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

[COChix]

Well darn, ANOTHER day of full sun and with a high of 58 today.

Sorry, I just had to post since often it is US talking about the nasty weather and people down south are talking about their "cold" temp of 70 for the day   

Hmmph! You just had to rub it in didn't you? It wouldn't be so bad if we hadn't had 80 degree temps a few days ago, yesterday was mid 70's. Now it is 35 degrees out...

 

[aart]

Quote: We've had that swing a few times in the last month or so, a few days of 'spring' weather .....then more cold and snow/sleet/rain...Oh, wait, that is spring weather in MI.......haha!

Was not going to rub it in...but we are back to warm and dry again.....I threw(literally) all the chicks out into the run.
Waterer ran out this morning, put the HNippler in, they all went right at it but most couldn't push hard enough. Let them struggle with it for a few hours, they'll get it eventually...then threw them out where there's another waterer.
I know, I know, take all other water away.....my circus, my monkeys. ;-)
Dug up some of the hard packed ground and they dove in to roll around....they are so funny.

 

[Spinning Carrie]

Love that lavender!!! Sounds like all are doing wonderful, congratulations!

Question: So are the Chicken Police going to come and count your chickens?

(I am now thinking about ways to hide the chickens in your coop, kind of like an Anne Frank hidden apartment)

(I mean, as long as you are building the coop at the moment, might as well add that!)

Haha! A secret panel to hide them away in! We already figured we will probably keep all that are pullets and since they get 5x8 of the coop at 4 sq feet per chicken... We are not allowed roos, and there is a lady two doors down that has the Animal Control on her speed dial. We have a leash law in our county where if your dog is outside of a fence they must be on a leash. She will come out and film with her phone if anyone has their dog outside off leash, so I know there would be no possibility at all of keeping a rooster with her around.

Carrie

 

[mobius]

Haha! A secret panel to hide them away in! We already figured we will probably keep all that are pullets and since they get 5x8 of the coop at 4 sq feet per chicken... We are not allowed roos, and there is a lady two doors down that has the Animal Control on her speed dial. We have a leash law in our county where if your dog is outside of a fence they must be on a leash. She will come out and film with her phone if anyone has their dog outside off leash, so I know there would be no possibility at all of keeping a rooster with her around.

Carrie

OMG you DO have the Chicken Police!

I am speechless. What a joyless woman!

On the other hand, I don't have roos either on purpose...Stealth Chickens!!!

 

[Blooie]

Kind of depends on your ambient air temps. And what the chicks want. You'll see it again and again in this thread. It's really about watching the chicks. If they are staying under or right beside MHP all day long, it needs to be warmer. If they are never going under it at all and stay at the opposite side of the brood box all day, it needs to be cooler. If the room they will be in is already heated, I'd probably set the heating pad to 2 at that age personally. Then see where it needs to be adjusted from there as you watch their actions. Of course it may not be what you want to hear since they will be at your moms and you can't watch them. Also, keep in mind they've been under a heat lamp practically since they were born so the idea of no light and a quiet warm cave might take them some getting used to. So don't take them not adapting to it immediately as a sign that you need to adjust the temp right away. You may put each one in the MHP manually and kind of block their exit just for a moment to show them it's OK in there. Of course, they may take to it immediately. You never know.

Very well said!! Good job!! And I agree totally!

Snow is flying here. Got up at 6:30 wondering about those baby chicks. So I went out and checked their brooder and it is 75° in there. They were out and about and everything looks dry which is my main concern. I don't really worry about the temperature, given how warm it has been for them. Predictions for snow totals this am are 6-12, hoping for the lesser amount.

UGH...you can keep it down your way. I was supposed to get the chicks moved out today - they were actually in here longer than they should have been. Sweet Pea and Yokel hatched out Tuesday morning and were under MHP Tuesday afternoon. Then yesterday we bought the 7 new little ones. But we ran into a glitch with the outdoor pen....we have one side that seems to want to gap open. We know exactly how we want to fix that, so no problem there, but Ken had to go to Thermopolis for the day and I can't hold the pen and do the securing at the same time. Started having some minor chest pains last night too, so I'm taking it easy today. Don't panic - it's normal sometimes after stenting. Already had it checked out. So it looks like the little boogers will be in here until tomorrow. Don't like keeping them in the house this long. I like to get them out and acclimating and the longer they are indoors the more they adjust to a warmer ambient temperature.

So I've got my MHP set up in a large (airline approved type) dog kennel, using the XL Sunbeam heating pad as recommended, covered with the press 'n seal (holy cow, that is some pretty nifty stuff!!), and a towel over the whole thing covering the back of the arch and overhanging a bit in the front, pine shavings as the flooring, and pine shavings on top of the MHP so it adds a whole other level of "floor space," but the indoor/outdoor thermometer is telling me it's only 78 degrees in there, with only 1% humidity. There's 10 chicks in there that I just brought home today. They are huddled in the back corner together, with the exception of two who don't seem that sleepy right now hanging out near the front, and all is quiet right now, with the occasional little, soft toned peep peep. Does that mean they're okay with the temp? A little while ago they were all out and about eating and checking things out - one even tried to get on top of the MHP, but she's not quite big enough yet, and all the little wing-flapping she was doing was futile with those little wing-nubs. It was so cute. Such a valiant attempt. I have the heating pad on setting 6, the highest it will go.

