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

[Blooie]

Oh, I get it! I thought you were asking me what the temps are holding in the cave! Duh, Diane!

I used a wireless thermometer in the coop after I put last year's chicks in there. Drove myself crazy the first couple of nights watching it tick down to the low 20s and even 10 degrees one night. They work really well as long as you aren't looking for absolute precision. I have no problem with a factor of + or - 4 or 5 degrees. Maybe I'm just too casual about stuff, I dunno. Putting one in the run to see if you need to make adjustments is a great idea. Beats running out there every few hours and sticking your head in to see. We also have one with the transmitter outside on the deck and the receiver in the living room. That one has been pretty spot on with the big outdoor thermometer (not a mercury one, but the kind with the big stupid tractor on it with the hand to tell the temp), although I'm sure there's mercury or something inside of it that tells the hand where to go.

As for the air pressure, I wasn't specifically inferring that that would cause the mercury to read cooler - in fact you bring up a really interesting point. If the air pressure is increased, then wouldn't that push the mercury up, making the readings artificially higher rather than lower? I don't know, I'm just trying out hpyhod....hypeothesses......hipothase.........guesses.

 

[azygous]

No more guessing! My old Sunbeam mercury thermometer that I've had on my porch for 21 years has been reading 5 degrees cooler than it actually is due to the altitude and less atmospheric pressure. So the Acurite remote thermometer was accurate all along!

I went a-googling, something I should have done, but I never thought about atmospheric pressure until you brought it up! So I ran a test they suggested using slushy ice water, with itsy bitsy pieces of ice for maximum accuracy. An accurate thermometer will read 32F. Mine read 27F and refused to budge! So now the mystery is solved, and it's NOT due to shoddy Chinese products after all.

So now we know that mercury thermometers may not be accurate much above sea level.

All these years when I saw that dumb thermometer read 10 below zero, it was really only just 5 below! Good to know!

 

[Blooie]

Ah, I'll bet you feel warmer already!

Me, I'm just impressed that my hypitho...guess... (I ain't going through that again - my spell checker needed resuscitation) about the pressure wasn't all hooey!
Edited to add: It wasn't hooey, but it was backwards...the increased air pressure keeps the mercury below where it would be at sea level. Or something like that. Um, tell me to go to bed now before my reputation is in total tatters.

 

[azygous]

Good night, Blooie.

 

[Blooie]

Kin I have a drink o' water? Where's my teddy? These jammies are itchy. Noooo, don't turn the light off yet. Okay, then kin I have a flashlight so I kin read? I hafta GO! Um, kin I have another drink o' water............

 

[lazy gardener]

I'm on day 6 of my incubation. Now, assuming that I had a profoundly optimistic hatch, and ended up with 25 - 30 littles, would that many be successful under the large Sunbeam pad? What are the dimensions of it? I bought the small one last year, used it just a bit, and put it up, b/c I had 30 chicks to brood. I know the small one would not suffice. If it would only work for a week or so, I can't see buying one. But, if the large one would work, or perhaps, the 2 sizes together, it would be a good option.

 

[Blooie]

I don't see why you can't use two pads butted up together, LG....make a wider frame to support both and you'd be in business. The small pad is 12x15 and the large one is 12x24. That would give you enough to drape down the sides of the frame as well as over the top, which is what I did. The small one you have, plus either another small one or (given your boundless optimism) the small plus a large, would do them just fine. You could probably use a bit of tape to hold them together butted up, because when those chicks get to tussling up there they might separate the two pads. My Littles will be turning 4 weeks and 3 weeks old this weekend, and they are only in it at night now. I never see one coming out from under during the day. They might rest on top for a quick nap, but boy, once that sun goes down they are in their cave until morning.

 

[azygous]

I've been in the process of designing my "chick cave" for my anticipated six new babies in May. It involves making a "u" frame out of foam from a cheap camp sleeping mattress from Wal-Mart, with dowels to hold it in its "u" shape as well as acting as supports for the "roof" which is the heating pad with towel over it. I plan on gluing heat reflective metalized poly, (otherwise know as a space blanket) on the inside walls of the foam "u".

This design can be built in any size to accommodate an number of chicks. One heating pad would not need to actually cover the entire area beneath since the heat radiating downward will also be reflected off the walls. I haven't built it yet, but I know it works because I made an enclosure for my meal worm farm with the walls, floor, and ceiling all lined with the space blanket material, and it keeps the wigglies warm for 24 hours by simply heating a couple tubs of water once a day and placing them inside under the worm trays. For two or three dozen chicks, I believe you could build a large cave and only need two carefully placed heating pads to adequately heat the large space beneath with the poly lining the walls reflecting heat back onto the chicks.

The space blanket is dirt cheap and can be found in the camping aisle at Wal-Mart. I was thinking that this stuff is so cheap, mail order hatcheries should line their chick shipping boxes with the stuff and there might be less mortality, especially during the colder months. I plan on using it in the box I'll be bringing the chicks back home in when I get them at the post office when they come in.

I'll post photos when I get it built. Don't expect it right away, though.

 

[Blooie]

I'll be following this closely....it sounds really interesting. My concern would be them pecking at the shiny stuff (space blanket) and eventually shredding it. I can't wait to see it when you get it all set up! What's so much fun about this method (in addition to its obvious benefits) is seeing how folks grab the general idea then make it their own with all the different ideas and tweaks. Whoohoo!

 

[azygous]

The space blanket stuff is like the Mylar balloons, pretty tough stuff, not at all like aluminum foil. The space blanket is just that, a blanket size sheet and it's purpose is to wrap around a person who is caught out on the hiking trail in springtime in the Rockies when one of the famous spring blizzards suddenly blows in. I think it costs $2 or $3. I doubt very much baby beaks will damage it as long as it's glued down.

My only concern is that it might get too warm in the cave, with the foam insulation of the walls. But then all I will need to do it adjust the temperature control on the heating pad downward. Might even end up being energy conservative.

I forgot about the roof of a large chick cave. The space blanket could be stapled onto a towel large enough to cover the entire roof of a large cave with two heating pads under it. The heat reflective material will direct the heat from the heating pads downward evenly over the entire cave. The same with just one pad if it's not large enough to cover the roof area. In other words, the space blanket renders it irrelevant if the heating pad is large or small or if it actually covers the roof area. You can cut the space blanket to fit whatever size area you have. It's very thin stuff, easy to cut with scissors.