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

[N F C]

Oh my goodness! What a sweet thing to wake up to this morning! Thank you all so much!!

Have a wonderful day with your sweet hubster Blooie

 

[Blooie]

Thanks. Got a big day planned. Kendra gets here shortly. She'll be in charge of the day's activities!

 

[bruceha2000]

Hey Bruce, I forget: your chicks last year, were they hatchery birds fostered to a broody, or did you get hatching eggs?

By the time they got here from Meyer in Ohio they were 3 days old. Stuffed under Zorra the next night because either:
- I didn't wait until it was REALLY pitch black out in the coop the day they arrived so she was not accepting them
- Being a first timer stuffing chicks under a hen, I was nervous she would hurt them because she was pecking. Went fine the next night.

So they had their MHP brooder for 2 full days and one night in our bedroom, door closed to keep the 3 cats out. Never heard a peep all night long.

This weekend DH built a brooder out of some 2x4s and a tarp. The chicks are digging the extra space - it has 15 square feet of floor space and is 3 feet high so they can't fly out. They're only a week and already spending most of their time on top of the MHP. Enjoy the pics!

Nicely done. Good pictures showing they both use it and sit on top, no other heat needed

I see you have veg in there. If they are getting anything other than chick food, they also need grit.

I also see you have the "emergency back up plan" heat lamp clamp on the edge

X2 on the Keets..

I caught a Gunea in a nest box today. They normally lay the first few on top of the chicken eggs, before hiding them "only heaven knows where"...

They are so wild, I think they will break their little necks hitting the sides of the brooders..


I set eggs today, turkey and chicken.. 103 total, I might need to make another MHP.

Ralphie - you MIGHT need another MHP??

Hope you have a great hatch. I've never hatched eggs. Since there won't be a rooster here I won't hatch until someone can get to minimally 90% accuracy sexing just laid fertilized eggs

LG actually did an experiment using data on egg shape and resulting chick gender from other sources which did yield a higher percentage of pullets than statistical averages would allow for.

I am expecting 21+ chicks (the lady at Cackle said "we have a bigger hatch than expected and it would be a shame if some extras found their way into the box"...Lol). Do you think one cave would be enough? I do plan on moving them out to the coop by week two (if I can get my butt off there and get the brooder section done). Then I could put both MHPs out there. More floor space would be nice.

Seeing as how my 2012 chicks outgrew their bathtub brooder in the house by 3 week (could NOT keep them in there) I suggest your butt stop warming the sofa cushions PDQ!

Sounds like you will be getting a quantity of cockerals added in the box. You can likely get away with one large pad to start but if there are many more than the 21 you expect, you might want to be ready to build a second one. I ASSUME they aren't going to double your order so perhaps one large and one small would take care of it.

HAPPY 48th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY TO BLOOIE & KEN!!

From me too Blooie and Ken.

And how did you happen to know about this particular date NFC? Mentioned in a prior year and you remembered/wrote it down? Clairvoyant? Blooie, being SUCH a "me, me, me, it is ALL about ME" person

asked you to post it?

 

[dpenning]

Snip

And how did you happen to know about this particular date NFC? Mentioned in a prior year and you remembered/wrote it down? Clairvoyant? Blooie, being SUCH a "me, me, me, it is ALL about ME" person

asked you to post it?

Buahahahahahahah! I was wondering this myself.... the first part not the last. LOL

Many more years of happy Blooie.

 

[jmdes]

Blooie - HAPPY ANNIVERSARY !!!

Update - This morning (Day#21) I awoke to see 2 fully hatched chicks, plus one more hatched soon after. 18 more eggs in there....they are cheeping like crazy, and I can see 6 more eggs with nice external pips. I can hardly stand the excitement, this is a wonderful experience! Jan

 

[Blooie]

I'm so excited for you!! Keep us updated! And thanks for the anniversary wishes.

 

[duluthralphie]

Blooie - HAPPY ANNIVERSARY !!!

Update - This morning (Day#21) I awoke to see 2 fully hatched chicks, plus one more hatched soon after. 18 more eggs in there....they are cheeping like crazy, and I can see 6 more eggs with nice external pips. I can hardly stand the excitement, this is a wonderful experience! Jan

This is a very addicting adventure you are experiencing!! Good luck!

 

[COChix]

Blooie - HAPPY ANNIVERSARY !!!  

Update - This morning (Day#21) I awoke to see 2 fully hatched chicks, plus one more hatched soon after.   18 more eggs in there....they are cheeping like crazy, and I can see 6 more eggs with nice external pips.     I can hardly stand the excitement, this is a wonderful experience!    Jan

Congrats, what is your MHP set up like, do you have that all ready to go?

@Blooie Happy Anniversary to you today, hope you have a great day.

 

[jmdes]

Yes, the MHP is set up outside in the Big girl coop, all plugged in and ready to go. I am concerned it isn't warm enough. I have it set on #6, and I had a mercury thermometer inside there last night, this morning it only read about 62degrees. What do you think? Maybe I'll get a better thermometer in there. I'm at about 4,950 ft. altitude here, and it got down to about 25degrees F last night.

I'll try to go get a photo later today of the MHP. I'm all a flutter right now with the baby chicks, I doubt if I can do anything at all today, except stare into those 'bator windows.

Jan

 

[Beekissed]

Yes, the MHP is set up outside in the Big girl coop, all plugged in and ready to go. I am concerned it isn't warm enough. I have it set on #6, and I had a mercury thermometer inside there last night, this morning it only read about 62degrees. What do you think? Maybe I'll get a better thermometer in there. I'm at about 4,950 ft. altitude here, and it got down to about 25degrees F last night.

I'll try to go get a photo later today of the MHP. I'm all a flutter right now with the baby chicks, I doubt if I can do anything at all today, except stare into those 'bator windows.

Jan

I think you are discounting the temps of the HP against the backs of the chicks. The ambient temp in the HP brooder is not an accurate temp of what the chick will be feeling if it's low enough to come in contact with the chick's body~which it should be~ and also the heat the chicks get from one another add to that temperature. A mama hen doesn't hover over the chicks but comes in direct contact with the chicks and they with one another. Keeps it all pretty cozy.

I've brooded outside in those temps with the HP brooder and they all did just fine.