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

[Nathan J]

Just a little update on my chicks and MHP. They're still doing fantastic. They spend very little time overall under MHP during the day time, and that's with temps ranging from the 40s (first thing in morning) up to the 60s in their brooder box away from MHP (though I'm admittedly not watching them all the time, course). They occasionally go under there all together for a little nap, and then they're out and about, with a few spending time there off and on.

In other words, typical and normal behavior with a MHP set up. Yay! And absolutely no instances of suddenly falling asleep from exhaustion.

They are getting more rambunctious now than very early, but I'm sure that's normal too. Both gaining energy and getting more comfortable with their environment.

I'm planning to move them out to the bigger brooder (appx 3.5x7 ft) in the barn (next to their eventual coop) today. It's supposed to be a beautiful spring day here in MO. (I'm also going to get them out on some grass in a small pen for a while.)

I'll start out by partitioning it off, giving them access to about half of it, and then expanding it soon; maybe even tomorrow, we'll see. Some small branches, rocks, and a pile of soil/grass/etc. to play on. I'll be using both oak leaves and pine shavings as litter; doing a deep litter type maintenance.

I'll take some pictures and share when I make the move; including the MHP set up in some detail.

Now I've gotta go get to work on all that!

 

[chicken curious]

Just a little update on my chicks and MHP. 

Nathan, I'm late to this conversation and am not sure how far back this info is. Do you mind telling me how old your chicks are?

 

[smallmonster]

Hello! I am a new-chick-owner-to-be and I was hoping for a little reassurance!

I've never had chickens, and I've been in full-on obsessive researching mode for several months now. I've got my brooder ready for chicks (who should arrive next week, via my local Agway, 8 of them), and I set up a MHP. I have it just as most people seem to - wire frame, heating pad underneath (the one with 6 settings and an auto-off-off setting), plus a flannel cover tight over the whole operation (I sew a lot).

It's looking good, but as I obsessively wait, I tried taking the temperature under there and it seems to only get up to about 80 degrees F. Is this something to worry about? It's kind of hard to position the temperature sensor exactly in the right place - I'm hoping that since the chicks will be able to be pressed against the fabric/pad, they should be able to get warm enough?

I have a backup lamp, so part of me is tempted to try the MHP and just keep an eye on them, and I can use the lamp if I have to make any tweaks.
Thoughts?

Thanks SO much for this thread - and this site! - a heat lamp is a big worry for me, so the MHP was such a great idea to find. Honestly, I am willing to spend the $ on a chick heat plate, but I'd love to avoid it if possible...

 

[debid]

The early AM destruction explained... I have a roost in my brooder. I caught some perching on it and leaning toward the controller. I suspect they were trying to jump onto the controller and knocking it down in the process. The tiny indicator light, after all, must be interesting... Moving the whole MHP is apparently them dustbathing underneath because I saw that, too. Not sure why it's more fun to dustbathe under there than in their dirt bin? But yeah, a group of them kicking the litter around bounces the structure pretty good.

They had a nice supervised outdoor adventure with tiny redworms in the wet leaf litter for snacks and a visit from our barn cat to add excitement. They're piled on top of the MHP now for a rest and preen of emerging feathers. 3 weeks old.

 

[Blooie]

Hello! I am a new-chick-owner-to-be and I was hoping for a little reassurance!

I've never had chickens, and I've been in full-on obsessive researching mode for several months now. I've got my brooder ready for chicks (who should arrive next week, via my local Agway, 8 of them), and I set up a MHP. I have it just as most people seem to - wire frame, heating pad underneath (the one with 6 settings and an auto-off-off setting), plus a flannel cover tight over the whole operation (I sew a lot).

It's looking good, but as I obsessively wait, I tried taking the temperature under there and it seems to only get up to about 80 degrees F. Is this something to worry about? It's kind of hard to position the temperature sensor exactly in the right place - I'm hoping that since the chicks will be able to be pressed against the fabric/pad, they should be able to get warm enough?

I have a backup lamp, so part of me is tempted to try the MHP and just keep an eye on them, and I can use the lamp if I have to make any tweaks.
Thoughts?

Thanks SO much for this thread - and this site! - a heat lamp is a big worry for me, so the MHP was such a great idea to find. Honestly, I am willing to spend the $ on a chick heat plate, but I'd love to avoid it if possible...

