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

[RubyNala97]

Just wanted to update that I opened the portal door! I opened it for a few hours yesterday while the big ones were free ranging. So that the chicks could get a feel for the run without anyone else in there. They had a blast with the big run to themselves. Then I practiced me walking in and going toward them to see if they would go back and they did great! Today it's open with the big ones in the run and a couple chicks will venture out at a time and none of the big chickens have even acknowledged them. So it's going great!! You guys are so smart!!

 

[ShrekDawg]

Glad it's going so well! I'm thinking the big chickens are probably already used to them witg them right there so it's not really difference for them besides them being a little closer.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Told my mom and she gave me a pillow case from my brothers room that wasn't on the bed yet (air conditioners are still in front of linen closet and we didn't want them falling) and this one happens to open on the end AND zips up so that's convenient and glad I found a pillow case so fast. We will try this.

 

[curious chickee]

Well the other three chicks survived, I am going to brood these in the house until my other coop is finished. So out of 31 chicks I only lost my 2 silkies, now I need to find more silkie chicks to replace them.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Glad the others survived but so sorry about your Silkies. I hope you are able to find more Silkies.

 

[lazy gardener]

Ruby, the portal is an excellent addition to the MHP concept. It takes rearing babies to a whole new level of easy. Thanks to Azygous for her ingenuity with that concept! When I first joined BYC, the common notion and advice was not to integrate until the chicks are the same size as the adults. Through experimenting with my own flock, I've come to the conclusion, that given common sense, and appropriate # of chicks to be integrated, (and even that's subjective!) earlier is much better!

Just curious CC, did your waterer leak because it got filled with shavings? I've found that when ever I have a waterer leak, that's usually the reason. If it's kept elevated to the level of the chick's backs, it almost never gets filled with poop and shavings. I like to hang mine from a chain. That makes it super easy to adjust the height. (Hmmm. How much have they grown since yesterday, one link or two?!)

 

[Lavender11]

So far I've had three of my nine eggs hatch. I'll be putting my MHP to use very soon

 

[lazy gardener]

If you have not yet tried it, you're gonna love it.

 

[curious chickee]

Mine leaked because what it was sitting on was not level, so the angle caused a continual drip, usually I attach the waterer to prevent this but this brooder I did not, my usual brooder is housing my daughters breeding trio while I finish their coop. I think when I was preparing for the storm I must have bumped the waterer shifting it, so the few hours I was working it was leaking.

 

[henless]

That said, they, again, seem happy with it. I'm going to fix the issues with MHP immediately or temporarily put the box back in so they're safe while we're gone because we're going to get hardware cloth and possibly more shavings so we can put them in the garage today

It seems your having a lot of trouble with your chicks getting in the pillow case.

If I were you, I would take off the pillow case and use small bungee cords to attach the heating pad to your frame. Be sure and put your heating pad underneath the wire, so that the chicks can press up against the pad and get warm. Instead of using a pillow case, just get an old kitchen or hand towel and lay across the top of the wire. You can take it off, shake off the poo and put back on. This will keep the chicks from getting caught up in the pillow case.

I used a cookie rack and all thread rods to make my warmer. I bungeed it underneath the rack and just laid an old kitchen towel over the top. I made the front higher than the back and let the chicks pick where they wanted to stay.

My heating pad had a cover on it and you can see that it was a bit wider than the cookie rack. I let the extra hang down in the front but not all the way to the ground.




Here it is set up in the coop. I have the towel over the top, then put some shavings over the towel. Angle it so the front is higher, and the chicks can go in all way to the back if they need to, or stay up from for not as much heat.




You really need to take off the pillow case, or else fix it to where they can't get up in it. Otherwise, your going to have a chick get caught up in there and not make it.`