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

[ChickNanny13]

Here in Oregon I just went to Target in the vitamins and supplements area and the non-iron Poly vi sol, sold under the Enfamil brand (baby products) (sp?) it was sitting right there on the shelf ... a month ago. Soon here though they're restricting all antibiotics in farm stores (have to have a vet prescription, wonder how many chicks and birds will die as a result), so maybe it's a state thing?!?! It's on amazon.com-- might be worth it to order if you can to add to the medicine cabinet. Not sure if nutridrench has the same substance or not.

Poor baby! I'm glad its toes straightened- hopefully that's at least some physical relief. I always think of a swollen joint and a leg stuck out to the side for a slipped tendon, but I haven't seen one up close and personal. I hear you on wanting it to go to the vet. At least it's still eating. Thank you for the update and please, keep us posted!

Anymore updates will be under Emergencies/Disease/Injuries "Does this chick have splayed legs" Thank you all of your help and information.

Merry Christmas to all

 

[ChickNanny13]

Posts like this break my heart....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1145876/dont-use-heat-bulbs

That is sad & now now know there's a "better" way

 

[dragonthehunter]

Is there a way to Build a MHP that can fit like 30-40 chicks?
Or am I going to have to build multiple different brooders?

 

[Blooie]

Is there a way to Build a MHP that can fit like 30-40 chicks?
Or am I going to have to build multiple different brooders?

You can fit them under one brooder....they really only use it regularly for the first 2 weeks or so...after that they tend to like to be on top of it it or tucked around it. BUT that's saying you aren't brooding them like I do, outdoors when springtime temps are still pretty low (teens and twenties with snow) so they tend to need heat a little longer. But even then mine are usually fully integrated with the flock and living without heat by 4 weeks.

That said, you will need to rig up a MHP that is bigger than just one pad for that many chicks. There are a couple of ways people have done that - either by putting two pads side by side on one frame or, as you have asked, using two brooders for the first couple of weeks then making an opening between them so they can mingle. You will have to watch them to make sure that they don't all "adopt" one pad and overcrowd that one, ignoring the second.

I think there have been a couple of folks on here who have done that many chicks successfully and I hope they'll chime in. I haven't so I can't give you a definite. The most I ever have at one time is 15 or so. But it seems to me that if you make a bigger frame and bungee cord 2 pads on the underside of it that should work. Here is a good illustration of the "pad underneath" technique that @Beekissed and others have used, and that I have changed over to...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/956958/mama-heating-pad-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update/450

 

[aart]

Is there a way to Build a MHP that can fit like 30-40 chicks?
Or am I going to have to build multiple different brooders?

You could.
Folks who have used multiple pads have found it's best to have them short end to short end leaving front and back open so no chicks get trapped.
So for example: using two 12 x 24 pads, go 12 x 48 rather than 24 x 24.

I've done 16 chicks with a 12 x 24, by 2-3 weeks they didn't all fit but it was warm enough outside that it was OK.

 

[lazy gardener]

Who has done the 12 x 48? I'd like to know how well it worked. I have a 24" and a 15". Expect to be brooding a LOT of chicks this spring. Perhaps as many as 40.

 

[ChickNanny13]

You can fit them under one brooder....they really only use it regularly for the first 2 weeks or so...after that they tend to like to be on top of it it or tucked around it. BUT that's saying you aren't brooding them like I do, outdoors when springtime temps are still pretty low (teens and twenties with snow) so they tend to need heat a little longer. But even then mine are usually fully integrated with the flock and living without heat by 4 weeks.

That said, you will need to rig up a MHP that is bigger than just one pad for that many chicks. There are a couple of ways people have done that - either by putting two pads side by side on one frame or, as you have asked, using two brooders for the first couple of weeks then making an opening between them so they can mingle. You will have to watch them to make sure that they don't all "adopt" one pad and overcrowd that one, ignoring the second.

I think there have been a couple of folks on here who have done that many chicks successfully and I hope they'll chime in. I haven't so I can't give you a definite. The most I ever have at one time is 15 or so. But it seems to me that if you make a bigger frame and bungee cord 2 pads on the underside of it that should work. Here is a good illustration of the "pad underneath" technique that @Beekissed and others have used, and that I have changed over to...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/956958/mama-heating-pad-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update/450

Blooie's right, the Micros (37) are 3wks and on top of MHP (15x24), they started hopping up last week & find some like to sleep up there now. In fact I did a BIG BOO BOO last night, forgot to turn the MHP on! Thank goodness I live in Hawaii, I turn it off once it warms up, usually around 9 - 10am until about 5pm.

 

[aart]

Who has done the 12 x 48? I'd like to know how well it worked. I have a 24" and a 15". Expect to be brooding a LOT of chicks this spring. Perhaps as many as 40.

Oh geez...I can't remember(CRS-haha!)....there has only been one, I think....could be why it stands out, but am forgetting the detail of who.

May have been the same person that set up a 24x24 and had a piling/smothering fatality....think that was a one off also, again can't remember who.

Sorry.
.

 

[FlyWheel]

Aren't there larger pads with the "stay on" feature? Even if Sunbeam doesn't make one Sunbeam isn't the only show in town.

 

[AllynTal]

You could.
Folks who have used multiple pads have found it's best to have them short end to short end leaving front and back open so no chicks get trapped.
So for example: using two 12 x 24 pads, go 12 x 48 rather than 24 x 24.

I've done 16 chicks with a 12 x 24, by 2-3 weeks they didn't all fit but it was warm enough outside that it was OK.

I agree with the end-to-end rather than side-by-side. The 24 x 24 shape would be too deep.

I've done 20 chicks on a 12 x 24 pad and they all fit with plenty of room to spare. I figure it could accommodate half-again more. Instead of a 'cave' shape, I lash the pad underneath a flat frame so the pad is the ceiling -- I use a piece of wire shelving -- and slope the 'ceiling' front to back. If I were setting up for 30 to 40 chicks, I'd probably use a 40-inch hunk of shelving and get a 12x24-inch and a 12x15-inch pad.