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

[Seymore]

I went searching this weekend for a heating pad... all the new stuff has 60min auto-shutoff! Can't use these. Sorry I didn't read all 38 pages to see who has any suggestion about this dilemma. Anyone have a short version of what to look for these days, in this regard?


TIA...

 

[Blooie]

There are a few sources for heating pads that have a button allowing you to bypass the auto-off feature. The one I use is the Sunbeam X-press Heat. I have both the small one, available at Walmart or sometimes Walgreens, for around $20.00 and the larger one, also a Sunbeam x-Press heat, available on Amazon.

 

[Seymore]

Thank you... Thank you... Thank you!!! Put on our shopping list. Prob don't need it for this go-round, but will be getting one before the DW wants the next batch, which will be meat birds.

Thanks Blooie!


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[perilloux5]

And falling off more successfully than getting up there, I'll bet!  Funny to watch them figure it all out, isn't it?  

I still have a stubborn bunch though, I put them under the heating system for the past two nights a tonight they were piled together on the opposite side. I told them they won and left them there, if they get cold they know were it is.

 

[monkcat]

There are a few sources for heating pads that have a button allowing you to bypass the auto-off feature. The one I use is the Sunbeam X-press Heat. I have both the small one, available at Walmart or sometimes Walgreens, for around $20.00 and the larger one, also a Sunbeam x-Press heat, available on Amazon.

I actually found the large one at a local CVS. And lemme tell you, I live in an area you don't expect to get things at our stores others don't have!

 

[Blooie]

I still have a stubborn bunch though, I put them under the heating system for the past two nights a tonight they were piled together on the opposite side. I told them they won and left them there, if they get cold they know were it is.

Have you thought about turning it down a notch? Remember that the chicks are your best guide to what they need. If they don't want to go under, it may be that they no longer need that much heat. Just a thought.

 

[Seymore]

I still have a stubborn bunch though, I put them under the heating system for the past two nights a tonight they were piled together on the opposite side. I told them they won and left them there, if they get cold they know were it is.

What is the temp under the tunnel? Got a thermostat in there? We got the big round dial type (available @ Wally for cheap), meant for outdoors, in the brooder and I calibrated it by sitting it beside my home thermostat for a few hours, before I put it in the brooder. (you can twist the back to make it go up or down) Our chicks are 11 days old now and when they move away from the heat lamp, they are telling us it's too hot and we lift the lamp. Rather have it a little to warm than not warm enough. Under the light in our brooder, it's ~85 now.

Here's the cheap thermostat we're using, just to get an idea of the temp. (this is a shot from todays field trip to the coop)

 

[henless]

There are a few sources for heating pads that have a button allowing you to bypass the auto-off feature. The one I use is the Sunbeam X-press Heat. I have both the small one, available at Walmart or sometimes Walgreens, for around $20.00 and the larger one, also a Sunbeam x-Press heat, available on Amazon.

I bought a large one at Walmart for a back up to my Premier plate. It was $29.99 at my store. They didn't have a small one.

I really like the heating pad. My only draw back from using it now is that I work every day. If the electricity should go out while I'm at work, there is no one home to turn the pad back on. I wish there was a way to work around that, otherwise I would have it out in the brooder.

 

[Tacampbell1973]

Thank you for the wonderful pictures Blooie! And BTW I have passed through Wyoming many times, and it is a beautiful State. I was just wondering if your "baby chick" cave would work for incubating eggs in an emergency. I suppose you would have to incorporate water for the moisture it would need, but I don;t hatch chicks too often for lack of space. Maybe once a year. (See every year I have said i would get rid of the cockerels and keep the pullets, but what is is about young roos that make them so cute and personable?) Anyway I kept all 19 hatchlings and just built more pens This year will have to be different. So says my husband. But there were a few times I had need of an incubator for an unwanted chick (they didin't make it, would it have been different if i had an incubator? maybe not) Just curious. I try to save all my chicks but as you know nature somtimes has other plans. Maybe i should just invest in an incubator, but if I don't need one, I would rather spend the money on flockblocks and fresh ears of corn for my crew.

 

[Blooie]

Beekissed did a natural incubating experiment last year, a huge part of the inspiration for setting up Mama Heating Pad. Here's the link to her thread.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ral-nest-incubation-experiment-1-so-it-begins

As for concerns about power going out, we had that happen. Had winds of 60 mph and sideways blowing snow that night too. We went to bed about 11, and at 4 Ken woke me up with two little words - "The chicks!" They were less than a week old, living outside in the run, and we'd had a power outage! It must have lasted at least 2-3 hours. The power coming back on is what woke him. We threw on our clothes and ran out there. The cave still retained residual warmth from the towel, and from all the straw packed on top of, around, and inside it. The chicks were just fine. We turned on the heating pad, remembering to hit that "auto-off" function, and went back inside to bed. Later that morning when I went out to check on the chicks, there were 8 little hineys stuck in the air and 8 little heads stuck in the feeder. No problem! When a heat lamp goes out, the surrounding air cools off really quickly. With the straw insulated cave, that heat is retained. As Bee noted, though, when the power comes back on the heat lamp goes right back on too, unlike the pad where I have to physically turn in it back on. But the cave buys me much more time than the lamp going out would give me.

Having had it put to the test in such cold, nasty weather, I'm no longer worried about it. They'll find the furthest corner inside the cave and cuddle, and they'll be just fine until I turn it back on. Chicks often wander too far away from Mama Broody Hen too, and they are usually back to their snoopy little selves after a short warm-up once they find her again.

Seymore, the temperature inside the cave the second or third night I had it going was 82.9 degrees. The room temperature was 69 degrees. They were perfectly content. That "95 for the first week, lowering by 5 degrees weekly" is such an arbitrary instruction. Folks panic if the brooder drops to 93. Why? They're fine. If they weren't they'd be huddled up underneath all of the time. They don't do that - they are out in the main part of the brooder almost all of the time and just duck into the cave for short periods to warm up or hide if they're spooked. I only put the thermometer in there because a question by azygous got me wondering. After my curiosity was satisfied and I'd posted the result in this thread, the thermometer came out and the chicks told me what they needed.

Right now it's 30 degrees outside. My latest chicks are 3 weeks old today. The heating pad is set on 4. And when I went out this morning they are running all over the brooder - some eating, some drinking, some playing "King of the Mountain" on top of the heating pad. All's well at Oleo Acres.