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

[azygous]

You know the broody hen I told you all about a few weeks back who had adopted my three, then six-week old chicks? They are eleven weeks old now and Mama Su-su is still hovering and feeding them and protecting them. I think she must be some kind of mystical chicken saint.

Here she is standing guard. They all roost together, sometimes with one or two under her wings. As you can see, they are almost a big as she is.

Here's a tip for keeping your @$$ off the poopy ground when you play with your chicks. I filled feed sacks with straw, stapled them closed to keep the straw in, and threw them down inside the run. Of course, all the chickens now love to lounge on them, but when there's poop deposited on them, it just brushes right off, or wiped off with a damp hand wipe.

 

[Blooie]

Brilliant! Not like I don't have food sacks handy! <sigh> Boy, when you have a broody that sticks, she really sticks!

 

[bruceha2000]

Good point! I put her dry food out there (which probably defeats the purpose xD though she's been getting wet food lately so rarely eats it now anyway) but completely forgot water and litter box haha I ended up bringing her in though (and boy was she glad! And begging for another can) but tomorrow I may put her back out there or invest in some traps or a true barn cat or something.

If there are some mice, there will be more mice, unless you get a permanent exterminator (AKA barn cat). Save your kitty the trouble and trauma of being stuck in there and get the traps. They are cheap. And if some people think chickens smell, it is NOTHING compared to barfed up mouse guts. Two of our indoor cats have killed mice that managed to get up in the house from the basement. It was a near miss not barfing myself cleaning it up due to the smell. PEEEEEE YOUUUUU

Trick on the mouse traps I learned by trial and error. You must put them in an "alley" of some sort so that HAVE to cross the trap from the narrow end to get to the food (peanut butter is supposed to be good, they really aren't all that excited about cheese, cartoons to the contrary). If they can get in from the side, they will likely not get "snapped". Make the "alley" out of cardboard just the width of the trap. Or you can make an "alley" by placing the trap in a corner with a cardboard box next to the long side of the trap. Put the trap in a corner or against a wall in any case, they like the safety of running along the wall rather than in the open.

I thought I'd have a few months? :O they'll probably outgrow the brooder fast though and even if not, you're probably right that the coop will take longer. Especially since my dad's getting hip surgery the day they hatch and will probably be out a while so it really is probably more.limited time than I'm thinking though. But fortunately we're building it with pallets now so I think it will maybe take less time. We're going to pick up the pallets tomorrow after my dad's work so maybe we can start building this week. I forget though, is it possible to build entirely from pallet wood or will I have to use plywood on the floor?

And that is true about calming his concerns about the smell (btw is it true?).

And ahh, I was afraid of that. They used to hide dog food in the ski boots too lol and in fact, I'm glad you mentioned the mice again because I stuck my cat out there earlier today and I completely forgot she was out there!! Whoops!! I feel so dreadful! :O probably about time to bring her in haha unless I should leave her overnight to do some hunting?

You can make the floor out of pallet wood as well. You just have to make sure the "floor joists" are spaced properly. It will be quite strong, I have firewood stacked on pallets and it weighs a LOT more per square inch than you or your chickens. You will want to seal the floor or cover it with sheet vinyl or something. Dad is right about the smell being around forever if the chicken poop is in contact with the wood. ANY type of wood.

You know the broody hen I told you all about a few weeks back who had adopted my three, then six-week old chicks? They are eleven weeks old now and Mama Su-su is still hovering and feeding them and protecting them. I think she must be some kind of mystical chicken saint.

Here she is standing guard. They all roost together, sometimes with one or two under her wings. As you can see, they are almost a big as she is.

Here's a tip for keeping your @$$ off the poopy ground when you play with your chicks. I filled feed sacks with straw, stapled them closed to keep the straw in, and threw them down inside the run. Of course, all the chickens now love to lounge on them, but when there's poop deposited on them, it just brushes right off, or wiped off with a damp hand wipe.

I thought you were going to say you throw them down as sitting pillows when YOU want to sit!

