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

[lazy gardener]

Just got back from checking on the huddled masses. They are all under MHP. This is the first night they've used it since Wednesday night. It has been lifted up onto a little nesting box ledge that is about 4" off floor of loft, with the other end blocked by a brick so they can't knock it down. This provides them with more room so they can all fit. Evidently, the all or none behavior continues, even during a storm! If they all can't fit under MHP, they'll pig pile into a corner if they are panicked. I took out a huddle box late this afternoon but it was a new and forboding object. Hopefully, they will explore that in the morning.

 

[COChix]

I decided today to take down the partition wall and force the issue...hopefully I won't regret it, but I figured it's better they get used to each other now than wait until they are older and bigger. One hen was pacing the wall this morning, and the chicks usually 'hide' behind the wall most the day.
Will be interesting to see what happens. I distracted them with mowing(chicks didn't like THAT) and the bestowal of some grass clippings in the runs.
One hen went to small run(the pacer from earlier..and often bulliest to chicks) but saw no problems.

Nice, how did your day end up with those babies. Any issues?

Assuming, of course, that they don't smell or look bad when you crack them open 


If they are the only birds one has I would agree but my 2015 chicks started THEMSELVES on layer feed at about 2-3 weeks even though they had chick starter available 24x7 in the brooder pen that only they could access via a small portal. At least half of the chick starter I bought ended up in the bin of layer feed because no one was eating it. They suffered no ill consequences of having a higher calcium content. And even with layer feed one needs to have oyster shell out. All of my laying birds dig into that bin but the chicks never did until they were close to lay. Somehow they know.

Funny ours have done the same thing, but at around 1 month old, they are eating with the adults. They had their own feed in the brooder but continually eat the adults food when fed. I feel fine now with just letting them after hearing stories like this and I believe @Beekissed also just allows the babies to eat with the adults as well (forgive me if I am mistaken Bee).

 

[Jensownzoo]

I'm doubtful about that or God wouldn't have designed the yolks as nutrition for the growing chick.   No chicks out there munching on cooked yolks that I know of...not unless that 'bator temp is WAY too high and then the chicks are dead and not in any need of nutrition. 

And lo, I return!

It looks like to be perfectly ideal, you would cook the egg white and feed the yolk raw. Reasoning is that the white contains certain enzymes and anti-nutrients (esp avidin which blocks biotin absorption and utilization) that are denatured with cooking. The yolk contains the bulk of the vitamins and minerals that would be destroyed with heat, and doesn't have the enzymes/anti-nutrients to content with.

An occasional whole raw egg won't hurt, but if you feed them every day, you might have to watch out for biotin deficiencies because apparently the biotin in the yolk isn't sufficient to overwhelm the avidin in the white. Since biotin is also found in soy, oats, seeds, nuts, and other things we typically feed chickens...not sure how big of a deal it would be.

And Bee...the uh, "materials handling system" for nutrition is a lot different between an embryo and a hatchling.

 

[Murphy212]

Thank you all for the answers and help!! I had not thought of a light in the coop to encourage them.
LG.....thanks for the heads up about them being the first choice of predators, will definitely keep that in mind as I turn those babies loose and stay close by myself.
Azygous, my chicks are not in the coop itself, they are in a separate pen with their MHP very near the coop. Like blooies set up. They have not seen the inside yet. Your instructions sound just right for my set up and hopefully all will go well.
Blooie thanks for the heads up about the nest boxes. Had the same issue with my bigs when they first moved into the coop. I already have the portals ready to be opened and will set up safety zones for the littles when they are in the run.
Will let you know what I end up doing (as the situation calls for) and how the transition works.
Thanks again for the advice.
Murphy

 

[aart]

Quote: It was a good move, wish I had done it days ago. This morning everything seems pretty calm, no dead bodies or havoc happening.

It's so interesting to watch their behaviors.
Bigs came into small run to gleefully excavate 'new' ground, which forced chicks to share space with them and made more room(fewer bigs) in main run so some chicks were exploring much farther than before in there. Bigs were eager to use chicks waterer and feeder, a couple chicks are juuust big enough to reach main feeder, I added a 3rd waterer and there's already 3 feed stations. Chicks definitely got their share of pecks and feints, many bursts of scrambling and flight. Big bully grabbed a few and hung on but didn't pursue and there were no injuries or overt beatings that I could see. There's been some dissension in a subgroup of the bigs, not sure what that's about but it's been going on for a awhile, 2 or 3 of them wing flapping feet up fighting, Woody can usually put a stop to it pretty quick. They all went to roost just fine as they have been..... funny the chicks have spent most of their days behind the partition or in the small run, but come over into main coop to roost on extra temporary roost, where they barely fit, even tho the roost in the partition area is 2 feet longer with a poop board under it.

