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

[Ainee]

Oh you are so right. I just cringe when I read about folks brooding their birds in the house! Oh yuck, yuck! When that chick down starts to fly it just covers everything in a fine dust. Ladies, that isn't dust in your house where the birds are that's baby chicken feathers!! In the bedroom? Oh no! All those baby feathers on one's bed and pillow. No wonder listers posted about allergies when they were brooding chicks in their bedrooms! They were breathing baby chicken feather dust when sleeping at night! In the other parts of the house? In the kitchen on your food and utensils. In the living room where your children play? I did it once and never again in the house. What a nightmare.
 Plus, this chick down cannot be wiped up with a cloth. That just scatters it. It must be wet wiped down. Every surface, every crack. How many of those nooks does one have in the room they are brooding in?
 Yuck,
 Karen

Omgsh!! Mine are inside right now because I'm waiting for my coop to be finished, which will be within this week. My chicks are just shy of two weeks old. I hope I can get them outside soon enough to escape that "dust"! Ughhhhh!

 

[3riverschick]

Omgsh!! Mine are inside right now because I'm waiting for my coop to be finished, which will be within this week. My chicks are just shy of two weeks old. I hope I can get them outside soon enough to escape that "dust"! Ughhhhh!

Hi,
Well when you see feathers start to come in, you know they are starting to get rid of their "down dust".
Run your fingers along a horizontal surface near the brooder and see if they trace a line thru fine dust.
Best
Karen

 

[azygous]

Omgsh!! Mine are inside right now because I'm waiting for my coop to be finished, which will be within this week. My chicks are just shy of two weeks old. I hope I can get them outside soon enough to escape that "dust"! Ughhhhh!

If your coop isn't finished, how about setting up the MHP in the run? You would just need to hang some plastic sheeting around the brooding area to cut off drafts and protect from weather. I brood in my run in a protected corner. The chicks have had it as cold as the 30s(F) and have done just great. Having lots of space is a wonderful thing when you're a baby chick growing up. It sure beats a cramped, confining brooder box. And you'll be spared all that dusty mess in your house. You would be surprised how that dust can infiltrate even into your closets.

 

[Ainee]

If your coop isn't finished, how about setting up the MHP in the run? You would just need to hang some plastic sheeting around the brooding area to cut off drafts and protect from weather. I brood in my run in a protected corner. The chicks have had it as cold as the 30s(F) and have done just great. Having lots of space is a wonderful thing when you're a baby chick growing up. It sure beats a cramped, confining brooder box. And you'll be spared all that dusty mess in your house. You would be surprised how that dust can infiltrate even into your closets.

Thank you for the suggestion azygous! That sounds like the way to go. I can't wait to get them out there.

 

[FlyWheel]

Quote: My brooder is in the garage, and considering all the sawing I am currently doing to get all the coop panels cut to size, right now they are probably being bothered more by all the dust I'm making!

 

[saraem]

Hello again!

I used MHP in my brooder the last time we had chicks, but not until they were a bit older. This time we are doing something brand new and incubating, so I have some questions about those first days. I know they're in here somewhere but I don't have time to comb the thread again.

I seem to recall that some used a heat lamp in the first hours so they could keep an eye on chicks' well-being. Anyone want to chime in with opinions on this?

If I don't use a heat lamp when I transfer to brooder, should I place chicks directly under MHP and leave them be? Check them frequently? I've never dealt with newly hatched babies before.

We most likely will remove chicks from the incubator way before they are 24 hours old. I have 6 eggs in a brinsea mini advance and hear it gets mighty crowded. We're keeping them in the house for a couple days for easy observation, then they move to a "nursery" in the coop with the big girls.

 

[aart]

Hello again!

I used MHP in my brooder the last time we had chicks, but not until they were a bit older. This time we are doing something brand new and incubating, so I have some questions about those first days. I know they're in here somewhere but I don't have time to comb the thread again.

I seem to recall that some used a heat lamp in the first hours so they could keep an eye on chicks' well-being. Anyone want to chime in with opinions on this?

If I don't use a heat lamp when I transfer to brooder, should I place chicks directly under MHP and leave them be? Check them frequently? I've never dealt with newly hatched babies before.

We most likely will remove chicks from the incubator way before they are 24 hours old. I have 6 eggs in a brinsea mini advance and hear it gets mighty crowded. We're keeping them in the house for a couple days for easy observation, then they move to a "nursery" in the coop with the big girls.

Was probably me.
I put the heat lamp(100 watt red incandescent bulb controlled with dimmer extension cord)up between the food and water station and MHP,
until I am sure they are eating and drinking well and to get a good look at their mobility.
Only use during the day, shove them under the MHP at night. I do that for the first couple days after the last chick hatched goes to brooder.
One thing I don't like about the MHP is it's hard to get a good look at them whenever you want, especially if one is screaming, so I made my MHP easy to tip up and take a look if need or desire be.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Same here. I remove them as soon as they are all over the place in the incubator, kicking eggs and such, and let them finish drying under a lamp. Day two or three I transfer them to my outdoors brooder with the mhp. I can get a better look at them with the lamp during that first day.

 

[Blooie]

Mine come out of the incubator and went directly under Mama Heating Pad. I have two pads, a small and a large. The small is just used in the dog crate in the house and the large is for the cave out in the run. Yes, I have to check them frequently at first - but it takes just a second or two longer to lift up one corner of the pad and look in as it would to check them under a lamp. I can see if they are eating and drinking and moving around well because, after all, they aren't doing those things inside the cave anyway. When I am confident in their ability to tuck themselves back in, to find the food and water, and interact with each other, out they go.




The oldest in this group of Silkies is 8 hours old, the youngest is under the pad continuing to dry.

 

[saraem]

Thanks all. I do think it'll make me feel better to have them where I can see 'em for a day or so.