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

[janiedoe]

Chicks are so different. I've had batches that were done with MHP by week 3 or 4, eh I don't need that thing... But THIS batch, good grief, absolutely addicted to it. I've added "extension legs" when they get tallish in the past. But these ladies still wanted MHP at 9weeks! So I resorted to this... draping it over the wooden crate (heat is low.) I worried at first that that this could be like training them to sleep in nest boxes but thankfully a few of them were already preferring the roost out in front. Finally MHP has been put away until next time but it made me wonder what everyone else does when they start to outgrow it but it's still cold at night and they look like the leaning tower of Piza all packed on and under it...
View attachment 3182307

I love your coop!
It must be much cooler there.
My mama hen had her chicks roosting at 2 and 3 weeks.
It's so hot here that she just layed beside her eggs during the day, and she still hatched 5 of 6. I'm not kidding.

 

[aart]

Chicks are so different. I've had batches that were done with MHP by week 3 or 4, eh I don't need that thing... But THIS batch, good grief, absolutely addicted to it. I've added "extension legs" when they get tallish in the past. But these ladies still wanted MHP at 9weeks! So I resorted to this... draping it over the wooden crate (heat is low.) I worried at first that that this could be like training them to sleep in nest boxes but thankfully a few of them were already preferring the roost out in front. Finally MHP has been put away until next time but it made me wonder what everyone else does when they start to outgrow it but it's still cold at night and they look like the leaning tower of Piza all packed on and under it...
View attachment 3182307

I've had them so big(Brawny Brahmas) at 4 wks that they could lift and move the darn thing.
They will stay under it out of habit even if the heat is off.
Remove it and after a day or two they'll get over it.

 

[bruceha2000]

What @aart said!

I would have pulled that thing out at 5 weeks unless they were fully feathered at 4. That said, I've not had "pacifier chicks", those that did MHP until feathered instead of being raised by a hen have gone up on the roosts at about 4 weeks of their own accord. Want to be like the big girls I suppose.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

I love your coop!
It must be much cooler there.
My mama hen had her chicks roosting at 2 and 3 weeks.
It's so hot here that she just layed beside her eggs during the day, and she still hatched 5 of 6. I'm not kidding.

Oh wow, smart mama hen! It did finally warm up there but it was a loooooooooong cold spring for sure! Thank you for loving my coop, it's my happy place. I've been building it for about 15years. That one thread somewhere asking what's "the most valuable chicken accessory" oh you can bet for me it's been reading this thread and MHP! Helped me to build another room in my coop and turn my old one into a brooder.

 

[RoyalChick]

Chicks are so different. I've had batches that were done with MHP by week 3 or 4, eh I don't need that thing... But THIS batch, good grief, absolutely addicted to it. I've added "extension legs" when they get tallish in the past. But these ladies still wanted MHP at 9weeks! So I resorted to this... draping it over the wooden crate (heat is low.) I worried at first that that this could be like training them to sleep in nest boxes but thankfully a few of them were already preferring the roost out in front. Finally MHP has been put away until next time but it made me wonder what everyone else does when they start to outgrow it but it's still cold at night and they look like the leaning tower of Piza all packed on and under it...
View attachment 3182307

I switch my plate off and leave it in the brooder for a while.
My current chicks mainly slept on top of it from about 3 weeks. The batch before that would crowd under for weeks with no heat on at all.

 

[Blooie]

I just pull it. As has been said, it’s not the heat they want but the security and its a habit. The longest I’ve ever left it was 5 weeks, but even then the heat was turned off.

 

[TJAnonymous]

QUESTION - will a MHP setup work for ducklings the same way it works for chicks?

 

[Blooie]

We’ve had folks use it for ducklings. They've said that ducklings don’t seem to need as much heat as chicks, and with their longer necks you’ll have to fine-tune the height adjustments more as they grow. But it should be doable.

 

[ButtonNomies]

I was told I should post this here ... I hobby breed Button/Chinese painted/King Quail

I dont have a heat bulb with my chicks, just a heat mat with a thermostat.


But I know their natural instinct is to burrow under. I've noticed it a lot with raising chicks tht they'd play a game of who gets to be on the bottom. I think it's mostly a comfort thing as they're definately not cold!


So I found a few scraps of felt and some old fur material and fashioned them a mum to burrow under.


Its just a circle of felt and a sausage made out of the fur filled with beads and sewn together (the beads give it some weight and sturdiness to burrow n not flip or move it)


Anyway my bubbas love their "mum"

 

[azygous]

I just adore ingenuity and innovation! Those little ones look very content.