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

[mobius]

I am in north central Montana. I was mostly concerned with the overnight temps, but also found a thread on here where someone uses feather dusters as a place for the chicks to gather under too. The coop is very well insulated, and stays at a good 50-60* without any kind of extra heat. Just makes me very nervous to use the lamp, and I want to use the natural day/night light more than anything artificial

Hey there! I am in NW Montana, and chicks are going out today to coop with just the MHP! I would agree with @bruceha2000 about more ventilation for you, there are some great threads here about it...I need to work on that too (hole saws for drill arrived yesterday!). Blooie lives in northern WY and uses just the MHP. I will not be using a lamp. Hope that helps! I understand too that good ventilation is super-important, but the coop does need to be essentially wind-proof.

 

[BantyChooks]

I have nineteen hens and five individual nest boxes, and one four-foot long communal nest box. Guess how many nest boxes are actually used. Four on a busy day, two most days.

Fickle beasts.

X2. I have 21 nest boxes (coop was meant for many more hens) and my 13 hens use 4-6 of them.... Waste of space, but the boxes are screwed fastened to the floor....
-Banti

 

[aart]

Quote: Well, if they are screwed in instead of nailed, remove them....that's the beauty of screws!

 

[BantyChooks]

Well, if they are screwed in instead of nailed, remove them....that's the beauty of screws!

Sorry, poor wording. I am actually not sure, because I can't access the bottom... It was built into the coop, I just assumed it was screwed/nailed because of how immovable they are.
-Banti

 

[dyorto]

One of my chicks seems to be having trouble with its foot/leg. It limps around and when standing it holds the right leg up off the floor. i can't see any obvious injury

 

[mobius]

Ok, pics of feathering on 3.5 week old chicks with last two weeks under MHP, about to go outside to coop with MHP today...comments welcome! The

first pic is of biggest/most feathered chickie (partridge rock), second is littlest/least feathered chickie (gold laced wyandotte):


I am not a very good chicken photographer (yet)! Their feet are getting HUGE too!

 

[azygous]

Quote:
That's what god invented the sledge hammer for.

 

[RezChamp]

phew! There's a lot of info. I got only to page 8 and I'm kinda of overwhelmed.
My fault for wanting to know everything. They say curiosity killed the cat. I bet that was one smart cat eh, although I guess not smart enough if indeed it was curiosity that killed him, as opposed to me getting sore from sitting at my computer reading. LOL
That said I am going to read as much as possible because I want to know stuff...... Firstly tho' I need to go clean my coop today.
TTFN HAGD y'all

 

[dyorto]

Here is my chick with the injured leg/foot

 

[jrjoplin]

One of my chicks seems to be having trouble with its foot/leg. It limps around and when standing it holds the right leg up off the floor. i can't see any obvious injury

Here is my chick with the injured leg/foot

You may get better info in the injuries section but it you can't feel/see anything odd when you examine the chick it may just be a minor injury that will heal with time. I'd just keep an eye on it and make sure it's still eating, drinking and staying warm. You may want to check the brooder and see if there is something that it might have gotten its' foot caught on but chicks can find a way to injure themselves in even the most baby proofed brooders.