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

[henless]

Thanks everyone for the rooster training advice. It will be a great help as mine start growing older. I do want to keep at least one, and I wanted to make sure that I wasn't doing things now that would interfere with having a good roo.

I don't have an older roo. I plan on putting my potential keepers in with my older girls so that they can teach them some manners. I know young pullets/young roos really don't mix well since the roos reach maturity before the pullets will.

On another note, I have found the heating pad mention earlier by katbriar that will turn back on if you lose power and it is restored. It was less than $20. Thanks so much for the tip katbriar!

 

[segeine]

My chicks spent their first night outside!
I had to separate the group a week or so ago, as the inside container was just too small, and one of the chicks wasn't growing as well as the others. I left her a couple of friends, and moved the rest into the garage pen, with no MLP. Yesterday, Tiny had grown enough that she couldn't escape from the pen, and I moved the whole affair outside. Of course, it rained overnight and I found myself running out at 3AM to check on them...they were fine, all cuddled in the cat carrier I left in there for them. The commotion woke the duck, who was NOT happy about it. I put a towel over the carrier to provide a bit of insulation and went back to bed.
We're supposed to have severe thunderstorms here this afternoon, and I may bring them in for that, as I'm not sure the pen will survive extreme weather, as it's only meant to be temporary until the 2nd coop gets built.

--Segeine

 

[Blooie]

On another note, I have found the heating pad mention earlier by katbriar that will turn back on if you lose power and it is restored. It was less than $20. Thanks so much for the tip katbriar!

I think it's great that folks have been so willing to share their discoveries with everyone. It's little things like this that make such a difference for someone who might be thinking about trying this.

My chicks spent their first night outside!
I had to separate the group a week or so ago, as the inside container was just too small, and one of the chicks wasn't growing as well as the others. I left her a couple of friends, and moved the rest into the garage pen, with no MLP. Yesterday, Tiny had grown enough that she couldn't escape from the pen, and I moved the whole affair outside. Of course, it rained overnight and I found myself running out at 3AM to check on them...they were fine, all cuddled in the cat carrier I left in there for them. The commotion woke the duck, who was NOT happy about it. I put a towel over the carrier to provide a bit of insulation and went back to bed.
We're supposed to have severe thunderstorms here this afternoon, and I may bring them in for that, as I'm not sure the pen will survive extreme weather, as it's only meant to be temporary until the 2nd coop gets built.

--Segeine

And Mama Heating Pad successfully raises another brood!

 

[Diannastarr]

I really liked this design idea , its more like a mama hen in design and so I showed it to my husband who is a certified Master A technician for the last 30 years , and he says this type of heating pad over wire set up creates a magnetic field, and that can mess with the chicks in some way..? he says that this type of magnetic field can create something very similar in nature to an MRI...?

 

[azygous]

Magnetic field? All righty.

If it's having an effect on chicks raised under this system, the effect must be positive!

 

[aart]

I really liked this design idea , its more like a mama hen in design and so I showed it to my husband who is a certified Master A technician for the last 30 years , and he says this type of heating pad over wire set up creates a magnetic field, and that can mess with the chicks in some way..? he says that this type of magnetic field can create something very similar in nature to an MRI...?

Certified in what and by whom?

 

[Beekissed]

I really liked this design idea , its more like a mama hen in design and so I showed it to my husband who is a certified Master A technician for the last 30 years , and he says this type of heating pad over wire set up creates a magnetic field, and that can mess with the chicks in some way..? he says that this type of magnetic field can create something very similar in nature to an MRI...?

Isn't that true for any heating pad, whether over laying wire or not? Any electric blanket, heating pad or other heating device used on or near the body can create an electromagnetic field. Even a sleep number bed is supposed to be a source of EMF. I'm wondering just how much of an EMF is emitted by a infrared heat lamp glaring down on chicks in a brooder....

The first link shows a pretty comprehensive list of things that create EMFs that can affect our health:
http://www.best-emf-health.com/emf-emissions.html
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400236/Can-Heating-Pads-Cause-Cancer.html
http://www.drlwilson.com/Articles/ELECTROMAGNETEICS.htm

I don't think I'd get too worked up over it if I'm willing to sit in front of this computer screen all the time and risk my own health in the doing of it. I'd say any long term risk is minimal as the chicks are only under the heating pad for a limited time and then they are out and on their own, quicker than those raised under a heat lamp, I might add. At least the chicks can get out from under or on the heating pad, but they cannot escape that heat lamp at all.

