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

[perilloux5]

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)

It is around 80 as I have it turned down to setting 3 on the pad. It has been in the high 70's during the day and mid 60's at night. for some reason they just prefer to be piled up in the brooder rather than the cave. They are running around and scratching through the shavings during the day. As long as they are happy, but I will leave it on just in case.

 

[Blooie]

Wow! That's not a brooder - it's a whole 'nuther country! They won't outgrow that for a day or two....,very nice!

 

[perilloux5]

Empty Fun Pop box that WalMart was throwing out, best of all it was free.

I just made a lid out of 1X2's and hardware cloth and they have plenty of room to play. The Leghorns have almost kicked shaving out of the top. By the time they outgrow this it will be time for the big pen. Screwed boards together on one side of the box to fasten the lid to with hinges.

 

[aart]

Empty Fun Pop box that WalMart was throwing out, best of all it was free.

I just made a lid out of 1X2's and hardware cloth and they have plenty of room to play. The Leghorns have almost kicked shaving out of the top. By the time they outgrow this it will be time for the big pen. Screwed boards together on one side of the box to fasten the lid to with hinges.

EXCELLENT!!!!

 

[lazy gardener]

Thanks! Glad you found us. I don't think there is a limit to how many chicks can use this system. I had 15 under the x-tra large pad, but could have put a few more in. A good friend of mine had an incubator full of eggs, and she was planning to butt two pads together over a frame to accommodate them after hatch. For just a few chicks, the small heating pad available at Walmart or other retailers will work great. The whole idea of this is to mimic a broody hen, and some of them hatch out large clutches of babies. While she can cover a large brood pretty well when they are tiny, as they get bigger they "outgrow" her. So it is with the heating pad...as the chicks get bigger they don't need as much heat, so some will be under the cave, some on top, and some snuggle down around it, just as they would with her.

That same friend (LazyGardener) also reminded me of Kaussaundra's feather duster idea. After a little consideration I decided against using it for this particular system. I could see where it would be a cool idea in a traditional brooder as it mimics the feathers of mom's body and gives them a place out of the glaring light of the heat lamp to snuggle. But since I form mine into a "cave" to provided a dark, safe place and the towel is hanging down over the sides, back, and part of the front, they already have that. To me the best part of this system is the total simplicity.....form the wire, drape the pad, cover it, and done. But if someone does want to use the feather duster, by all means, go right ahead! There are only two "rules" with this more natural brooder - the heating pad has to have the "auto shut off bypass" feature and you must be able to modify, adapt or whatever else to fit your situation. That's it. Ooops, I lied - there are three rules! Rule number three is that you have to share pics of your set up and chicks with the rest of us!

Alcatraz would have been a great name for our little escapee...I just don't think I could talk our granddaughter into changing it. She's decided that the first batch of chicks - all 15 of them - should have animal names. So the escapee is Turtles. We have a white chick bigger than the others that she named "Beluga" and one chick who was tinier than all the others called "Bumblebee", etc. Not that Gramma can tell them all apart, you understand....but we just smile and go along with her. As long as she still loves coming over (she lives across the street) and helping with the chickens, even when we are out of town, she can call them whatever she likes!

Well I can't tell you how much I love this. I really do want to raise my birds in as natural way as possible.

I just got 100 chicks for a new project that are now 4 days old. I have lost ten so far and I am convinced it is exhaustion. I watch them, and the chicks that are awake seem to go out of their way to tromp over their sleeping companions even though they have ample room. If exhaustion is the cause this would go a long way to eliminating that problem since they could sleep all night as nature intended.

Another problem that I worry about, is we live in the mountains and have frequent power outages year round from limbs breaking and stupid drivers racing up and down the highway and crashing into power polls. I am thinking that if I used 1/2 of a terra-cotta pot as the frame, that it would act as a thermal mass and radiate heat for quite a while after the power goes out. I am concerned that the pot may get too hot and burn them if they touch it. I may have to devise some kind of barrier on the inside to prevent that.

I may need to make 4 of these so I might try using reptile heating cord instead of the heating pad. I would be cheaper for experimental proposes. $32.00 for 39 ft that could be run back and forth over all for pots. If it doesn't work I can order the pads.

