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

[Beekissed]

I don't do the light for the first few days either but I don't consider that a bad thing at all. I put mine straight from the incubator and underneath the heating pad brooder. A chick that is too weak to get from food, water and back to the heat source isn't anything I'd want in my flock in the first place. Same with one that can't flock well and follow the crowd back to warmth.

Monitoring the chicks the first day is standard whether one uses a light or another kind of brooder...even the real one, a mama hen.

 

[aart]

I don't do the light for the first few days either but I don't consider that a bad thing at all. I put mine straight from the incubator and underneath the heating pad brooder. A chick that is too weak to get from food, water and back to the heat source isn't anything I'd want in my flock in the first place. Same with one that can't flock well and follow the crowd back to warmth.

Monitoring the chicks the first day is standard whether one uses a light or another kind of brooder...even the real one, a mama hen.

It's so much easier to monitor them if they have heat in the light, I just use a 100w incandescent....
...plus who doesn't like to watch brand new chicks!? After a day or two tho, I'm over it haha and heat light stays off.

 

[dpenning]

Sorry you inferred that, I certainly didn't mean to imply it.

LOL! This gives me flashbacks to a Big Bang Theory Episode about Penny's boyfriend and a trained dolphin......

Nope, didn't infer that at all. Just a reflection of some of the PMs I've received from people getting mad at me for "deliberately trying to kill peoples' chicks with this awful idea!"

Really? PM's getting angry? Wow, just wow. Step away from the computer folks! Sheesh.

 

[Blooie]

I didn't worry about it. I just deleted them and went on with real life.

 

[riverswan]

Thanks Blooie for this wonderful idea for a heating pad brooder, and everyone's great ideas that followed! Winter has barely begun and I am already counting the days until June when I can once again raise little chicks and try out this heating method! I will show my husband the pics and videos and see what he comes up with for making the cave, as he is an avid recyclist and collector of everything.

 

[2FunKids]

I like to use a heat light the first day or so, only during the day, so I can observe them for any issues.
Only thing about the heating pad I don't like.

I'd let them rest a bit then get them out and moving make sure they drink and show them the food.
Horizontal nipples can be hard to operate for tiny chicks, I use a regular chick waterer the first couple days too.

He has perked up now. They seem to be doing really well with this method! I did add a light today mainly because they didn't know their way around the brooder and that way I was more confident they had enough warmth to explore out to the food and water. The Nipples are working well but it does require a bit of training.

Thanks everyone!!!!!

 

[A V Davidson]

Hi...I'm new to this chicken thing. I had the good fortune to think of using a heating pad even before I discovered this thread. My summer home is solar powered and using a 250 Watt heat lamp through the night was out of the question. My three little chicks are not so little anymore having grown to about six times the size they were when they came to me three weeks ago. One of them can already fly about twenty feet, and DO THEY EVER CONSUME THE WATER! You'd think they had discovered Bud Lite or something similar...I'm filling their spouted hanging bottle every day now. It's near time for them to take up residence outside.

But my purpose for this tome it is say that my heating pad setup is much like what you describe in your thread. I used to place it high so the chicks could huddle under it and it would stay cleaner. But as they shot up in height that was no longer feasible so I lowered it to the bottom floor of their cage. First I wrap it with a fleecy towel, then a thinner dish towel that I change every couple of days. Next I place a couple of 2x4 blocks on the pad to allow them to roost and/or or move away from the heat if they need to. They seem to really enjoy the setup -- gosh, at least it doesn't have seemed to stunt their growth any. Because of the padding and giving them the ability to move around I first set the heating pad on high...for about a week. Then I reduced it to medium heat for a couple of weeks and to low for a day or two. I noticed them huddling more with the setting at low, so I increased it back to medium and they are much happier with that degree of warmth.

