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

[Blooie]

I guess you could try it....this thread wouldn't exist without people trying things out. I'm concerned about the stiffness as well as the preprogrammed temperature. Is there a way to turn it up when they're tiny and down as the chicks outgrow their need for heat? With the MHP system, that happens a lot faster than you can imagine! I would sure suggest looking at aart's thread as well as this one. There are some pretty sharp tickets in this town!

I just prefer the heating pad, I guess, and I don't know anything about the heater you have except what I read on the link you provided. So I'm going to follow this, keeping an open mind. And photos are always so helpful. Do you have a heating pad for that many chicks in hot running standby?

 

[Semper]

there isn't anyway to turn it down i can look for one and possibly get one on Monday when i go to town. we have some shelving things that maybe i could put it on but ill have to check. other wise ill have to do a heat lamp for a few days till i get a heater. we might still for a few days inside the house to make sure they are okay and no pasty butts! while we set up the brooder.

 

[perchie.girl]

there isn't anyway to turn it down i can look for one and possibly get one on Monday when i go to town. we have some shelving things that maybe i could put it on but ill have to check. other wise ill have to do a heat lamp for a few days till i get a heater. we might still for a few days inside the house to make sure they are okay and no pasty butts! while we set up the brooder.

angle it... so its lower in the back than the front.... the peeps will settle where its comfortable.

That will work till you can get your adjustable one...

deb

 

[aart]

the big one isn't flexable haven't opened the little one as its summer but im guessing it isnt flexible either! we had put it on wire rack for storage to keep it off the ground and put shingles on it to keep them off of it and it would stay clean. they could lay and stand on it but not under it as it was for big chickens.

If you prop it up to they can under or on top, it double your 'capacity'.
I've seen folks use those pet heaters just on the floor/ground for chicks tho too.

 

[Semper]

If you prop it up to they can under or on top, it double your 'capacity'.
I've seen folks use those pet heaters just on the floor/ground for chicks tho too.

thats what i was wondering if i layed it down if that would be an issue or if they would do fine. as i will have a chicken with them but shes half the size of a full grown chicken and is good with chicks. or if i just put it on some 2x4s 3 sided stand thing so that it would be up and supported on three sided yet still able to get on top. but only one side heats would that be an issue? im sure the bottom has some heat but not like the top..

 

[aart]

Quote: If only the top heats then I'd just set it on the floor/ground.

 

[Semper]

If only the top heats then I'd just set it on the floor/ground.

Okay ill see if they like it or if i have to go and make a little (big) heating cave for them.

 

[aart]

Quote: With 25 chicks you might need to go with a light.....
......was just thinking about these pad heaters and larger hatches/batches, they are great for heating chicks but there is a population capacity with them.

 

[Semper]

well for the next week they will be inside in two one 12 and one 13 groups in some totes we have and then they will be in the brooder with Beebe. im going to rig some how a light for them both. they are a week old today!

 

[azygous]

Chicks only need direct contact with the underside of the heating pad for the first two weeks I noticed, after that, they seem to derive enough benefit from radiated heat.

Therefore, by the time 25 chicks over-run the space under two heating pads, (I'd use two with two dozen chicks) you could increase the cave space by moving the walls outward, keeping the two pads above. Then remember, by age two weeks, a lot of the chicks will be spending lots of time on top of the heating pads. With my cave frame design, it had a useable flat roof where my chicks spent a lot of time during the day.

Back in the middle of this thread where I was discussing my ideas for a cave design for large groups of chicks, I proposed using two heating pads over the Mylar space blanket material and having it reflect and disperse heat from the heating pads over a much larger area below in the cave. I wouldn't hesitate to use this for two dozen chicks. I see it being very satisfactory.