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

[Blooie]

From the first day I get chicks, I toss a clump of sod in their brooder, even if they are brooded out in the run. They love pecking at it, and as it breaks down they start dust bathing in it. It's so cute to watch! That starts the immunity process. Putting them out as early as possible finishes the job. As Bee says, you rarely see illnesses in chicks raised by their mommy, and Mom has them out in the coop, run, or out free ranging within days of hatch, exposing them to everything the big chickens are around. So taking a page from her book, I do the same thing.

I think you'll really like Mama Heating Pad. I sure do, and all of this year's chicks are thriving!

 

[COChix]

From the first day I get chicks, I toss a clump of sod in their brooder, even if they are  brooded out in the run.  They love pecking at it, and as it breaks down they start dust bathing in it. It's so cute to watch!  That starts the immunity process.  Putting them out as early as possible finishes the job.  As Bee says, you rarely see illnesses in chicks raised by their mommy, and Mom has them out in the coop, run, or out free ranging within days of  hatch, exposing them to everything the big chickens are around.  So taking a page from her book, I do the same thing.  

I think you'll really like Mama Heating Pad.  I sure do, and all of this year's chicks are thriving!

Thank you again, I just wasn't sure if people were taking the steps to help build immunities. Ours will be one week old Wed. Yesterday we dug up some worms from our compost bin and gave them to the babies. It took them a minute but eventually a fearless leader emerged and started the process and then all chaos ensued as you can imagine.

I just ordered my heating page should take about 4-5 days. I will be getting our second coop set up for the babies and get working on my mama skeleton. We have 15 so I am definitely going to need the big pad, do you think it will be big enough for eveyone?

 

[Blooie]

I had 15 in mine and it was more than adequate. It's warm enough now in most areas of the country that a lot of them will spend more time on it than in it.

 

[COChix]

I had 15 in mine and it was more than adequate. It's warm enough now in most areas of the country that a lot of them will spend more time on it than in it.

Those were my thoughts about putting them outside, they will have a nice secure coop, run access and a warm fake mama, lol. Of course don't you know, I had a terribly broody dark Cornish all winter long and now she doesn't want to sit on eggs. It would be so much easier if one of the flock was broody! Oh well this is fun and I am enjoying our babies. I had forgotten the things they learn so early, like scratching and pecking, dust bathing, etc. I cannot wait to see what our flocks chicks grow into.

 

[Seymore]

Blooie... sad to say our girls didn't take to Mama. They were over a week old when I found your thread. )o:

But they did transitioned to the coop @ 2wks, there's adequate heat and they ALL luv having SO MUCH ROOM!!! (DOOR IS CLOSED, THEY ARE NOT YET BEING ALLOWED OUTSIDE) Night and day from the brooder... so much stretching and we are starting to really test our wings. We're even now getting to the top 2x4 perch, ~24" off the floor.

Also took a low cut box, sealed the bottom and introduced native dirt... did this even in the brooder. Our Sussex (Brownie) was the first to scratch/peck. Goes crazy when the dirt box is changed. Cheap entertainment... (CAVEAT: Don't do, or very much limit the dirt in your house.) Trust me, dirt was EVERYWHERE in our guest bath, after just a week of dirt intro. Took me hours in there, afterwards... So, if you're a first-timer w/chickens, be prepared to clean or find another location... lesson learned! :/

 

[Beekissed]

That's why we say give them a hunk of sod...the grass roots hold most of the dirt intact and it can't be kicked about, just pecked at. I bet that was a pure-D mess!

 

[ultraflora]

Hi folks!
I am pretty new to BYC but I wanted to let everyone who has contributed to this thread know that I read through every page of it while working on setting up my brooder. I ended up using a heating pad (no lamp, except a reading lamp for extra light during the day). I started out trying to follow one of the designs early in the threads (I took the face masks off two hockey helmets I found in the dumpster! and connected them to make a curved mesh ceiling, then covered it with the heating pad). I wasn't sure if the whole setup was quite warm enough (although now I think it would have been once the chicks were in there--- it was high 80s without them, on the floor inside).

So instead, I laid it down flat with a towel on top, and set the ceiling over that. It got nice and warm inside and gave the chicks a little protected cave to sleep in. I had that inside a cardboard box laid on its side, inside the larger box that I used for my brooder. That way, the heat was held in nicely and the chicks could choose the heat level they wanted-- anything from inside the little cave (which got pretty warm but they didn't seem to mind!) to cooler out where they could stretch out on the heating pad. Very cute.

Thanks everyone for the inspiration to do this! I like letting them have normal day-night cycles, and they settled in pretty easily to cooing and snuggling up together when it got dark.

Here's some of them hanging out (mama hen entrance below the blue stripes).
They are now 4 weeks and rarely go inside anymore, though once in a while I'll see one lounging down there with legs all stretched out!!

 

[katbriar]

Very cute ultraflora! Looks like they love it!

 

[Blooie]

Blooie... sad to say our girls didn't take to Mama. They were over a week old when I found your thread. )o:

But they did transitioned to the coop @ 2wks, there's adequate heat and they ALL luv having SO MUCH ROOM!!! (DOOR IS CLOSED, THEY ARE NOT YET BEING ALLOWED OUTSIDE) Night and day from the brooder... so much stretching and we are starting to really test our wings. We're even now getting to the top 2x4 perch, ~24" off the floor.

Also took a low cut box, sealed the bottom and introduced native dirt... did this even in the brooder. Our Sussex (Brownie) was the first to scratch/peck. Goes crazy when the dirt box is changed. Cheap entertainment... (CAVEAT: Don't do, or very much limit the dirt in your house.) Trust me, dirt was EVERYWHERE in our guest bath, after just a week of dirt intro. Took me hours in there, afterwards... So, if you're a first-timer w/chickens, be prepared to clean or find another location... lesson learned!

Wonder why that is....Scout was about 2 or 3 weeks old when he was introduced for the first time and he got it right away. I'm wondering if, because the chicks spend so much time outside of the cave just exploring and running around, it's possible that the times you weren't watching them they were popping in and out of it. That's how it is here - I very rarely saw chicks in the cave unless it was getting toward bedtime. The rest of the time they were all over the place in the brooder.

Oh, well, they are still doing well, and that's what counts. I've never used a box of dirt in the brooder for the very reasons you cite. What an additional mess that would make! Instead I do what Bee does - a clump of sod.

@ultraflora They look so comfy! That high 80 temp would have been just fine - they would have added their body heat to it, and got as close to the pad as possible. When I briefly put a thermometer in there to see what it read I got a reading of 82.9 in a 69 degree room. The chicks did great. But you did what we all do - improvised - and if it's working for you then that's all that matters.

 

[ultraflora]

Blooie, I agree re: the temperature readings. I learned a lot from making a brooder w/ a heating pad and definitely will go by feel with the temperatures next time. I've never had a brooder with a heat lamp and I don't plan to in the future. I really liked how much more this setup was similar to having a real mama hen.
You read so many warnings everywhere about keeping them warm enough that, this being my first time, I wanted to make sure they had a range of options. After watching them and learning a lot from their behavior, I understand much better now what they want and need (rather than it being an abstract idea!). I think I'll have the confidence next time to let them tell me what they want!

I have the cutest little video of them all crowded underneath-- it's just tons of little pair of feet sticking down, but I haven't figured out how to snap a still frame photo from it. If I do, I'll post it. Very adorable.

Thanks again for all the insight on here, it's been really helpful along the way!