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

[Finnie]

Mom's brooder is up and running. 2 lovely Wyandottes are all settled. Black looks 2 weeks, blue more like 3. Mom's been sitting with them most of the day.

I think this is going to be really good for her.

Brooder #2..

Where the heck am I????

They both immediately shot under the MHP. lol... Mom is like , "Where did they go?"

I made a wire cover. 1/3 of it is on zip tie hinges so she can just open it up to do whatever is needed with the food and water.

Everybody looks happy!!! OK, well except for Sophie her dog. Sophie not super happy that she's not getting 100% of Mom's attention.

My entire life has been overtaken by chickens.

Hi Terry!

OK, so poor Sophie didn't even rate a photo. No wonder she feels left out!

I'm so glad your mom has her chicks. And BLRWs are gorgeous. You all are going to be so happy with them.

 

[Blooie]

Aside from wanting to steal your mom, I was wondering what the lamp is for? I was thinking - is it because the chicks are older and might not take to the heating pad or their first night in darkness?

 

[ShrekDawg]

Yeah, I couldn't decide, so I ordered both kinds, lol. I'm REALLY bad with online shopping. Amazon Prime certainly doesn't help since I dont' even need to actually take my credit card out of my wallet, lol.

LOL yeah, I bought vertical then found out horizontal was better then also heard saddle might be good. Ordered a 25 pack of vertical plus a like 10 pack cause i wasnt sure they were the same brand, like 5 or 10 saddle i think, and only 5 horizontal. Wish i would have ordered more horizontal.

I'm staying with vertical nipples. I don't have to worry about it freezing. If the temps here in winter get down to freezing, it's a major event that necessitates calling everyone you know to warn them. I'm doing a 5-gallon bucket with a PVC piped extension. The pipe extends into the run or the coop and the vertical nipples are in the pipe. That way the 5-gallon bucket itself isn't taking up room in the coop or run. It doesn't have to hang. It just has to be high enough that the water will gravity-feed into the pipe. The nipples I have don't leak if they're installed properly. A little ACV in the water keeps algae from growing so cleaning is a minimum. (image source: grit.com)

Yeah, if you dont have to worry about freezing then it's probably fine. Love your set up i thought about the pipe thimg but decided on horizontal

I can't help by think that with 3 large (40lbs, 90lbs, 112lbs), protective dogs outside of the garden area, if anything traveling by ground gets in, they almost deserve a reward of some type. Lol. The main purpose of the higher fence is to keep them from flying into the back yard. The picket fence sits atop a retaining wall that goes from 3ft high behind the coop, to about 8-10 feet high along the left/back side of the garden. I'm afraid that if they "fly the coop" in that direction they'll either land in the fish pond below, or end up in the neighbor's yard (the jerk neighbor's yard at that!). I'd love to see pics of your set-up. I was just outside staring at my coop thinking about the best way to go about putting a nipple waterer inside the coop with the water source outside, because if I can take out the large hanging waterer that's in there now, I can add another roost in the space and maybe add two more birds. :yiipchick

I already had the horizontal kind, but I don't trust them for the first few days when the chicks don't seem like they can peck hard enough. But now I'm convinced that they can manage the vertical from day one, so it will be nice to do away with the splashy mason jar waterer.

That water set-up looks great!

You know, I was looking around for pics and found this right here on this site: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/supremo-waterer I'm not putting mine on a pole. I'm putting a shelf outside the coop and run to accommodate the bucket, but it's that idea.

Love it. I'm gonna try to recreate it except i have screw in vertical nipples, horizontal nipples, and saddle nipples. May need to try push in cause i want my waterer higher but dont like the ideaof hanging something that heavy

Mom's brooder is up and running. 2 lovely Wyandottes are all settled. Black looks 2 weeks, blue more like 3. Mom's been sitting with them most of the day. I think this is going to be really good for her. Brooder #2..

Where the heck am I????

They both immediately shot under the MHP. lol... Mom is like , "Where did they go?"

I made a wire cover. 1/3 of it is on zip tie hinges so she can just open it up to do whatever is needed with the food and water.

Everybody looks happy!!! OK, well except for Sophie her dog. Sophie not super happy that she's not getting 100% of Mom's attention.

My entire life has been overtaken by chickens.

Awwww I love it

 

[aart]

Aside from wanting to steal your mom, I was wondering what the lamp is for? I was thinking - is it because the chicks are older and might not take to the heating pad or their first night in darkness?

I'm guessing so old mom can see the chicks better, he said she didn't see well.

 

[TerryH]

Aside from wanting to steal your mom, I was wondering what the lamp is for? I was thinking - is it because the chicks are older and might not take to the heating pad or their first night in darkness?

There are some days that theft would not be necessary, I would just deliver her to you @Blooie.

Mom does not see very well. The little lamp is for her so she can see in the brooder better.

 

[TerryH]

I'm guessing so old mom can see the chicks better, he said she didn't see well.

Winner winner chicken dinner.

 

[TerryH]

Hi Terry!

OK, so poor Sophie didn't even rate a photo. No wonder she feels left out!

I'm so glad your mom has her chicks. And BLRWs are gorgeous. You all are going to be so happy with them.

Thanks!! Sophie will get over it. lol... I will freely admit that I was the one most disappointed when we couldn't get day old BLRW chicks when we got the others. I'm super happy that we have these little ladies are and that they are hanging with Mom for a few weeks.

 

[Blooie]

There are some days that theft would not be necessary, I would just deliver her to you @Blooie.

Mom does not see very well. The little lamp is for her so she can see in the brooder better.

Ah, I must have missed that or forgot it.

Oh, and don't encourage @aart She's already so much smarter than me I feel like a pair of brown loafers and the rest of the world is a tuxedo.

 

[TerryH]

Ah, I must have missed that or forgot it.

Oh, and don't encourage @aart She's already so much smarter than me I feel like a pair of brown loafers and the rest of the world is a tuxedo.

lol...I already realized that @aart doesn't need encouragement. You can't fool me. You are plenty smart @ Blooie.

 

[aart]

They both immediately shot under the MHP. lol... Mom is like , "Where did they go?"

Awwww.... ..I hope they spend enough time out form under for her to watch.
Will she be able to get the feed and water changed out?