We shall see what ensues today. Couple of really rainy days forecast Tu&W that may keep them coop bound, that could be stressful...lol.
6x16' coop is crowded with 15 adults and 15 six wo's......30sqft of poop boards and 500sqft of run sure helps that out, but still-it's tight IMO.
Hoop coop build starts today. Re-banding of chicks, with cockerel ID's in place, happens this week. Cockerels and hoop coop leaving site within a couple weeks.
May build another hoop coop to stay here, will ease the population pressure and start the fall sorting/culling process of older birds.

 

[lazy gardener]

I'm glad that I moved the MHP and set it up so that they all could get under it. Killing frost last night. The grass was stiff and white when I let the dog out at 6AM. Now, I'm left wondering how to set that HP up so they can all continue to access it for an other week. They are 3 weeks old today. If they use the huddle hut I made them, it will be a non issue. But for future big broods, I'm thinking it might work to make a T configuration by attaching the smaller pad to make the lower portion of the T. Then, they could squirt out both sides of that smaller pad, as well as the top of the T where the large pad would be. Towel could drape top of T and a bit of the openings either side of the smaller pad.

 

[Nariah01]

I usually give them the huddle box as soon as I take the MHP out...then it's a familiar, comforting thing when they go out to the coop.

That sounds logical, what size box do you usually give them? I have eight chicks, three are a week younger, I figure you would want a box to fit all of them but not a lot of extra room am I right?

Since they will be fully feathered before you get them to the coop, I would pull the MHP a few days before and give them the huddle box inside if you plan to use that. My first chicks went out to the coop in the barn with nothing when they were about 4 weeks. Didn't know anything about huddle boxes but then it was also the first week of July so not exactly cold and they were up on the roosts on their own in a day or two.

If you don't have the run up before they go out I would make a temporary run with T posts and wire fencing (even the dreaded chicken wire since this is a temporary situation) so they can get outside. They will know the coop is home if you start them there and let them explore their way from the inside out. After all, until they see the coop from the OUTSIDE, having started INSIDE, how would they know that the big box is the outside of the space they have been locked in for the past week? Hopefully the coop has windows so they can see out when you aren't there to monitor their outside time. I can't imagine chickens being locked in a windowless coop.

The coldest I would think we would get this time of year up here would be into mid forties at night, and up to the eighties during the day for a high. But I think a huddle box might be a good idea just in case. I will see if we have some extra t-posts from the horse paddock to build a temp. run for them at first, I should be able to manage. I also do plan to have a good amount of openable see through windows for ventilation and natural light as I don't plan to have electricity out there at first.

 

[Nariah01]

So I don't think all my chicks can even fit under the pad anymore, but they do like to hang out on top for warmth. I was thinking sense I want them to adjust to a huddle box anyways could I put the pad on the bottom of the box so they would still have warmth for another week or so and then just take the pad out of the box a few days before I move them outside? That way they could still have the heat if they need/want it but they could all fit in the box whereas they can't fit together in the cave. Then if they aren't using the pad I'll just take it out and have just the box. Does this sound logical to you all?

 

[Blooie]

So I don't think all my chicks can even fit under the pad anymore, but they do like to hang out on top for warmth. I was thinking sense I want them to adjust to a huddle box anyways could I put the pad on the bottom of the box so they would still have warmth for another week or so and then just take the pad out of the box a few days before I move them outside? That way they could still have the heat if they need/want it but they could all fit in the box whereas they can't fit together in the cave. Then if they aren't using the pad I'll just take it out and have just the box. Does this sound logical to you all?

Can't answer your question because I've never used a huddle box. I brood them outdoors almost from the start and when they stop using the pad, I just take it out and they are on their own. But I know someone will pop in with an idea or two. I can't remember how old your chicks are, sorry. Old brain here.

 

[aart]

Quote: Yep! Here's my huddle box blurb:
Make them a 'huddle box', put it in the brooder after turning off the heat(you might have to 'persuade' them to use it) then move it out to the coop with them.
Cardboard box with a bottom a little bigger than what they need to cuddle next to each other without piling and tall enough for them to stand in.
Cut an opening on one side a couple inches from bottom and big enough for 2-3 of them to go thru at once.
Fill the bottom with some pine shavings an inch or so deep.
This will give them a cozy place to sleep/rest, block any drafts and help hold their body heat in.

So I don't think all my chicks can even fit under the pad anymore, but they do like to hang out on top for warmth. I was thinking sense I want them to adjust to a huddle box anyways could I put the pad on the bottom of the box so they would still have warmth for another week or so and then just take the pad out of the box a few days before I move them outside? That way they could still have the heat if they need/want it but they could all fit in the box whereas they can't fit together in the cave. Then if they aren't using the pad I'll just take it out and have just the box. Does this sound logical to you all?

You could put the heat pad in there, I'd turn it way down tho, then remove after a couple nights.