You can leave the heat lamp in the box....when I measure the temp in the "cave" part of my setup it was 82.5 degrees in a 69 degree room. The chicks had already been using it for several days but they should have been dead with that low a temperature, right? Nope. They were fine!

MHP doesn't work by heating the SPACE the chicks are in, and when you put a thermometer under there that's the temp you are reading. It's the contact with the soft warm pad at their backs that warms them.

People who just can't quite take that full leap and have a lamp either running in addition or flip it on and off seem to have a lot more trouble. They assume that since the chicks gravitate to the light that they must be cold. Nope. They are going "into the light".

Knowing that chicks and chickens are drawn to light, a lot of people actually use lights in their coop if they are having trouble getting the birds to go in there at night. The outside is dark, the inside has light so they head in. We don't want that. We want them to have long periods of darkness because they don't move around and they sleep - all night long. So what happens when people use a "supplemental heat lamp?" The chicks like to stay near it and don't spend much time inside MHP. Then the owners assume that it's not working, take it out, and leave just the heat lamp, essentially giving up.

So hang in there...your temps underneath are fine. Most of us don't even bother with temps using MHP - we watch the chicks' behaviors.

 

[debid]

...I tried taking the temperature under there and it seems to only get up to about 80 degrees F.  Is this something to worry about?  ...

That's normal. It's not meant to heat the air and they will get enough by touching it.

People tend to worry far too much that their chicks will be cold when the opposite is almost always the case. Heat lamps frequently turn brooders into slow cookers and it's frustrating to see how many chicks die from best intentions.

 

[smallmonster]

You can leave the heat lamp in the box....when I measure the temp in the "cave" part of my setup it was 82.5 degrees in a 69 degree room. The chicks had already been using it for several days but they should have been dead with that low a temperature, right? Nope. They were fine!

MHP doesn't work by heating the SPACE the chicks are in, and when you put a thermometer under there that's the temp you are reading. It's the contact with the soft warm pad at their backs that warms them.

People who just can't quite take that full leap and have a lamp either running in addition or flip it on and off seem to have a lot more trouble. They assume that since the chicks gravitate to the light that they must be cold. Nope. They are going "into the light".

Knowing that chicks and chickens are drawn to light, a lot of people actually use lights in their coop if they are having trouble getting the birds to go in there at night. The outside is dark, the inside has light so they head in. We don't want that. We want them to have long periods of darkness because they don't move around and they sleep - all night long. So what happens when people use a "supplemental heat lamp?" The chicks like to stay near it and don't spend much time inside MHP. Then the owners assume that it's not working, take it out, and leave just the heat lamp, essentially giving up.

So hang in there...your temps underneath are fine. Most of us don't even bother with temps using MHP - we watch the chicks' behaviors.

Hi Blooie! I've been reading this thread off and on for weeks, so I feel like you're a rock star, and now responding to me. Thanks for your kind words. I will leave the bulb in the box (with receipt!) and trust the chicks to the MHP, with careful behavior-watching.

I will have the brooder set up in a small room that gets slow temperature fluctuations - between 60 degrees and 70 degrees, depending on the sun coming in the window. Insulated room.

I had the indoor/outdoor thermometer anyway, but I will simply pay attention to the chicks! Thanks for your assistance and I'll be sure to post photos once they arrive.

 

[ImportTheBest]

Should I do anything about the silly meaties that during the day stay out from under the MHP and stand there all puffed up and shivering, but refuse to stay under when I put them under to warm up?

 

[Blooie]

Should I do anything about the silly meaties that during the day stay out from under the MHP and stand there all puffed up and shivering, but refuse to stay under when I put them under to warm up?

Check your settting....if it's too hot they won't go under at all. And meaties grow faster than layers, so you may need to raise the frame up more often to accommodate those bigger bodies. Try those things and let us know.....most of us raise layers so if there's something different that would help folks raising meaties we'd like to be sure they have access to that information.

 

[Blooie]

Hi Blooie! I've been reading this thread off and on for weeks, so I feel like you're a rock star, and now responding to me. Thanks for your kind words. I will leave the bulb in the box (with receipt!) and trust the chicks to the MHP, with careful behavior-watching.

Oh, my! Rock star?

More like a brick brain most of the time! But if you get the chick-watching part down, you've got this!