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

[duluthralphie]

And a LOT of 5' fence!


Until there is the famed and very prized "Duluth Ralphie" line of white Legbars laying beautiful blue eggs!

How come your "screen name" is Duluth Ralphie when you live much closer to Minneapolis than Duluth? DD2 thinks she wants to do a Nature Writing course at the Wilderness Field Station just north of Ely this July/August. If it happens, I was going to hit you up to drive her from the Duluth airport

I spent 30 years living and working in and near Duluth. We raised our kids up there they call it home.

When I started using the internet and e-mail. We lived up there, I was watching my Favorite movie "the Christmas Story". I tried to use just "ralphie" but it was taken. So I added Duluth to it and have used it since.

When we sold our businesses and quit working we moved to Florida. Found we are not hurricane or city people and moved back to Mn. Buying the farm we grew up on from my brothers.



That is the whole story,, BTW the drive from Duluth airport to Ely is a couple hours each way..

 

[bruceha2000]

It's about 4 days old. Brooder was in the 50s. I put a stronger light on them so it's in the 70s now and the chicks are a lot happier.

Husband says apparently we're selecting for chicks that can learn to go around.

Survival of the fittest, Darwin in action! Doesn't make your loss any easier though.

.....

BTW the drive from Duluth airport to Ely is a couple hours each way.

Yep, Google figured that one out for me. Kind of a long drive with no car and I bet Van Galder doesn't send busses that far up

There is an informational session at school tomorrow, DD2 is going to ask about that part. I have to ASSUME that there is a plan of some sort. The professor teaching the class is at Beloit, as is she. I Googled him and found an interview from last fall where he said he and his wife and 4 Y/O daughter were there last summer and he had been going to the area since he was a much younger person (though I think he is in his later 30's now so not exactly as ancient as some of us

) so I figure he has SOME idea of how whatever students take the class (and from wherever, it isn't a Beloit class) will get there.

 

[duluthralphie]

Survival of the fittest, Darwin in action! Doesn't make your loss any easier though.


Yep, Google figured that one out for me. Kind of a long drive with no car and I bet Van Galder doesn't send busses that far up

There is an informational session at school tomorrow, DD2 is going to ask about that part. I have to ASSUME that there is a plan of some sort. The professor teaching the class is at Beloit, as is she. I Googled him and found an interview from last fall where he said he and his wife and 4 Y/O daughter were there last summer and he had been going to the area since he was a much younger person (though I think he is in his later 30's now so not exactly as ancient as some of us

) so I figure he has SOME idea of how whatever students take the class (and from wherever, it isn't a Beloit class) will get there.

I think you can ride your thumb most of the way there. Ely is so far up there the roads stop about 20 miles short of it..

I assume they shuttle up there, otherwise it would be a pain. It is a nice area if you have never been there. I have a cabin close to there, about 80 miles west. Those are shield lakes up there I am on the boundary between Shield lakes and glacial lakes.


Now to make this post relevant to the thread. I went out and looked in on my month olds, (the one of which escaped the other day). They are doing great and one was even standing on the MHP, but it looked more like a game of king on the hill than getting warm.

 

[lazy gardener]

Ditto Dat^^^

But I do mine totally opposite of @Blooie , totally open front and back.....
.....rack, pad, thin plywood on top...no towels or bungies or strings...
......and it's placed away from wall in back by 3-4" so they can go in and out in the back.
They do go in and out the back quite frequently.

If memory serves me correctly, I leave the back of mine open also. I just wasn't comfortable with the whole idea of them being able to get stuck in the back with others blocking them from in front. I also have had issues with newbies "forgetting" to go to the heat source. That's why I like to leave them in the house for a few days until I'm sure they "get it".

 

[Blooie]

If memory serves me correctly, I leave the back of mine open also. I just wasn't comfortable with the whole idea of them being able to get stuck in the back with others blocking them from in front. I also have had issues with newbies "forgetting" to go to the heat source. That's why I like to leave them in the house for a few days until I'm sure they "get it".

I sure don't get it....I raised Scout and 3 batches of chicks in a closed cave, and never had an issue. Any who wanted out were able to get out, and any who wanted in just popped back in. Hmmmm At this point I don't know what to think, except that I don't want anyone to lose a chick because of something I said or did. Although I've changed a couple of other things, I believe I'll keep using the cave closed in until I have reason to think I need to rethink things. But that certainly doesn't mean that it's the only way, so if anyone leaves their cave open on both ends, that's perfect too.

 

[drumstick diva]

Duluth Ralphie, you don't think your free ranging little chick got attacked by a crazed chickadee. Now it is invulnerable - so it doesn't mind the weather. Keep an eye on that chick.

 

[duluthralphie]

Duluth Ralphie, you don't think your free ranging little chick got attacked by a crazed chickadee. Now it is invulnerable - so it doesn't mind the weather. Keep an eye on that chick.

OMG!!! I never thought of that, what if it becomes a Zombie Chick now???


You do have to admit a chick surviving 20 degree weather outside on it's own is a miracle!

 

[lazy gardener]

Blooie, I agree with you, there are plenty of ways to do it: open back, closed back. (kind of like a wedding dress, huh?) But, I think we're both agreed that the important thing is to give those little chickies a more natural broody cave experience. I think the deciding factor for me is, "How many chicks am I brooding?" If it's a dozen or less, I don't see any concern about a closed back. But more than that, I'll leave the back open, just in case. Honestly, I bet it doesn't make any difference, either way. Simply a matter of preference.

 

[Blooie]

Blooie, I agree with you, there are plenty of ways to do it: open back, closed back. (kind of like a wedding dress, huh?) But, I think we're both agreed that the important thing is to give those little chickies a more natural broody cave experience. I think the deciding factor for me is, "How many chicks am I brooding?" If it's a dozen or less, I don't see any concern about a closed back. But more than that, I'll leave the back open, just in case. Honestly, I bet it doesn't make any difference, either way. Simply a matter of preference.

No, I think you may have hit on something important here, LG... The most chicks I had under mine at one time was 15. One group of 4 was a full week younger than the other but they were all in there together, so by then the little Littles were using the pad heavily and the bigger Littles were spend more time out of it. (did that make any sense?) But now I'm wondering if you might not have picked up on something I missed....the more chicks, the more chance of the entrance being blocked.

I shall ruminate on this for an appropriate span of time.

 

[azygous]

Isn't it nice that you just got that system over-haul so you have more oxygen to your brain for this heavy thinking, huh Blooie?