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

[DreamStone]

Here is a couple of their setup now. This weekend they are getting moved to a bigger wire dog crate which will over triple their space. But same general setup. Also, have a diy no waste feeder which has worked out great. And two water bottles with chicken nipples for fresh clean water.. Even though they all crowd one bottle..

 

[Blooie]

Awesome job and cute chicks!! Don't you love this method?

 

[Blooie]

The new babies are here. This group is going to stay in the house for the first 24 hours so I can keep an eye on them. For today the smaller Mama Heating Pad is set up in a tote in the living room. These poor babies were delayed overnight in Casper so I want to know everyone is okay before they go outside. One in particular looks pretty weak but four days in transit is bound to have an adverse effect.

They each got a dose of sugar water, taught where the waterer was, and a little feed scattered on the paper towels on the floor of the temporary brooder. The one I'm worried about also got a dose of PolyViSol and I have Chick Saver in one waterer for all of them. Then I showed them how to get under Mama Heating Pad and that was it - they aren't coming out! I'll take some pictures in a little bit - right now I just want them to rehydrate, warm up, and get settled in.

 

[LindaB220]

Ooh, Linda...that's scary!! How's the recovery from your surgery going?

Great!!! I've got the home health and PT's coming out a couple of times a week. The PT fellow that was here a couple of days ago said I was a couple of weeks ahead of the game. Range of motion and movement is high. I ask him if I was doing enough moving because I did a LOT of walking in the rehab and he said I was maybe doing too much. What's funny is that I'm doing most of the things I did before. Still can't lift feed of course or drive but it's coming. Pain? Good times it's a four. A couple of times a day it's sitting at a firm eight. Then I just go to bed. The surgeon is outstanding and I have my first appt with him on Monday.
Yes, I have the sunbeam heating pad ready. Just need some chicks to take advantage of it.

 

[Darmamommy]

I LOVE this thread! I thank all of you who posted.
I'm a newbie at raising chicks and have 3 Orpingtons and 3 Black SexLinks. I have them inside and am currently using a heat lamp secured by clamps. Here is a picture.

We will be moving them to the coop that is in our garage soon but I will still need a heat source since it is still cold out there 40 to 55 depending on the weather.
Does anyone think this kind of heat pad will work if I place it high enough on a wire cloth frame? It has low medium and high setting.

I would check the temp inside to see if it is the right temp. But what do you all think?

 

[Beekissed]

It likely has an automatic shutoff for safety and will stop heating in 2 hrs. You'll need to get a heating pad that has a feature that keeps it on indefinitely instead of shutting off automatically.

 

[Blooie]

I'm happy that you enjoyed this thread. So many great people have contributed their ideas and modifications and that interaction is what makes it work. You didn't say how old your chicks are. If they are old enough and fully feathered then with temps in the 40s and 50s (are those nighttime temps or daytime, by the way?) they might well not need any heat source if you wean them off the heat lamp over the next few days. Heat lamps scare the pee-waddin' out of me anyway.

It looks like yours is up pretty high so I'm assuming that your chicks are older and don't need the intense heat that most people have on them the first couple of weeks.

It doesn't look like the control on your heating pad allows you to bypass that pesky "auto-shut" off feature most new heating pads have. Without that you'll have to go out every couple of hours and start it back up, which is a pain in the hiney! Best thing to do with it, if you don't have the instructions that came with it handy, is to turn it on to high, then let it sit. Check it in 2-3 hours and see if it's shut itself off. If it has, that pad probably won't work for what you want to do. That one feature is what makes this whole system feasible - the ability to turn it on and keep it on full time. I don't worry about what the temperature is under the pad. The chicks are loving it and perfectly comfortable, so I'm happy. Ideally, the experts all tell you, is to have the heat lamp set so it's 95 degrees in the brooder. But that heats the entire brooder area to within a degree or two. Using a heating pad with the digital controls allows you choose between 6 and all the way down to 1, but I don't know why high, medium, and low wouldn't work. Might just have to watch the chicks' behavior a little closer.

 

[Darmamommy]

I'm happy that you enjoyed this thread. So many great people have contributed their ideas and modifications and that interaction is what makes it work. You didn't say how old your chicks are. If they are old enough and fully feathered then with temps in the 40s and 50s (are those nighttime temps or daytime, by the way?) they might well not need any heat source if you wean them off the heat lamp over the next few days. Heat lamps scare the pee-waddin' out of me anyway.

It looks like yours is up pretty high so I'm assuming that your chicks are older and don't need the intense heat that most people have on them the first couple of weeks.

It doesn't look like the control on your heating pad allows you to bypass that pesky "auto-shut" off feature most new heating pads have. Without that you'll have to go out every couple of hours and start it back up, which is a pain in the hiney! Best thing to do with it, if you don't have the instructions that came with it handy, is to turn it on to high, then let it sit. Check it in 2-3 hours and see if it's shut itself off. If it has, that pad probably won't work for what you want to do. That one feature is what makes this whole system feasible - the ability to turn it on and keep it on full time. I don't worry about what the temperature is under the pad. The chicks are loving it and perfectly comfortable, so I'm happy. Ideally, the experts all tell you, is to have the heat lamp set so it's 95 degrees in the brooder. But that heats the entire brooder area to within a degree or two. Using a heating pad with the digital controls allows you choose between 6 and all the way down to 1, but I don't know why high, medium, and low wouldn't work. Might just have to watch the chicks' behavior a little closer.

Thanks for the input. They are little chicks, only 1 week and 3 weeks old now. RIGHT! My pad would not work. Only stays on for 1 hour then shuts off. They move to the coop that has a build in brooder that is more airy. That is night and day temps. Some times it is still dropping blow 40 at night and is just starting to go to mid 50's in day. Soon it should reach 60's daily. Even with the lamp that high up the bottom of the brooder is at 90 on one side and 85 at the other. We'll figure this whole thing out. It's been fun. We are newbies but are learning lots of new ways to care for them better. Thanks.

 

[Blooie]

And the Littlest Littles are getting settled in very nicely. They took to the cave and the nipple waterers right off the bat, just like the others. It's getting dark now, and they are already bedded down for the night.

 

[perilloux5]

Just got my heating pad in and have to get it set up as my chicks should be shipping in 12 days. I like this idea as I am not too fond of heat lamps and makes it easier for them to get out of the heat if they are getting overheated. I live in Louisiana so we are already having some 70 degree plus days already.