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

[DragonGirls]

Another one here who is so happy to have found this thread last year when I first started to think I was brave enough to actually raise chicks to add to my now 3 year old girls but really really didn't want to use a red lamp.
It gave me the confidence to go ahead this year and order chicks,have now had them since Tuesday and I love love love the MHP, thank you all so much!

 

[Blooie]

Love hearing that!!! But if you’ve read the thread, you know the drill.....pictures please!!

 

[DragonGirls]

Haha...I'll try...i'm a bit technically challenged getting pics from my phone to the comp lol!

 

[DragonGirls]

Hope this works!

 

[Doublete]

Well... I just want to say I have a brooder plate (two premier 1) and ordered the heating pads needed for this... I am getting ten freedom ranger meat birds and want them to feather as quickly as possible... so this is for them!

 

[bruceha2000]

Love hearing that!!! But if you’ve read the thread, you know the drill.....pictures please!!

PLEASE?? I'm pretty sure they are REQUIRED for membership in Blooie's Brooder Brigade!

I was not planning to get more chicks this year but I may have to change my mind. I got 6 last spring. One of the Golden Campines didn't show up for bedtime one night late in the summer. The Barnevelder was fine one morning in early March, dead in the run at closing time, no visible damage. And while Lana, the other Golden Campine, was in the coop Wed night, she's not been seen since. She could get out from the fenced area and very often did several times a day. She was a smart little bird but didn't understand the danger of being outside the fence. Pretty much every morning after the auto door opened on the coop she'd make her way out the alpacas' always open door and more often than not would go outside the fenced area. I had the trash out before 7 AM yesterday and went to open the barn, no Lana. So, unless she is pulling a "Fae" (Cubalaya that decided to make a nest outside the barn and "hatch" her infertile eggs, MIA for weeks) possibly in the bigger section of the barn since I've seen her go in there squeezing in under the sliding doors, I've got to assume she was taken by an early morning predator yesterday.

Thus I'm down half of the birds that were expected to backfill the older birds. I usually don't want a broody bird but if one decides to go that way, I'll probably get some June chicks, break out the MHP for their first couple of days and stuff them under the broody one night at o'dark thirty. And I might just decide to get some anyway and do MHP the whole brooding period. That is what I had to do the last two batches and of course it worked very well, just not quite the same as having a Mama hen to teach them the ropes of chickenhood here.

 

[bruceha2000]

Hope this works!

It did!
Nice job with the MHP, the fuzzbutts look happy.

 

[DragonGirls]

Thank you!
they do seem happy,they love the MHP and love just hanging out on top of it or running and leaping/fluttering off the top of it..they really are hilarious to watch!

 

[Blooie]

@DragonGirls So cute!! Your dues are paid! It looks like you’ll be raising MHP a little higher soon.....

Bruce, that just stinks! I’ll bet she’s hiding in that barn somewhere and she’ll pop on back. It’s only been a couple of days! But then, you do have your share of gutsy predators along with your gutsy chickens. I’ll just keep hoping for the best for you.

You still raise your chicks outdoors, don’t you? All of my batches learned how to be chickens by watching the Bigs, even without a for-really mom. I would be quick to agree that a broody is usually best, but then look at Agatha’s track record!

I can’t remember if I told you or not, but she, Tank, DumbDaphneTheFlockComplainer, Gladys and the rest of my rehomed flock were all killed during a massive massacre at their new place, along with the chickens Jim already had. I can’t image a flock without Aggie and Tank. Breaks my heart to think that if only they were still living here with us.....

 

[DragonGirls]

Blooie - yes, I actually just raised it today after cleaning them out and putting shavings in for the first time It's so amazing how fast they grow!
I also lowered the temp to number four yesterday,really worried me as I thought they might need it higher at just 4 days old but on number 5 they seemed to spend more time on top so lowered to 4 and they all slept soundly and seemed perfectly fine this morning!

They are currently in an unheated spare bedroom with the window open (only because I'm an anxious new mum lol,more for my benefit than theirs) with the intention of moving them out in the brooder to the coop with the big girls this weekend.

So my question is.. when they go outside to the coop, do I keep the heat pad temperature setting on the same number or raise it to compensate for the pretty chilly weather we seem to be having atm (barring yesterday which was 79f) currently low 50s dropping to low 40s or just keep it on the same setting and see how they act i guess?
We do have a pet cam on them atm so we can see them at all times but not sure our wifi will reliably reach to the coop, so I will only see them when I go out there...which is multiple times a day anyway normally.

Sorry for the probably silly question but i'm a born worrier lol.