 

[TheRambler]

Wire under a heating pad wont increase any magnetic field already present from the heating pad. It doesnt work that way, specifically to the way this setup is made up/used. Not saying it isnt possible, but it would have to be wound/coiled up to increase the field. Single pieces of a wire frame in free air wonnt so it.

 

[Blooie]

I really liked this design idea , its more like a mama hen in design and so I showed it to my husband who is a certified Master A technician for the last 30 years , and he says this type of heating pad over wire set up creates a magnetic field, and that can mess with the chicks in some way..? he says that this type of magnetic field can create something very similar in nature to an MRI...?

I can understand your concern and your question. If there is any way this system can mess with the chicks, somebody forgot the tell that to my 23 chicks (3 batches this year + Scout last year) which have absolutely thrived. They have far surpassed my previous chicks raised with a heat lamp, and many of the people here who have tried this - even those initially skeptical - have found and reported the same results.

I posed your question to my husband. To give you his background, he has one degree in electrical engineering and one in instrumentation. He served 26 years in the Navy, first as enlisted, then was mustanged into officer ranks. He was the director of the IC/EM schools in Great Lakes, Ill. He was the electrical officer on board the battleship USS Wisconsin and the aircraft carrier USS Constellation. He also served a year on a submarine and a year on a minesweeper, and believe me if any ship understands risks involved with magnetic fields it's the poor guys on one of those. Additionally, he co-wrote the text books for the electrical schools for the US Navy, including that critical process known as "degaussing". After his retirement, he worked another 10 years as a professional electrician. So if he tells me that the answer to your question is a shrug of the shoulders and says "If there is any risk at all, it is so negligible it would be hard to pick up. I doubt if it would even be an issue" then I'm good with that. Comparing a heating pad over a frame to the huge magnetic coils in an MRI strikes me, personally, as a bit of a stretch.

I have said from the beginning that this system isn't for everyone. If you don't trust it, don't use it. Simple as that. It is very obvious that you are a fan of heat lamps. Well, then that's what you need to keep doing. I noticed you posted strong criticism of the Eco Brooder as well, for different reasons, on the Show Your Brooder thread (the exact name of the thread escapes me at the moment). In that post you stated that you are using heat lamps because that's what My Pet Chicken said to do. By the way, they sell heat lamps. I am not selling Mama Heating Pad. You also said that you didn't want your chicks drinking cold water, and you like the fact that the heat lamp heats their water for them. My reply was, "I must have missed the chapter in Story's Guide to Raising Chickens that explained how a broody hen heats water for her chicks." The heat lamp not only heats their water, it heats every bit of air around them, it heats their dust and dander, it heats the container they are brooded in, it heats the walls and floors surrounding it, and it heats the chicks beyond what they are designed to handle after a certain age.

This is the thread I started up to continue the heating pad ideas successfully used and then shared by others. I just had the good fortune to be able to put the directions, the photos and the videos in one place, and then was overjoyed to see so many others chime in with their ideas and modifications. Normally I would have been a lot less confrontational in my response to your post. However, you have been here and on another thread extolling the virtues of heat lamps when those who came here, came specifically to get away from heat lamps. I have to wonder why.

Up until this very moment there has never been a snarky comment or remark made here, and I intended it to stay that way. I deeply regret that the first snark had to come from me. as I don't believe I am that kind of person. And I don't mind one bit that you questioned the method....that's what BYC is all about, and when it comes to living, breathing creatures who depend upon us we'd all better have our concerns answered and answered well before we take on a new way of doing things. If you want to continue using heat lamps, by all means do so and you'll get no condemnation from me. However, I do ask that you not spoil it for others who choose to do things a different way. If I have misunderstood or mis-characterized this in any way, please accept my apologies.

Edited to add the link to your other post on the Brooder thread.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/6233/brooder-thread-post-pics-of-your-brooders/2970#post_15385394

 

[henless]

You go girl !!!