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

[aart]

When I checked my heating pad with a laser thermometer it was about 110F...
...that's not going to feel real warm on your hand when you just touch it.
When I use the pad on my back, even thru a tshirt it can get too hot after awhile.

 

[Nathan J]

& have been told the chicks are alot calmer and not so skittish

Yep. I'm fully convinced that there's psychological and developmental damage done by not giving them a normal day/night light cycle (especially if combined with overcrowding and lack of any natural stimulation, leading to boredom, etc.). We now know just how important that kind of thing is to life of all kinds, and how disruptions can set up life-long, chronic health (physical and psychological) problems; in humans and no doubt other animals.

The 24 hr light technique needs to die, IMO.

 

[casportpony]

When I checked my heating pad with a laser thermometer it was about 110F...
...that's not going to feel real warm on your hand when you just touch it.
When I use the pad on my back, even thru a tshirt it can get too hot after awhile.

Thanks for the reminder, I've been meaning to do that. Have you used yours to measure egg shell temp?

 

[aart]

Quote: In incubator? Yes.

 

[casportpony]

Quote: In incubator? Yes.
Did you find the readings were close to what you thought they should be?

 

[aart]

Quote: In incubator? Yes.
Did you find the readings were close to what you thought they should be?
They were 'ok'.....it was interesting and fun from a curiosity standpoint, something to dink with.
But hard to find a way to accurately test the thermometers.
We have no accurate standards to test against in our incubation range of ~99-100F,
let alone actually adjust (which would be true 'calibration').
Always cracks me up when the digitals read to 2 decimal places,
and folks are sweating over a few hundredths when the device is not truly calibrated to begin with.
But that comes from me working in an environment where instruments were lab calibrated to 4 decimal places.
Blatherrantout.

 

[ImportTheBest]

Shut off the light now. They won't seek out the warmth of the heating pad if you have a heat lamp on them.

Understood, doing that now!

 

[ImportTheBest]

There were a couple of meaties that figured it out first, and then the Silver Gray Dorking realized what was going on. The rest were trying to huddle under each other in the other section of the brooder. And I mean that meaties were trying to huddle under little layers and layers were voluntarily climbing under hefty meaties, hahahaha! My teen showed the rest of the layers where to go for warmth and the other meaties followed!

Here's a link to an Instagram video of them under the MHP seeing as I don't upload to YouTube, at least not at this point.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRuBFTxFgfA/

 

[ImportTheBest]

I have 8 meaties and 8 layers under there, all 1.5 weeks old. How does this look to you pros? Just right? Too hot on level 5?

Will they still brave the cold air to go get food and water? It's about 55 degrees in the brooder /garage now. It'll probably go down to about 40 degrees in the garage during the night.

 

[junebuggena]

I have 8 meaties and 8 layers under there, all 1.5 weeks old. How does this look to you pros? Just right? Too hot on level 5?

Will they still brave the cold air to go get food and water? It's about 55 degrees in the brooder /garage now. It'll probably go down to about 40 degrees in the garage during the night.

You'll be surprised how much time they will spend running around. My brooder room got down to 35 this winter and the chicks did just fine.