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

[aart]

I believe @azygous said hers were 5"x 8". Someone jump in and correct me if I'm wrong. I'll need to be making mine soon too, so it's probably a good thing to find out at this point!

5x7 is what I remember.....not that 1" makes much difference.

Here's an interesting thought...I recently read about someone who has a long pop door the entire length of the coop, like a long board that lifts up and lets all her chickens duck into the coop at any given point along that wall. Says it helps them when under attack from hawks because there's no bottleneck at the pop door. Wonder if this would help y'all in your creeper for the chicks as well....could be they could use it more effectively if they don't have to search for that opening when in a panic and being chased by the big gals. Just one big slit under which to duck. What y'all think?

We actually discussed this in another thread, it would work very well with my partition wall, like creep feed situation for larger livestock....
....but ...couple issues, bedding height might interfere and older birds grabbing chicks feet/legs under wall.

 

[10AcreChick]

Happy Anniversary Blooie!

Jmdes- good luck with the hatch! It's always exciting see them hatching!

So my 26 baby chicks will be 2 weeks old tomorrow. they are loving the MHP! They are getting stinky despite cleaning so I will be moving them out to the coop next weekend. Most of them are quite feathered out.

I have a picture of them happily hanging out on top of the cave, eta- pic works on phone.



Don't mind the mess! Just cleaned it out last night little stinkers.

Thank you, Paganrose! Your post makes me feel better about using just one MHP for now instead of the two that I showed in my brooder (got some concern from folks on here about not enough open space). I'm getting in 21+ tomorrow or Wednesday and I think I will just keep an eye on them and make sure one MHP is enough for them. I feel like I need two feeders in there because I am gone to work 10+ hours a day and I would hate for them to run out! Also why I am trying the vertical nipple water system. I can fit two MHPs in the coop brooder easy, so hopefully they will be fine til then!

 

[Paganrose]

Quote:
Glad It was helpful! I had 27 chicks arrive- I started the first few days with just one 12x15 heating pad, (with a second set aside) and they all fit under nicely, but after 4 days of arrival it was getting crowded quickly. You can see some of my original set up earlier in the thread. At the one week mark I added the second heating pad, creating a long cave that was 12x30 and gave them a larger brooder setup. I find that at night it is helpful to have both long sides open- the babies like to sleep with their faces out.

 

[chickwhorides]

Blooie thanks so much for being so detailed with your instructions. I set a heat pad over wire i.e. Mama heat pad style, but the heat temp only registered 89 at the highest. Once I turned off the light they all snuggled inside close together but I worried that 89 wasn't high enough. Is 95 an absolute, or is 89 close enough? I lost one chick yesterday but I don't know why- clear vent, clear eyes, it was active, and appeared to be sleeping. That's when I put the heat lamp back up. This is my first time ever with chicks, I brought home 6 from TSC. The heat lamp setup is giving me nightmares, but I'm worried about the heat pad being warm enough.

 

[10AcreChick]

Quote: My heating pad is 12 x 24, so I am going to try to just attach it to the underside of a metal shelf (kinda like an oven rack, but that doesn't quite fit in my brooder) and then put four screws into the sides of the brooder at 2", 3", 4", etc. Then I can just adjust it as they grow. This will give them the full 24" of MHP on their backs instead of less because it's bent into a cave. I think I saw someone do this on this thread...

 

[Paganrose]

Quote:
Welcome to BYC! I am sorry you lost a chick, it is always hard, I lost one mysteriously my first few days also, sometimes it isn't anything you could have done to prevent it. With this method I have actually lost less than I ever did with a Heat lamp. As for the temp I always go by how they are acting instead of strict temp guidelines. Many have found that the chicks actually do better the first week with temps in the 80's instead of the 95 suggested. If the chicks are happily moving about the brooder, eating, drinking and napping in a random fashion all is well. If piled ontop or huddled directly under the heat source, or chiping in a very loud distress call means they are too cold. If scattered to the edges furthest from the heat, panting, lethargic, or drink copious amounts it means they are too hot. Often chicks need a place that is warm, but also need cooler areas to escape to no matter what the heat source.

 

[Beekissed]

Blooie thanks so much for being so detailed with your instructions. I set a heat pad over wire i.e. Mama heat pad style, but the heat temp only registered 89 at the highest. Once I turned off the light they all snuggled inside close together but I worried that 89 wasn't high enough. Is 95 an absolute, or is 89 close enough? I lost one chick yesterday but I don't know why- clear vent, clear eyes, it was active, and appeared to be sleeping. That's when I put the heat lamp back up. This is my first time ever with chicks, I brought home 6 from TSC. The heat lamp setup is giving me nightmares, but I'm worried about the heat pad being warm enough.

It's high enough and 95* is never an absolute. Sometimes you'll lose a chick like that for no apparent reason but it's most likely nothing to do with the brooder setup...sometimes you'll get one that just sort of sleeps away no matter the setup. The more you deal with chicks you'll see this every now and again and there's never a visible reason why it died, so no worries.

 

[Beekissed]

5x7 is what I remember.....not that 1" makes much difference.

We actually discussed this in another thread, it would work very well with my partition wall, like creep feed situation for larger livestock....
....but ...couple issues, bedding height might interfere and older birds grabbing chicks feet/legs under wall.

That actually happens in a coop and run situation???

Never heard of hens THAT evil...if I had them, they'd soon be in a jar. Usually an older hen will only bother little ones if they are competing for food...mine don't even do much of it even then.

 

[azygous]

My portals are 5 x 7, maybe a tad less than 5 inches wide. The width is the most important. Anything over five inches wide, you run the risk of hens being able to squeeze their shoulders through. The height isn't so critical. Eight inches high won't be a problem.

 

[aart]

Quote: Yeah, someone mentioned having had it happen...hard to day how possible/probable it might be<shrugs>
I may try it, or go with the 'portals'....or both.
Probably will install portals in wall section then try the gap under wall by how high I install the wall section itself.
Pretty easy to move wall position it's held in place with a few screws.