Just checked on them again....temp says 80 now. Still only 1% humidity, which is weird since the rest of the house is at 34%. Maybe the pine shavings affect that?

Thanks,

Heather
Southeastern CT

Breeds: 6 Speckled Sussex, 2 Buff Orps, 1 Red Cross, 1 Barred Rock. I am also waiting on 2 Silver-laced Wyandottes coming in Mon/Tue.

Humidity isn't an issue that you even need to worry about. Their poop and respiration will bring that up soon enough, and I don't imagine the humidity under a heat lamp is much better. That's some hot, dry air right there! None of us (that I'm aware of anyway) even think about humidity. Sounds like they are doing just fine otherwise!

We've had that swing a few times in the last month or so, a few days of 'spring' weather .....then more cold and snow/sleet/rain...Oh, wait, that is spring weather in MI.......haha!

Was not going to rub it in...but we are back to warm and dry again.....I threw(literally) all the chicks out into the run.
Waterer ran out this morning, put the HNippler in, they all went right at it but most couldn't push hard enough. Let them struggle with it for a few hours, they'll get it eventually...then threw them out where there's another waterer.
I know, I know, take all other water away.....my circus, my monkeys. ;-)
Dug up some of the hard packed ground and they dove in to roll around....they are so funny.

Exactly!! Now let me do a little "rubbing in" just to get even:


Sweet Pea and Yokel using the horizontal nipple. Took them several tries to figure out that if they even moved the little mechanism a little to the side, water came out. Not a lot, not as much as a full on press, but enough to satisfy them and keep them working at it. Oh, and this was Wednesday. They hatched Tuesday. The new chicks from the feed store are having a harder time with the concept,

 

[Spinning Carrie]

OMG you DO have the Chicken Police!

I am speechless. What a joyless woman!

On the other hand, I don't have roos either on purpose...Stealth Chickens!!!

She has also called the police on my neighbor (the one in between us) because he mowed part of her lawn (the three lawn mower widths on the section between their houses), so she is a real treat. The upside is I don't think she has any idea how many chickens I am allowed to have (it is based on lot size, my lot is quite a bit bigger than hers) and since they will be in the back, she will have no way to count them.

Carrie

 

[mobius]

She has also called the police on my neighbor (the one in between us) because he mowed part of her lawn (the three lawn mower widths on the section between their houses), so she is a real treat. The upside is I don't think she has any idea how many chickens I am allowed to have (it is based on lot size, my lot is quite a bit bigger than hers) and since they will be in the back, she will have no way to count them.

Carrie

She will WANT to , though! Drat! Foiled Again!!

 

[hpierce88]

We are not allowed roos, and there is a lady two doors down that has the Animal Control on her speed dial.
Carrie

Yuck! We have one of "those" neighbors, too. Miserable, busybody, complainer who has no life, so he has to constantly meddle with everyone else on the street. Literally, EVERY one of my other neighbors have had problems with him, so at least I know he's not just singling us out, lol. Word is, he's being foreclosed on and is moving to another state soon. Fingers crossed it's before my babies are ready to go out into the coop. HE is the reason why I had to get rid of my girls the last time I had chickens. Our city ordinance says all coops have to be at least 100ft from all property lines, and no roosters within city limits, period. No roosters isn't that much of an issue for me, but our lot is long and thin, so there is nowhere to put the coop that's 100ft from all property lines. Zoning came down on me and wanted $500 application fee just to get a hearing for a variance. $500 for a 50/50 shot at getting the okay?! I don't think so. But NOW, my other "good" neighbor next to me has chickens, and hers aren't 100ft away from all property lines either, so if anyone complains, we'll tag-team the Zoning board (at $250 each) to get a variance for the whole street!! And then I'll double the size of my coop and get even MORE chickens!! ha ha ha ha

Seriously, I keep hoping and praying that a giant pterodactyl will swoop down out of the sky at any minute and carry that bad neighbor away... A girl can dream, right?

Heather

 

[FlyWheel]

Haha! A secret panel to hide them away in! We already figured we will probably keep all that are pullets and since they get 5x8 of the coop at 4 sq feet per chicken... We are not allowed roos, and there is a lady two doors down that has the Animal Control on her speed dial. We have a leash law in our county where if your dog is outside of a fence they must be on a leash. She will come out and film with her phone if anyone has their dog outside off leash, so I know there would be no possibility at all of keeping a rooster with her around.

Carrie

A secret hideaway for your chickens....would that be a "Cheep-easy"?

 

[hpierce88]

>Praying for a flock of giant pterodactyls to carry off ALL bad neighbors <