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

[Blooie]

Ah, @bruceha2000 So great to see you!!

@KerryP , you need to give them time to adapt. They do NOT like change, any change! The two weekers might not ever take to the heating pad....but you'll soon find them parked on top of it quite happily. By 3 weeks or so mine don't even use it anymore. Patience is the key when switching them over to something new - well, patience and tough love!

@cjpeeps , your dues are indeed paid! That brooder is fantastic! I'd seen where she'd posted about the wardrobe box, but since I brood outdoors I just tucked that info away in my memory bank, where it promptly bounced. <Sigh>

 

[DonnaFreak]

Howdy y'all,

Well i had my first chick emercency this morning! A friend stopped by this morning and was admiring the antics of the chicks when she asked, "Where's Lee-Lee?" We looked under and around the MHP and didn't see her anywhere! So I raised up the towel on top of the set-up and there she was, trapped between the heating pad and the wire frame! She was trapped on her belly with her legs straight out behind her, and was panting. I have no idea how long she was trapped there. I managed to extricate her and dipped her beak in the water several times. At one point she expelled some slobbery looking stuff that i actually had to wipe off of her beak because it was so thick and mucousy that it was clinging to her. When i first set her down, she couldn't walk. I'm sort of assuming that her legs had lost feeling from her having them stretched out behind her for so long. She's walking now, but is still wobbly enough that another chick bumping against her will knock her over. She does try to catch herself though...she doesn't just fall over. She lays on her belly at the opening of the cave, and doesn't struggle at all when i pick her up which is VERY unlike her. I've been going out every half hour or so to dip her beak in the water 3 or 4 times, but I'm at a loss as to what else to do for her. Any suggestions?

Donna

 

[debid]

Oh no! Lucky you found her when you did. I think the water dipping is a good idea but I'd give her sugar water if she isn't back to eating yet. I did this once with an adult hen that had gone into shock after a hawk hit her and it took a full day for her to snap out of it. I hope your chick is back to herself soon.

 

[Shezadandy]

Quote:

Howdy y'all,

Well i had my first chick emercency this morning! A friend stopped by this morning and was admiring the antics of the chicks when she asked, "Where's Lee-Lee?" We looked under and around the MHP and didn't see her anywhere! So I raised up the towel on top of the set-up and there she was, trapped between the heating pad and the wire frame! She was trapped on her belly with her legs straight out behind her, and was panting. I have no idea how long she was trapped there. I managed to extricate her and dipped her beak in the water several times. At one point she expelled some slobbery looking stuff that i actually had to wipe off of her beak because it was so thick and mucousy that it was clinging to her. When i first set her down, she couldn't walk. I'm sort of assuming that her legs had lost feeling from her having them stretched out behind her for so long. She's walking now, but is still wobbly enough that another chick bumping against her will knock her over. She does try to catch herself though...she doesn't just fall over. She lays on her belly at the opening of the cave, and doesn't struggle at all when i pick her up which is VERY unlike her. I've been going out every half hour or so to dip her beak in the water 3 or 4 times, but I'm at a loss as to what else to do for her. Any suggestions?

Donna

Maybe some nutridrench if you have it on hand. Poor baby.

We had a similar issue (though very short lived, thankfully) so here's our 2nd evolution of the MHP. We used two racks- the kind you buy for your foil and saran wrap and wax paper to mount onto the inside of a kitchen cabinet door. Naturally we bent it into the desired shape. To prevent the stuck chick problem, we put one rack on the bottom. Then in the middle, the heating pad wrapped in an old pillowcase, and on top, another rack. Then we zip tied those racks tightly together, so tight you couldn't get a fingernail between the racks and the pad, much less a little beak and neck.

