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

[Serenashome]

Detailed.closeup pics of this would be great.
Did you put anything on top to protect the pad from wet poops soaking thru?

Our MHP is a wire frame made of wire that has 2'x2' holes. The seed heating mat is hard plastic and provides a solid surface for them to stand on so it doesn't move or fall into the holes. The wire frame is on the bottom, the heat seeding mat sits on top and both of those are inside a pillowcase. I slip stitched the bottom of the pillowcase to the wire at the front and back of the MHP to prevent sagging. Here's the "pics or it didn't happen" for you @aart hehe.

Picture one: View of the underside of the MHP so you can see the lack of sagging pillowcase.



Picture two: On top of the MHP I moved the pillowcase back so you can see the hard plastic heating mat inside and on top of the wire frame.



Picture three: Slip stitching Dr. Frankenstein would be proud of. I had not thought I'd be displaying this when I did it. I stitched it by looping around the wire about 2" in on both ends on of the MHP sat it upright to test and found it held well.




Hope this helps.

 

[aart]

Why not do what many of us have been doing? Attach the heating pad to the bottom of the wire frame with tiny bungie cords. There's no wire exposed that way, and the chicks are snuggling against nothing but the warm, cozy surface of the heating pad. Actually I made a flannel cover for my heating pad, so I just wash the cover and not the pad when I'm done brooding my chicks. Here is my pad up ended so you can see the underside. I don't need to use a pillow case. A hand towel is draped over the top of the frame with some Glad Press 'n Seal stuck on it for easy cleaning.

Excellent pics, I love those tiny bungies!
I'm going to go this route (custom sewn cover and bungie pad under wire rack) on my next hatch.
Will remove any rack tangle issues and make it easier to quickly tip up the MHP to see what's going on under there.

 

[azygous]

Even though this is the third bunch of babies I've brooded outdoors under MHP, I was still tense all night with concern. I guess a chick mom never gets past that.

It was a chilly 39F this morning, and guess who were oblivious of it. Yep, all four were snug and warm and did splendidly their first night in their new digs. I fed the adult troops and the tiny tots consented to roll out of bed to come greet me, and take a few sips of water, and then they went back to bed, thank-you-very-much.

 

[csneill]

Even though this is the third bunch of babies I've brooded outdoors under MHP, I was still tense all night with concern. I guess a chick mom never gets past that.

It was a chilly 39F this morning, and guess who were oblivious of it. Yep, all four were snug and warm and did splendidly their first night in their new digs. I fed the adult troops and the tiny tots consented to roll out of bed to come greet me, and take a few sips of water, and then they went back to bed, thank-you-very-much.

Love it. It's just been a week since I switched from the heat lamp to the MHP w my 10 day old chicks and I just can't express how much I love it for them. They are so much calmer & I know they're getting good rest and obviously not cold by any means. And I love when they poke their heads out from the cave to see who dared to turn on the garage light!?! Firm believer!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Just to add to the "bungie under" posts, here is a construction photo of my pad heater before it was all finished. I also have the pad under the frame with bungies. Thanks to @aart and @henless for their suggestions and guidance.



Old closet shelving.

This is the top before putting something on it. 12x24" ETA: All the upright bolt tops and the side pieces that protrude have plastic covers on them to avoid any accidental poking. Will have to get updated photos.


Turned upside down to see under.



Carriage bolts (8") with 2" washers. Wing nuts on top, regular nuts under for adjustable legs. Just like my Premier heat plate, I can put the back lets lower than the front at any configuration so that there is a higher and lower area.










I have since taken a feed mill feed bag (the woven kind), put a towel inside it, then it lays on top. I don't have a photo of that yet.

 

[azygous]

That's very slick!

 

[Blooie]

Why not do what many of us have been doing? Attach the heating pad to the bottom of the wire frame with tiny bungie cords. There's no wire exposed that way, and the chicks are snuggling against nothing but the warm, cozy surface of the heating pad. Actually I made a flannel cover for my heating pad, so I just wash the cover and not the pad when I'm done brooding my chicks. Here is my pad up ended so you can see the underside. I don't need to use a pillow case. A hand towel is draped over the top of the frame with some Glad Press 'n Seal stuck on it for easy cleaning.