Thanks again getting this out there... I do believe it is a better way. And what a fun project for me

My concern with the terra-cotta pot would be that it would also act to draw heat away from the chicks in the case of a power outage. IMO, better to just pile some shavings on top of the cave. They'll help to hold in some extra heat. Good observation about the chicks getting walked all over in the case of the standard brood lamp.

In regards to the above statement: With the standard brood lamp, chicks are popping up and down all day and night, 24/7. They never have any down time where they all are sleeping at the same time. I've heard that plants do most of their growing during the hours when they are not absorbing sunlight. IMO, all creatures need un-interrupted rest time. I wonder if the HP cave is the reason, or at least part of the reason why these chicks seem to be calmer and feather out faster. I swear that my chicks are about a week ahead of chicks reared in the typical fashion.

Batch #2 will be arriving in about 10 days. They'll be about 3 1/2 weeks behind the first group. I'm hoping to rear them in the same brooder. Toying with the idea of switching to the large pad, putting it in an appropriate sized box (with a top) so that the new babies can go in the lower level cave, and the older chicks can go in the upper level. I'll pile lots of shavings at the sides in the upper level, so that the older ones can have a choice of bedding down on the dome of the cave, which would be warm, or at the sides where the shavings are piled up. Hope to also have a perch option for them, by then, also.

 

[Blooie]

My concern with the terra-cotta pot would be that it would also act to draw heat away from the chicks in the case of a power outage. IMO, better to just pile some shavings on top of the cave. They'll help to hold in some extra heat. Good observation about the chicks getting walked all over in the case of the standard brood lamp.

In regards to the above statement: With the standard brood lamp, chicks are popping up and down all day and night, 24/7. They never have any down time where they all are sleeping at the same time. I've heard that plants do most of their growing during the hours when they are not absorbing sunlight. IMO, all creatures need un-interrupted rest time. I wonder if the HP cave is the reason, or at least part of the reason why these chicks seem to be calmer and feather out faster. I swear that my chicks are about a week ahead of chicks reared in the typical fashion.

Batch #2 will be arriving in about 10 days. They'll be about 3 1/2 weeks behind the first group. I'm hoping to rear them in the same brooder. Toying with the idea of switching to the large pad, putting it in an appropriate sized box (with a top) so that the new babies can go in the lower level cave, and the older chicks can go in the upper level. I'll pile lots of shavings at the sides in the upper level, so that the older ones can have a choice of bedding down on the dome of the cave, which would be warm, or at the sides where the shavings are piled up. Hope to also have a perch option for them, by then, also.

Pictures.....pictures....... A Chicky Condo.....whodda thunk!

 

[lazy gardener]

Now, Blooie... you know what a techno idiot I am!

 

[aart]

Now, Blooie... you know what a techno idiot I am!

If you can build MHP Condo....you can take a pic and post it ;-)

 

[Blooie]

If you can build MHP Condo....you can take a pic and post it ;-)

Yeah, what he said!

 

[Seymore]

@Blooie, an update re: heating pads...

The DW told me that we do have some older heating pads, but didn't know where they were. So I looked high and low... found them! We have a 12x14 50W pad and a sinus pad, rated @ 30W. Both have 3 settings, no auto off (more than 15YO) and seem to be heating well. A tunnel is now in the works!

Also, our chicks (12 days) are steering clear if the heat, in the brooder, with the thermostat reading ~85. Tells me that it's still too warm. Also the DW told that Goldie (EE) escaped the brooder this morning, with wings! So we're setting up transitional housing in the coop... they are starting to outgrow the brooder, already!! (BTW, the brooder is a clear plastic container measuring 30Lx18Wx14H) Time to set up a tunnel in the coop... We'll prob move them next weekend, if I can get temps stable out there, over this week.

You guys/gals are truly a blessing with the knowledge base here. Thanks so much for the education and patience... speaks volumes to the group.

Oh... and yes, we are listening to what our chicks have to tell us about their conditions, abilities, ect... just gotta be highly observant and on the ball.


Cheers...