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

[okie-chick93]

Wish I had found this a few hours ago.... My heating lamp fell over and burned my carpet. I'm lucky my house didn't catch on fire. The whole room was filled with smoke !!

 

[blackdog043]

@okie-chick93 Thank goodness it was only a carpet burn. The MHP is a great way to raise chicks and way less of a risk of something happening!

 

[azygous]

Also, MHP is much safer around children.

 

[Blooie]

um,,,,no.

Oh....guess I need to rethink that then.

Wish I had found this a few hours ago.... My heating lamp fell over and burned my carpet. I'm lucky my house didn't catch on fire. The whole room was filled with smoke

!!

I'm so sorry this happened to you. I swore I'd never use a heat lamp again after Katie (my granddaughter, who was 8 at the time) burned herself on the doggone thing. We're always glad to answer questions about MHP, so if there's anything you aren't sure of, be sure to stop in and ask. Oh, except for questions about Selenium and Vitamin E....I know nothing!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Wish I had found this a few hours ago.... My heating lamp fell over and burned my carpet. I'm lucky my house didn't catch on fire. The whole room was filled with smoke

!!

Oh, my, how scary - so very glad it was just burned carpet!

 

[lpyrbby]

Here are some POOR photos of my setup, but that's all I have lol. Today was BUSY. Anywho.

Word to the wise, naked neck chicks and heat plates don't really mix Now that the crew has finally been moved outside, that should no longer be an issue. I did have the help them "find" their new heat source tonight, but once I got everyone tucked in (I had to mostly make it "their" idea), they quieted right down. I'm going to check a few times tonight because these are my babies, but all should be well.

I'm going to keep an eye on that cord placement. I may have to drill a hold through the wood at the bottom of that panel wall instead of running it up on the inside. I have velcro wrapped around a couple of places to keep it secured to the frame. It probably wouldn't be so bad if I pushed the contraption against the panel wall, but I worry about chicks getting trapped.


It's lower in the back. The heating pad is secured with mini bungees like @aart mentioned using with hers.


And the ONE lone pic of a chick underneath it LOL


For those that are curious, I crafted this with spare wood from putting together the carport coop. I figured the height wouldn't be a problem since eventually, they're going to want to roost. Once they can get up there, it should be a good stepping stone.

 

[dpenning]

Oh....guess I need to rethink that then.  

Sorry Blooie, you are one of a kind and we need you.

 

[Blooie]

Well done! And your dues are paid!! One thing you can do with the cord is to unplug it from the pad, the run the cord down into some wide plastic PVC pipe. Should protect it and keep them from entanglement.

So I'm curious.....why don't the heat plates work with Naked Necks? Too hot?

@Ol Grey Mare I'm so happy that it worked out for you... I can tell you exactly why you had a "why didn't I think of this" moment - it takes a huge leap of faith to dump the conventional and go with something, that according to wisdom, should not only fail but should result in the sure and certain death of your chicks!! So i you wanna put on a MHP cape and join the crusade, we're all for it!

 

[lazy gardener]

Wish I had found this a few hours ago.... My heating lamp fell over and burned my carpet. I'm lucky my house didn't catch on fire. The whole room was filled with smoke

!!

I am so thankful that a bit of smoke and a burned carpet is the worst thing you suffered from this. MHP is so much less risky. Any electrical appliance can cause fire, but heat lamps are especially risky.

Every night now, I have to go down stairs and play stuff the chick: I have (2) 12 x 24 pads set up being used by 46 chicks. (too many chicks, I know!) Half of the chicks cram under one pad, and the rest cram into a corner. For some reason, they do not go under the other pad. So, I scoop up the left outs and shove them under the other pad. Really, they would be fine without the pad, because there are so many of them. And their wings are all feathered out now. But, I continue to play "stuff the chick". It's been so cold and miserable it's TOO COLD FOR ME to go out and set up their coop brooder. Hoping that it's at least not raining tomorrow. I really only need a couple of hours to get things set up for them.

Today, we bought enough 5" carriage bolts and 2" fender washers to put legs on all three of my MHP. When I move the chicks out to the grow out coop, I intend to put legs on the MHP so they will provide coverage for more chicks. I know that I could do a heat lamp for them... but Okie's experience increases my resolve to avoid HL at all costs.

The chicks are doing very well, growing like weeds. They are now eating FF and cleaning that up well. Feeding frenzy when they get their morning scrambled egg. I now need to cook 2 eggs for them. The chicks hatched from my own flock's eggs are twice as big as the shipped chicks, though both groups were hatched the same day.

 

[lpyrbby]

Well done! And your dues are paid!! One thing you can do with the cord is to unplug it from the pad, the run the cord down into some wide plastic PVC pipe. Should protect it and keep them from entanglement.

So I'm curious.....why don't the heat plates work with Naked Necks? Too hot?

We may have some pvc leftover. I'll take a gander at it tomorrow when I'm less busy

As far as the heat plate and the naked necks - I have a few chicks that look like they have heat blisters on their head/neck in one spot up near the crown of their head. Those heat plates do get pretty warm and I can see them being the type that kinda forget it's getting a little TOO warm on that neck of theirs!