Except for the plaid pattern (wonder if that's available in our tartan?) this is what I did as well. I didn't like having the entire thing in the pillowcase as much as I thought I would, and as much as @Beekissed does, so I went back to just the P&S towel on top. Still keeps chicks from getting hung up in the wires of the frame. Besides, I still have a stack of Goodwill towels to use up!

 

[Finelyfound]

Chicks arrived safe and sound this morning and the Hay Rack Heating Pad Cave is a success. Thank you so much to everyone who helped me tweak the design and make it safe. Everyone fits under with plenty of extra room to grow. I can raise it up with stall mat remnants when they get too big for the current height.
I'm trying not to fret too much, they all seem to be in great shape with a big appetite and lots of energy. I bred horses for years so I am a big time worrier when it comes to newborns (at least these newborns can't run me a 5k vet bill
It was suggested I put a normal chick waterer in with them until they learned the brite tap. I am pleased to report that even though I dipped every beak in the water and stuck them one by one under the cave they all proceeded to run directly to the brite tap and peck away at it. They then found every single tiny crack/hole in my baracade and escaped into the larger coop area. I had to breakdown the box they came in and tape it over all the corners! They are worse than a litter of puppies!
At the moment the most fascinating thing for them to do is peck at an exposed area of stall mat. Big fun.
I am beyond thrilled with them, now to figure out who is who.
My coop is in a stall in the barn, we have wire under the floor and over the ceiling for safety. The "barn birds" that nest in the rafters are going nuts at all the chirping and keep flying into the wire on the ceiling.

 

[OEF5]

we have noticed one other thing with our thermometer placed where it is. When the chicks all ball up on it at night, as they sleep right over it, the temp reads 94.1 lol. We didn't take this into account, but we will take some updated pics of our chicks so you all can see that they are feathering out just fine. Most have some decent wing feathers, and the barred rocks are starting to get tail feathers.

I think that one of out BR's, Puff, might be a roo, but we will have to wait a bit more to see. She/he is already getting a crest, none of the other chicks have any sign of one. They were all hatched on the same day and shipped on the same day so I may be posting soon enough in the "what gender is this" thread lol.

Not that we mind, our plan was to have 4 this year (1 buff, 1 barred, 2 blue orpington) but the hatchery had problems with the blue hatch so we went with the buffs and barred, we got six because I wanted to make sure we had at least 4 in case of deaths. They are all doing fine. So our plan is for next spring to order all blue orpingtons and try for a pure breed flock as we cull out these chickens later. However, as my wife and I have said, we may find that we like the barred better! Never know!

 

[perchie.girl]

Chicks arrived safe and sound this morning and the Hay Rack Heating Pad Cave is a success. Thank you so much to everyone who helped me tweak the design and make it safe. Everyone fits under with plenty of extra room to grow. I can raise it up with stall mat remnants when they get too big for the current height.
I'm trying not to fret too much, they all seem to be in great shape with a big appetite and lots of energy. I bred horses for years so I am a big time worrier when it comes to newborns (at least these newborns can't run me a 5k vet bill
It was suggested I put a normal chick waterer in with them until they learned the brite tap. I am pleased to report that even though I dipped every beak in the water and stuck them one by one under the cave they all proceeded to run directly to the brite tap and peck away at it. They then found every single tiny crack/hole in my baracade and escaped into the larger coop area. I had to breakdown the box they came in and tape it over all the corners! They are worse than a litter of puppies!
At the moment the most fascinating thing for them to do is peck at an exposed area of stall mat. Big fun.
I am beyond thrilled with them, now to figure out who is who.
My coop is in a stall in the barn, we have wire under the floor and over the ceiling for safety. The "barn birds" that nest in the rafters are going nuts at all the chirping and keep flying into the wire on the ceiling.

congrats on your success
gotto love stall mats. Heavy but worth it. My new chicken house will have them on the people aisle and work area and under the feeders.

deb