 

[lazy gardener]

Howdy y'all,

Well i had my first chick emercency this morning! A friend stopped by this morning and was admiring the antics of the chicks when she asked, "Where's Lee-Lee?" We looked under and around the MHP and didn't see her anywhere! So I raised up the towel on top of the set-up and there she was, trapped between the heating pad and the wire frame! She was trapped on her belly with her legs straight out behind her, and was panting. I have no idea how long she was trapped there. I managed to extricate her and dipped her beak in the water several times. At one point she expelled some slobbery looking stuff that i actually had to wipe off of her beak because it was so thick and mucousy that it was clinging to her. When i first set her down, she couldn't walk. I'm sort of assuming that her legs had lost feeling from her having them stretched out behind her for so long. She's walking now, but is still wobbly enough that another chick bumping against her will knock her over. She does try to catch herself though...she doesn't just fall over. She lays on her belly at the opening of the cave, and doesn't struggle at all when i pick her up which is VERY unlike her. I've been going out every half hour or so to dip her beak in the water 3 or 4 times, but I'm at a loss as to what else to do for her. Any suggestions?

Donna

Donna, Poultry nutri drench is an excellent product. I'd also suggest that you give her some electrolytes. YOu can make your own:

Homemade Pedialyte Recipe #2

1. 4 cups water.
2. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda.
3. 3 tablespoons sugar or honey (remember that babies can't have honey until they're at least 1 year old)
4. 1/2 teaspoon salt.
5. optional: 1/2 packet (old fashioned) unsweetened Kool-Aid.

 

[lazy gardener]

Today, most of the babies spent the afternoon in the run. I'm hoping that they will figure out how to get back to the loft coop which is about 3' off the ground. There is a ramp, and several of them have been playing on that, and I've built a little step about 12" tall with a pallet. I do hope that I don't have to go out later tonight and play chickie round up.

No food fights today with the FF. The new feeder is working well. I need some long sheet metal screws to finish the larger feeder for the adult birds.

 

[DonnaFreak]

Donna, Poultry nutri drench is an excellent product. I'd also suggest that you give her some electrolytes. YOu can make your own:
[COLOR=222222]Homemade Pedialyte Recipe #2[/COLOR]

1. 
   [COLOR=222222]4 cups water.[/COLOR]
2. 
   [COLOR=222222]1/2 teaspoon baking soda.[/COLOR]
3. 
   [COLOR=222222]3 tablespoons sugar or honey (remember that babies can't have honey until they're at least 1 year old)[/COLOR]
4. 
   [COLOR=222222]1/2 teaspoon salt.[/COLOR]
5. 
   [COLOR=222222]optional: 1/2 packet (old fashioned) unsweetened Kool-Aid.[/COLOR]

Thanks Lazy Gardener. The water I was giving her had Nutri-drench in it. She seems fine now, other than a bit subdued. I believe she's gonna make it!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Thanks Lazy Gardener. The water I was giving her had Nutri-drench in it. She seems fine now, other than a bit subdued. I believe she's gonna make it!

Chickens are constantly searching for new and novel ways to kill themselves, the good news is they are also amazingly resilient, so glad she's doing well! You are doing awesome!

 

[countrygirl76]

I will throw in the first brainstorming idea... How about a colander/strainer? Being a dome may be a bit harder to mold the pad to, but it seems workable and you can pick up plastic ones from dollar stores to cut up.

I wish my heating pad had an auto off cancel feature...

I used the wire cage to a disposable buffet pan. The kind you put a light under

 

[lazy gardener]

Quote: Yesterday morning, I had a chick present a brand new (to me) suicide option. I had been using a round base to a chick feeder (the kind you screw a quart jar into the middle) for their FF. I was heaping the FF through the middle hole, and mounding it up so it was creating little mountains coming out of each hole around the edges, and an other nice big pile in the big center hole. I wasn't using the quart jar to give them more room to reach all the feed. Well, I had filled it late the previous afternoon, thinking there would be some left over for morning. In the morning, I heard a lot of screaming, so went out to investigate. They had licked the feeder clean. One of the biggest piggies had climbed in through the big hole, then tried to climb out through a smaller hole. There he was, completely stuck, with his head sticking out through one of the feeding ports. I had to dis assemble the whole thing to get him out!