I've enjoyed reading about the other methods of chick care during their first three weeks...just need now to get at building one of those snazzy home-made PVC watering nipple spouts so that the water doesn't disappear so rapidly.

frogstomper
Maricopa, Arizona

 

[perchie.girl]

Hi...I'm new to this chicken thing. I had the good fortune to think of using a heating pad even before I discovered this thread. My summer home is solar powered and using a 250 Watt heat lamp through the night was out of the question. My three little chicks are not so little anymore having grown to about six times the size they were when they came to me three weeks ago. One of them can already fly about twenty feet, and DO THEY EVER CONSUME THE WATER! You'd think they had discovered Bud Lite or something similar...I'm filling their spouted hanging bottle every day now. It's near time for them to take up residence outside.

But my purpose for this tome it is say that my heating pad setup is much like what you describe in your thread. I used to place it high so the chicks could huddle under it and it would stay cleaner. But as they shot up in height that was no longer feasible so I lowered it to the bottom floor of their cage. First I wrap it with a fleecy towel, then a thinner dish towel that I change every couple of days. Next I place a couple of 2x4 blocks on the pad to allow them to roost and/or or move away from the heat if they need to. They seem to really enjoy the setup -- gosh, at least it doesn't have seemed to stunt their growth any. Because of the padding and giving them the ability to move around I first set the heating pad on high...for about a week. Then I reduced it to medium heat for a couple of weeks and to low for a day or two. I noticed them huddling more with the setting at low, so I increased it back to medium and they are much happier with that degree of warmth.

I've enjoyed reading about the other methods of chick care during their first three weeks...just need now to get at building one of those snazzy home-made PVC watering nipple spouts so that the water doesn't disappear so rapidly.

frogstomper
Maricopa, Arizona

Hey ...

its a fun place. I am in a teeny nub of the Sonoran desert near the Mexican Border.

deb

 

[Blooie]

Okay, you two! If you've been reading the thread then you know what the registration fee is - pictures...we need pictures! Most of us aren't raising chicks now so it's one good way to get our chick fix, and we love seeing all the setups and Littles!

They do grow fast - I was surprised too with how fast they feathered out! @A V Davidson have you checked around the waterer and determined if they are drinking that much water or if they are spilling it? I swore at first I didn't have chicks, I had little piggies in that brooder! I think you'll be really happy once you switch over to nipple waterers....and I'd recommend the horizontal rather than the vertical. They don't drip nearly as much! I think it's interesting that you started using a heating pad before finding us - I'm always pleasantly surprised to find others who just knew there had to be a better way. I keep my cave down low, because I found the chicks like the heat right at their backs, especially the first week or so. The frame I use is lower in the back than in the front and that seems to work the best for me. I raise my chicks outside, so they appreciate the extra heat. My pad has 6 settings rather than High, Medium, and Low, and I like the extra control that gives me.

@2FunKids I'm happy to hear that the little'n is doing better. Keep us posted, and again - you know the rules!

Hi Deb! Deb is right - this is a really great group and a fun thread. We're so glad to have you!

 

[2FunKids]

Okay, you two!  If you've been reading the thread then you know what the registration fee is - pictures...we need pictures!  Most of us aren't raising chicks now so it's one good way to get our chick fix, and we love seeing all the setups and Littles!

They do grow fast - I was surprised too with how fast they feathered out!  @A V Davidson
 have you checked around the waterer and determined if they are drinking that much water or if they are spilling it?  I swore at first I didn't have chicks, I had little piggies in that brooder!  I think you'll be really happy once you switch over to nipple waterers....and I'd recommend the horizontal rather than the vertical.  They don't drip nearly as much! I think it's interesting that you started using a heating pad before finding us - I'm always pleasantly surprised to find others who just knew there had to be a better way.  I keep my cave down low, because I found the chicks like the heat right at their backs, especially the first week or so.  The frame I use is lower in the back than in the front and that seems to work the best for me.  I raise my chicks outside, so they appreciate the extra heat.  My pad has 6 settings rather than High, Medium, and Low, and I like the extra control that gives me.

@2FunKids
 I'm happy to hear that the little'n is doing better.  Keep us posted, and again - you know the rules!  

Hi Deb!  Deb is right - this is a really great group and a fun thread.  We're so glad to have you!

Will do, all tucked in, no peeps no light...God bless and good night. And...one of my 2FunKids featured!