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

[aart]

Quote: Or had them for lunch.

 

[beautifulpirate]

The only problem I have personally had with MHP is my one "not so bright" rir. Lol, nothing wrong but when the rest of them have found their way in for the night, he/she sits on top, chirping madly, trying to find its brothers and sisters. And nightly, I have to go over, and place her in front of the cave. She wanders in and tada! Silence. Haha.

Here is part of the new brooder. I know it looks sloppy. But I threw it together quickly. It was technically ready for bedtime but I want to be able to put them in first thing in the morning so I can monitor them and see how they react.This will take them from 6 square feet to about 10 square feet. I really underestimated the space MHP would take up when I started this. And how much they would grow lol.

Right now it sits on my dresser. But my husband put a piece of plywood under it because it hangs off by an inch or two on the sides and I just wanted it secure. All he grid panels are just ziptied together. I taped a bunch of scraps of cardboard together for the floor and covered in more press and seal. Then slipped in some sides made of more cardboard to keep in pine shavings. Will fill it up tomorrow after I fit together a proper lid and take pics once the babies are in.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Question: 20 chicks. 12x15 or 12x24 heating pad size? Please and Thanks!

I'd go with the bigger one. I used it for my 8 and it was fine. Even got a little small as they grew so definitely worth it imo. And I'd go with the playe idea maybe for so many so there's even more room.

 

[mobius]

Question for you all: How old are the chicks when you stop using MHP? or are there other criteria? thanks!

 

[Blooie]

They'll tell you. I know, everyone gets sick of that answer. But seriously, they will. When you see that they are very rarely in there, crank it down a notch. If they are still happy, wait a few days and turn it down again. Mine did not use it at all after 4 weeks - in fact they were out in the run with the Bigs, roosting in the coop at night and the next batch was already under Mama Heating Pad, so they didn't even have it anymore.

 

[ShrekDawg]

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[lazy gardener]

Question: 20 chicks. 12x15 or 12x24 heating pad size? Please and Thanks!

12x24

 

[bruceha2000]

Sad news, my new 5 month old Barred Rock rooster chased my 4 yr old son yesterday. No harm done, but DH said if he does it again he is a gonner. I said "that's fine, we'll just get to find out how a 6 month old cockerel tastes."

Too bad, he is good to the ladies.

My life is just one big experiment!

You need to make sure the rooster knows where HE is in the pecking order ... BELOW everything walking on 2 legs. @Beekissed posted her method somewhere. You don't need to beat up on the bird but everyone needs to show him who is boss, starting with the adults in this case. Make him move out of your way, don't walk around him. If you need "protection" something like a broom handle can be used to nudge him out of the way and keep him from coming too close. I think she also uses what I would call "reverse food reward". Use your "protection" to keep him away from the food until YOU say it is OK to eat. Stuff like that.

If he chooses not to learn he is in charge of the chickens and all humans are in charge of him, fricassee.

And hey, cant blame you at all about that roo. He'd have a very short lived life here too. One of these chicks yesterday may have a short expiration date also. Yesterday was the first time I had them here on the couch with me. Two of them were really sweet. Little pecks on my face and such. The other came after my face and clamped down like a rabid dog. I gave her a little flick and she just got mad and came back after me. Little b... So if I dont see any improvement, well.

To each her own. First there is no way any chicken is going to be sitting on the couch. In fact, they won't be in the house after a day or two now that I have the coop done (OK, that was finished back in July 2012 when the first set of birds were in a bathroom. That is the only room in the house they ever saw). Second, no chicken is going to have the opportunity to peck at my face.

BTW, that little b...ch. may be a little b...ard

I wanted to say, I am thrilled with the MHP... Chicks are not even a week old and are almost only going under the MHP at night. Much more cold tolerant than I thought. No pasty butt at all, and the chicks are so happy and contented!

Now I have a question. Why doesn't everyone use this?

-Banti

Because it is too easy so it CAN'T possibly work

That is also the reason some people who start to use it feel the need to "improve" the design. Yes, there are many combinations of things that work but making it complicated doesn't improve it.

Tacked a chunk of 1x up there to reduce size of door from 5.5" to 4".......
then baited them all with some BOSS, looked pretty secure so left some BOSS on floor.
Came back an hour or so later and BOSS bait still there.
Rebaited them and watched a few try to shove thru...HA! no dice baby!!

So set up partition coop to test a couple layers(got some funky eggs, need to find out who),
before the chicks reside(hatch due in a week),
and a couple tried getting thru all the chick doors, tried hard and no joy for them.

So this should work, and is adjustable with just a couple easily reached screws.

You couldn't have just slid the door down an inch or 2? Maybe make a hole in the wood for a dowel or even just a nail (lined up with the openings in the hardware cloth) to hold the door in position so it couldn't slide down.

The problem I had with my portal was the **** f'ing woodchuck just chewed through the wood.

There goes my nice clean pillowcase......

I bet you have a washing machine

Question: 20 chicks. 12x15 or 12x24 heating pad size? Please and Thanks!

I would get the larger one. I have found mine works very well on my lower back

A "too large" cave, like a "too large" coop, will never be a problem.

I'm out of it here. I use a heating pad, a frame and a towel. No imagination!

Don't forget that Press'n Seal you used

Question for you all: How old are the chicks when you stop using MHP? or are there other criteria? thanks!

Like Blooie said, they will stop when they are ready. Any fully feathered chick (usually by 4 weeks) has no need for "supplemental" heat. They won't be under a hen by then. Of course there isn't a lot of room for 4 week old birds under a hen.

 

[NotAFarm]

Like Blooie said, they will stop when they are ready. Any fully feathered chick (usually by 4 weeks) has no need for "supplemental" heat. They won't be under a hen by then. Of course there isn't a lot of room for 4 week old birds under a hen.

Doesn't stop some of them from tryin'..........

 

[aart]

Quote: Maybe, I thought about it...but this seemed simpler and was very quickly done, is easily adjusted and best of all ....no funky fasteners that may need to be dinked with.

I like having adjustability where ever possible in any design...and had contemplated all along that it would need width as well as height adjustability Actually think the width is more important than height, why I made the sliders horizontal on the other two 'doors'.