled because the lamp is too far away in a big space. Set the pad on high and tell him to put his hand up against it in the cave and see if it feels warm to him.

Good luck, the chicks can live until you get home to get them set up properly

 

[bobbi-j]

Can I come over and some sense into him?

He's more likely to kill them with too much heat from a lamp too close to them. Or they will get chilled because the lamp is too far away in a big space. Set the pad on high and tell him to put his hand up against it in the cave and see if it feels warm to him.

Good luck, the chicks can live until you get home to get them set up properly

He's not a bad guy. He grew up watching his mother raise chicks under a heat lamp, and all the years we've raised them it's been with a lamp. That's the thing. Heat lamps are familiar. This is new. He doesn't understand it.

 

[Farmer Doc]

So here is my design...

The frame is 1/2 inch EMT pipe with PVC corners. 5/8 inch screws hold everything in place.


PVC coated chicken wire (deer fence) is zip tied to the frame.


The heating pad is tied to the chicken wire with baling twine. Right now the front legs are 5 inches and the back are 3 inches. Starting point for ducks/geese...


As you can see the legs are changeable with the screw. I am cutting legs to 1 inch increments to have some on hand to go up or down depending on the size of the bird. Alyson could remove the back legs completely if that is better. (Haven't trimmed the tied twine yet but will soon.)

Made of mostly on hand materials. Thoughts and feedback appreciated!

 

[aart]

He's not a bad guy. He grew up watching his mother raise chicks under a heat lamp, and all the years we've raised them it's been with a lamp. That's the thing. Heat lamps are familiar. This is new. He doesn't understand it.

Ya know...you/he can use a heat lamp to get started. <gasp!> (get over it)
I do, during the day, over the feed station to make sure they are eating/drinking/moving/etc. the first couple days after hatch.
Feed/water station is on a large tote lid very near the MHP.
Wish I had a good pic, but I do not.
You can turn lamp off when you get home from work and start showing them, and him, how the heating pad works.

 

[bobbi-j]

Ya know...you/he can use a heat lamp to get started. <gasp!> (get over it)
I do, during the day, over the feed station to make sure they are eating/drinking/moving/etc. the first couple days after hatch.
Feed/water station is on a large tote lid very near the MHP.
Wish I had a good pic, but I do not.
You can turn lamp off when you get home from work and start showing them, and him, how the heating pad works.

That's a good idea! I will talk to him about it.

 

[bruceha2000]

He's not a bad guy. He grew up watching his mother raise chicks under a heat lamp, and all the years we've raised them it's been with a lamp. That's the thing. Heat lamps are familiar. This is new. He doesn't understand it.

I know he isn't, I guess my attempt at a little humor failed. To me it is much easier to get an MHP setup right than it is to get a heat lamp setup working properly. For one thing the MHP isn't space dependent. You set it up the same whether in a small space or a large one.

My first chicks had a heat lamp over their bathtub controlled by a remote reading thermostat. Lots of initial messing around to get the heat at "ground level" 'correct' at 95°F (per the 'they say' requirement) by moving the lamp up and down and even with the thermostat I had to raise the lamp to keep it from being over 90°F the second week, then 85°F the 3rd. In the end the entire bathroom was a sauna the whole time the birds were in the house. They did OK, we took care of the pasty butt and with some trauma they transitioned to the barn in July.

Then I look at how the second batch, raised by a broody out in the barn with ambient temps 30°F+ lower than the 'they say' requirement, fared and acted. The only difference I noticed with the "MHP in the barn raised" 3rd batch from the second is they had to come back to the MHP whereas the second batch had a heat source that travelled with them.

Certainly a heat lamp in a really large space like a basement, garage or barn can give a better overall environment than one in a small space since the chicks can get away from the heat, that wasn't possible in the bathroom. As with the momma hen, the MHP raised chicks spent WAY more time away from their heat source than they spent in or on it after their first few days. And the MHP chicks were out in the barn in late April/early May, much cooler temps than the other two batches that arrived in June. That, to me, pointed out the fallacy of the 'they say' temperature requirement and the much less than optimal environment of a heat lamp in a small space which seems to be what most people have as a brooding area.

 

[Storybook Farm]

I do the same, @aart. I do it while the ambient temperatures are at or below freezing. I have the heat lamp on a timer. It goes off around 10 PM, and on again at 5:30 AM. This way, unless it’s REALLY cold, the water doesn’t freeze, and the chicks have a short night, with time to eat/drink way before we get out to the barn for morning chores (typically between 8-9 AM).

 

[bobbi-j]

I know he isn't, I guess my attempt at a little humor failed. To me it is much easier to get an MHP setup right than it is to get a heat lamp setup working properly. For one thing the MHP isn't space dependent. You set it up the same whether in a small space or a large one.

My first chicks had a heat lamp over their bathtub controlled by a remote reading thermostat. Lots of initial messing around to get the heat at "ground level" 'correct' at 95°F (per the 'they say' requirement) by moving the lamp up and down and even with the thermostat I had to raise the lamp to keep it from being over 90°F the second week, then 85°F the 3rd. In the end the entire bathroom was a sauna the whole time the birds were in the house. They did OK, we took care of the pasty butt and with some trauma they transitioned to the barn in July.

Then I look at how the second batch, raised by a broody out in the barn with ambient temps 30°F+ lower than the 'they say' requirement, fared and acted. The only difference I noticed with the "MHP in the barn raised" 3rd batch from the second is they had to come back to the MHP whereas the second batch had a heat source that travelled with them.

Certainly a heat lamp in a really large space like a basement, garage or barn can give a better overall environment than one in a small space since the chicks can get away from the heat, that wasn't possible in the bathroom. As with the momma hen, the MHP raised chicks spent WAY more time away from their heat source than they spent in or on it after their first few days. And the MHP chicks were out in the barn in late April/early May, much cooler temps than the other two batches that arrived in June. That, to me, pointed out the fallacy of the 'they say' temperature requirement and the much less than optimal environment of a heat lamp in a small space which seems to be what most people have as a brooding area.

I agree that it should be easier to set up the MHP than a heat lamp. Last time I used a heat lamp, the weather was so variable it made me crazy trying to keep up. Even though there was plenty of room for them to get out of the heat, I’d raise it during the day when it was 60, and lower it at night when it got down in the 20’s because I didn’t trust that they would be warm enough. I love the idea of the consistency of the MHP. (Although we may have the light on over the water for a few nights to keep it from freezing.)

PS - instead of some sense into him, could you please teach me how to speak man-speak so he understands? After 35 1/2 years I still haven’t figured it out!