 

[ShrekDawg]

Thanks for the tips on the traps!! I'll have to try that! Unfortunately there's so much stuff up there it's somewhat hard to get to the walls but I'll try. I'm also kind of soft and don't really like the idea of killing them BUT they get into everything and I suppose it's a lot more humane that sending a cat out after them or using poison. From what I've seen of cats, at least with our old cat, they tend to like to torture. Our current cat it seems is swift. I've never actually seen her hunt but have seen bodies I suspect are her doing. Our old cat would catch stuff then play with it in the yard. One time I distinctly remember he hd caught a mouse or vole and was just laying in the yard torturing the poor thing. He would let it get away a distance then swipe it back, let it run away, swipe it back, etc. For a quite a while before we noticed and scared him off. Poor thing. Think he may have given it a heart attack anyhow. I've also noticed cats, unless you don't feed them and even then, tend to catch for fun rather than eat it. Even if you don't feed them they seem to catch more than they need. Dumb cats. Therefore suppose traps are more humane.

And that's good to know I can make the floor with the pallets! Thanks! I'll be sure to cover it though. Linoleum maybe? Or the vinyl suggestion. I hadn't realized he was right about the wood though, that's interesting. But is it still around even if they don't come in contact with the wood?

 

[ShrekDawg]

Got the heating pad today.

 

[BeachyChicken]

I am getting my first chicks this weekend and I want to do the heating pad brooder...my problem is I don't have a garage to house the chicks in so my options are inside or in the carport...I have no power in the coop so that's out of the question. I will be using an old dog crate and living in south florida I was thinking I might be able to keep them out in the carport if I reinforce the crate with fine mesh chicken wire so no snakes can get my precious girls... That way they're not in the house but I have electricity to hook them up to the heating pad...what are your thoughts?

 

[ShrekDawg]

I am getting my first chicks this weekend and I want to do the heating pad brooder...my problem is I don't have a garage to house the chicks in so my options are inside or in the carport...I have no power in the coop so that's out of the question. I will be using an old dog crate and living in south florida I was thinking I might be able to keep them out in the carport if I reinforce the crate with fine mesh chicken wire so no snakes can get my precious girls... That way they're not in the house but I have electricity to hook them up to the heating pad...what are your thoughts?

I would think the car port would work just as well, especially in Florida. I don't think they'd really need too much heat there. The only thing though is I'd use hardware cloth instead of chicken wire. Chicken wire is very flimsy and a raccoon or other predator (if you have them) could reach in and tear it. Plus I think the holes on chicken wire are still fairly large so smaller snakes would still likely have no problem getting in. Other than that I don't see an issue.

 

[Blooie]

Agreed. The carport for your climate should be just fine. If your coop isn't too far from the nearest outlet, you could also use a long heavy duty extension cord, which is what we did when one outlet in the coop was in use for the stock tank heater in the waterer and the brooder was out in the run. Of course, my electrican husband has a fit about any extension cords being used but sometimes there just aren't viable alternatives. There are large plastic connectors you can get that are great. You open them up, plug one end of the extension cord to the appliance then snap the connector shut. Keeps out debris and moisture.

If you look on the first page of this thread, you can see the hardware cloth that I used on the wire dog crate. Simply bringing that up and over to encase it should prevent snakes. <shudder>

 

[OopsChickens]

My babies came in!!!! But one little runt has some messed up feet. Any suggestions?

The picture order is a little messed up because I'm on my phone, sorry!

 

[lazy gardener]

My babies came in!!!! But one little runt has some messed up feet. Any suggestions?





The picture order is a little messed up because I'm on my phone, sorry!

Yes. You can put a bandaid splint on those feet. But, that little one is compromised, and never should have been sent out to you. It should have been culled at the hatchery. If I were you, I'd send that pic to the hatchery, and ask them to refund your money. Did they send any extras? If so, they may not refund. But, I'd certainly not be willing to pay for a chick that should have been culled. You can try to save it by putting splints on it's feet for a few days.