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

[lalaland]

Don't know why your quote didn't quote. Re: 2 x 4 at top of HC, those openings will be quite the invite to rats and weasels. Especially weasels. They can wipe out an entire flock in a single night just for the sport of it. A small weasel can squeeze through an opening the size of a quarter.

yeah, the weasels worry me. I don't know if they would climb up the sides of the hoop coop, but maybe. I kept thinking the fencing wasn't the best idea, but it seemed everyone I was checking with was using it and not having a problem. However, some of them have coops that the flocks are safely locked up in at night.


Ok, I moved the brooder to the ground, and I am leaving one of the tarps on the south side rolled up about 2 1/2 feet up from the ground for better air circulation. At 4 am when I leave for work, it should be about 48 degrees, and I will uncover the brooder (it has a tarp on it for the night, and a sheet on the open end for wind). Only going to be 70 tomorrow, and I will turn the mhp down to the middle setting. I counted wrong, they will be 6 days old tomorrow!

 

[lazy gardener]

As far as i know, weasels are adept at climbing.

 

[Molpet]

yeah, the weasels worry me. I don't know if they would climb up the sides of the hoop coop, but maybe. I kept thinking the fencing wasn't the best idea, but it seemed everyone I was checking with was using it and not having a problem. However, some of them have coops that the flocks are safely locked up in at night.


Ok, I moved the brooder to the ground, and I am leaving one of the tarps on the south side rolled up about 2 1/2 feet up from the ground for better air circulation. At 4 am when I leave for work, it should be about 48 degrees, and I will uncover the brooder (it has a tarp on it for the night, and a sheet on the open end for wind). Only going to be 70 tomorrow, and I will turn the mhp down to the middle setting. I counted wrong, they will be 6 days old tomorrow!

I have had weasels on top of the hoop coop and under the tarp over it also

 

[lalaland]

I have had weasels on top of the hoop coop and under the tarp over it also

ugh.

is your hoop coop built with cattle panels? did you cover it with hardware cloth?


I'm going to do a little research - if weasels are mostly nocturnal, maybe the best approach at this point would be to section off a portion of the hoop coop that would be weasel safe - where the chicks could roost and be locked up. That would reduce the risk to those occasional evenings when I am late getting home.

this will probably just be a summer coop = but was planning on letting the flock use it after these chicks are gone. THe open air seems perfect for those nights when it is too hot for the hens.

 

[lazy gardener]

I've read one post in the past where one reader had a weasel come in a tractor covered with 1" chicken wire, and kill her chicks during the day. Sorry to be a bearer of bad tidings. When I had a flock attack by coon, it came back the next morning to kill the ones it missed the night before. You can't depend on nocturnal predators being nice during the day.

 

[Henchickkk15]

I am going to hopefully give this a shot today! I have not raised chicks yet, but we have had chickens for a few years. I am very excited about this! One question, Blooie. If I don't have a dog cage for the base part, what would you recommend?
Thanks!

 

[Jensownzoo]

Thought I would pay some more dues! I unexpectedly won an auction for Svart Hona, so I set up the 18 chicks in a Guinea pig cage with an MHP made from wire shelving, the pad and fleece attached to it with mini bungees, topped with a feed sack, and suspended from the top of the cage using rope. I used this configuration for 15 Guinea keets recently and loved it. They won't stay in this cage for long...just enough to get over any shipping stress. Then they'll go in a larger brooder.

 

[Blooie]

I am going to hopefully give this a shot today! I have not raised chicks yet, but we have had chickens for a few years. I am very excited about this! One question, Blooie. If I don't have a dog cage for the base part, what would you recommend?
Thanks!

You don't need anything fancy to make MHP work well for your chicks. Couple of cardboard boxes taped together to make a large brooder would be great. They appreciate lots of space, and MHP takes up almost 2 sq feet of that space, then subtract for the waterer and feeder, so the bigger the better. Most of us here are not fond at all of plastic totes....some think they are the greatest things ever but they hold heat and are just too confined. I cringe when I see chicks in those things, but I'm also practical enough to understand that we use what we have on hand at times.

If you can, think about brooding them right out in the coop. I do,and so do many others. I actually I brood out in the run, but either way is great - wherever you have the most room. A simple box frame with chicken wire (as long as your coop and/run are secure from predators) with a little portal door or two for integration time works perfectly!! Raising them where they are exposed from day one to all the things they'll need to know about saves so much stress on them and on you! They learn to be chickens by watching the adults. They build up immunities faster. They learn to adjust to fluctuating temperatures. And they learn natural day/night cycles where it gets really dark - no ambient household light leaking into their sleeping area. I love that all the dust and mess is outdoors!!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/yes-you-certainly-can-brood-chicks-outdoors

Good luck, and you know what your dues are for membership in the Broody Brigade - photos!!!

 

[Molpet]

ugh.

is your hoop coop built with cattle panels? did you cover it with hardware cloth?


I'm going to do a little research - if weasels are mostly nocturnal, maybe the best approach at this point would be to section off a portion of the hoop coop that would be weasel safe - where the chicks could roost and be locked up. That would reduce the risk to those occasional evenings when I am late getting home.

this will probably just be a summer coop = but was planning on letting the flock use it after these chicks are gone. THe open air seems perfect for those nights when it is too hot for the hens.

yes my hoop is cattle panels covered in 1/2 HC , 8 x 24 I also put 2x4 fencing over that to make sure the coyotes stayed out too.




I sorta followed another members and used 2x4 instead of 2x6. and skipped the huddle box https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/permanent-hoop-coop-guide
Blooie also made one with T posts instead of 2x4
my avatar pic is a weasel that was running around the yard about 4 pm last year... he climbed a tree and posed for me LOL
cheapest 1/2 HC I have found http://www.windscreen4less.com/48-i...h-galvanized-hardware-cloth-chicken-wire.html

 

[Henchickkk15]

Thank you!
I actually was planning on raising them right in the coop. Ours has a ramp going down into the run from the henhouse, but I would block that off with some wire mesh. There would still be airflow through it, but they wouldn't be able to get out when I am not watching them. And as for the Mama Heating Pad, I am thinking about cutting one of those tomato cages and bending it to how I want-like shown in your pictures. But I don't pick my chicks up until the 23rd of this month, so I have some time to think about it

Other than that, does anyone have any suggestions for keeping chicks? They will be a day old when I get them.


Thanks again!