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

[micheleomal]

Here's an inside view under MHP. The strange object in the pic is a rock to keep the top from collapsing if they get too rambunctious on top. Could also work as a heat sink. Yes, an over protective chick mom.

 

[bruceha2000]

I'm trying to use this dog kennel my brooder but it seems to be infested....

I keep telling people how quickly those chicks grow!

As promised, a pic of my coop brooder. My friend helped me design it, the left side detaches and it rolls up into the corner at right when not in use. I love hardware cloth! Door goes to an outside chick cage that they haven't been brave enough to use yet. The top folds up to attach to the wall when I'm working in it.



I also put "Mr.", the pasty butt chick roo, in a cage close to them. He's doing better!

Why is the cockerel not in with the others?

 

[ashleymroles]

Anyone ever considered using the MHP in an incubator? I've only just started my flock but already I'm fascinated with incubating and hatching. I don't want to spend a ton of money on an incubator since we just dropped $500 on a new DH-built A-frame coop.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Well the hovabator Genesis isn't too bad at around 160 i think and they have other models much cheaper like 50 and some build their own BUT i too haven't wanted to shell our the money and i believe some people do use MHP to incubate. Fascinated by it

 

[member 373180]

Hi all, I have an integration question. All my birds are bantams. The littles have been separated fron the bigs by a mesh fence since they were just under a week old. At about 2.5 weeks I tried the portals. All looked ok, the bigs were pretty much ignoring them while they explored. Then one of my bigs (I think she's low in the pecking order) went after a little. It started squeaking and tried to escape and suddenly it was a mob scene with all the bigs going after it. This happened twice very quickly and I locked the littles away again.
Is this typical behavior or should I consider culling the instigator? I figured I'd wait a week to let them watch each other through the fence and then try again.
Thanks in advance for any insights!

 

[Blooie]

Forgot the tunnel.

 

[Mitch Mullenax]

No photo but I went out the wood shop today to do some tweaking on things I"m building for my coop. What caught my eye but a handful of my wife's tomato cages. Cone shaped welded wire!!! She'll never miss one. Can you say Mama heating pad brooder? Life is good!

 

[Blooie]

Jackpot! Just be sure to bend them down low enough so that the pad comes into contact or very close to contact with the chicks' backs. You don't want them too "domed". We'll be waiting for pictures!!

 

[COChix]

[COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] I used an old tomato cage for my frame, they really seem to like it, gives them a lot of contact with the pad.

Nice did a tomato cage last year, I would suggest wrapping it with hardware cloth. As they get bigger they will be climbing on top of the cave and sleeping, with no wire wrapped around they will just fall through.

Oh, I eat all the extra cockerels and older layers that aren't bartered or sold......never raised meaties here, did butcher one that I got in a trade tho

We do the same eat the extra roo's and older or unproductive layers. Never done meatiest, have no desire.

Anyone ever considered using the MHP in an incubator? I've only just started my flock but already I'm fascinated with incubating and hatching. I don't want to spend a ton of money on an incubator since we just dropped $500 on a new DH-built A-frame coop.

Check out member Beekissed, she did a whole thread about this subject, she hatched using a heating pad.

Hi all, I have an integration question. All my birds are bantams. The littles have been separated fron the bigs by a mesh fence since they were just under a week old. At about 2.5 weeks I tried the portals. All looked ok, the bigs were pretty much ignoring them while they explored. Then one of my bigs (I think she's low in the pecking order) went after a little. It started squeaking and tried to escape and suddenly it was a mob scene with all the bigs going after it. This happened twice very quickly and I locked the littles away again. Is this typical behavior or should I consider culling the instigator? I figured I'd wait a week to let them watch each other through the fence and then try again. Thanks in advance for any insights!

How long have the bigs and the littles been exposed to each other? or was this your first attempt?

 

[member 373180]

It was the first attempt after they had watched each other through the mesh for about a week. It was cold at the beginning, though, so the littles might not have been out that much for the bigs to see for the first couple days. Thanks!