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

[Blooie]

We plan on doing plastic for fall/winter. Likely shower curtains. But for now will probably do more temporary. This is unusual weather for us. It was mid 80s last week. It will get much, much warmer very quickly For us. We are in south Mississippi. What is cold to us is likely not to many here. I was cold at 69 degrees! With a t-shirt, jeans and a long sleeve shirt over the T! If the didn't get driving reason yesterday, they won't get it. Short of a hurricane that is. And in that case, it's still usually warm. Lol they are under a drop shed butted up to a 24x48 foot building over 15 feet high. The east side of their coop is 15 feet uner a roof, the west side is a 13 feet from where the mama heating pad is from the edge. Now the north is closest at 9 feet from the edge of the roof to where the pad is. And there are stands of planted pines to the northwest which helps with the wind.

I'm not being disagreeable. I really really appreciate input. Just trying to help visualize where they are because it is very open. But at the same time is somewhat sheltered. With that in mind, would love to know what you would do in this setup. The heat and humidity is why we built the open air coop. But I have to say, I was skeptical of the 5 gallon bucket. That was hubby's idea. But after checking Temps just putting my hand in, and judging their behavior, I go feel better. But I am such a newbie, I welcome the feedback!

Oh, gosh, I hope I didn't give you the idea what I thought that!! Never even occurred to me! And having lived in Gautier, MS for a few years, I sure know about the heat and humidity - only place we lived in our 26 year Navy career where I sat at a stoplight, put my head on the steering wheel, and literally cried because I was so miserably hot! So for you and your area what you've done with your setup is absolutely the best thing, I think. Cold is definitely a relative term. It was 59 degrees here the other day, the morning sun was bright and cheery, and kids were walking to school in shorts and T-shirts. I, on the other hand, was wearing my flannel lined jeans, a long sleeved shirt with an over shirt and my jacket to go out and do chores!

 

[Cearbhael]

I'm not entirely sure of our chicks ages. I think they are about 3 weeks old, but I wouldn't bet on it! The towel wasn't down when I took the pic - was trying to get a shot of the inside. I put leaves and pine straw in the bottom since it does have the wire in there. Thought it would be more comfortable.. Here's a pic of it with the towel in place. Then I decided to get an old towel and throw over the top to both come down lower over the opening and to keep them from knocking all the straw off. LOL Hopefully they are tucked in good for the night. I'm a bit nervous about their first night. It is raining again. We've had really bad weather today. DH slapped this coop together in a day or so. He's pretty handy to have around. LOL I'm hoping it is secure. Has hardware cloth all around. He finished putting the apron on today. It is galvanized metal 1 x 2 inch squares. Fingers crossed.

Looking good and cozy! If I were a chick I would love it!

 

[Seymore]

Oh, yeah, they are in the coop. It's ginormous. For them at least. The run is still under construction. But I'm okay with that as they still aren't going to all areas of the coop yet! It's 8 x 10 and 6 feet high. Hope to have the run finished before my DH heads out again. This is the coop mostly done. No chicks in it yet. It is underneath this drop shed. But is made so it can be pulled out and moved later. Nesting boxex made by my 13 year old son with some help from DH

Great looking coop monkcat. Looks like your DH has some good skills. Nice that your son is involved and learning the skills. Will serve him well in 20-50 years! (o: (how I also learned) Trust me, these are memories your son will have for the rest of his life...

 

[monkcat]

Oh, gosh, I hope I didn't give you the idea what I thought that!! Never even occurred to me! And having lived in Gautier, MS for a few years, I sure know about the heat and humidity - only place we lived in our 26 year Navy career where I sat at a stoplight, put my head on the steering wheel, and literally cried because I was so miserably hot! So for you and your area what you've done with your setup is absolutely the best thing, I think. Cold is definitely a relative term. It was 59 degrees here the other day, the morning sun was bright and cheery, and kids were walking to school in shorts and T-shirts. I, on the other hand, was wearing my flannel lined jeans, a long sleeved shirt with an over shirt and my jacket to go out and do chores!

Oh no, you didn't give me that impression at all. I just felt like I was being a Negative Nelly and didn't want you to think I was just being argumentative and turning down good advice. Lol Yeah, I know where Gautier is. Have family in Pascagoula. Same weather here. We aren't far from it. It can really get downright hard to breathe sometimes. Feels like you walk outside and get smothered with a hot, wet blanket. I find the older I get, the colder I get! A few years ago, I was sweating in 50 and 60 degree weather. Not so much now. Well, for the most part. Power surges, aka hot flashes take 40's to cool me off.

 

[monkcat]

Great looking coop monkcat. Looks like your DH has some good skills. Nice that your son is involved and learning the skills. Will serve him well in 20-50 years! (o: (how I also learned) Trust me, these are memories your son will have for the rest of his life...

He's pretty handy. That child of ours is the most capable kid I've ever seen. His dad showed him how to reset the valves on the 4-wheeler. He did it himself the next time. He's a knowledge junkie. I am so thankful that he is! I agree, I think learning at mom and dads elbows is the best thing ever. He can bake you some bread from scratch or build you some nest boxes! Thanks.

 

[Seymore]

Don't miss the FL/GA heat at all! Muggy could be an understatement!

 

[Blooie]

I remember when we lived there. When I'd talk to my Ma, up in South Dakota, she'd complain that it was so hot! Ma didn't do heat and humidity well, and summers in South Dakota can get pretty muggy too. She'd whine about it. One day I told her, "Ma, you know how the weather man always shows warm moist air coming up from the Gulf? Well, we get it before it's been diluted!"

Today is gonna be a big day. I'm going to open the pen that the Tinys are in and let them mingle a little bit with the Bigs and Littles. We'll see how it goes. I think to start with we'll leave a few of the bigger birds in and put the rest outside so the Tinys aren't so overwhelmed. They are doing every bit as well as the Littles did under Mama Heating Pad. Days are warm enough to turn the pad completely off. At 3 weeks old they barely spend any time with it anyway now. I just love this system!

 

[monkcat]

I remember when we went to West Virginia. There was a heat wave and it was in triple digits in the New Orleans area (we lived across the lake on the Northshore), and when we got to WV, everyone was just melting because of the heat. But it felt like spring to us! A lady asked me "Can you believe this heat?" Without thinking, I replied "Yeah! It's great!" She looked at me like I'd lost my mind. Had no idea it was a good 25-30 degrees cooler and less humid than where we just came from. You're right. It is definitely relative.

Hoping all is going well with the tinys.

Wondering what age mine are right now? I'm so unsure of their ages. Would help me feel better knowing if they should be able to tolerate the temps. My "older" ones are likely 3-4 weeks old with the little ones a week behind. They were all snuggled in this morning. Would get out, scratch around, eat, drink and go back to their mama heating pad. It was way toasty in there. It's about 70 degrees today, sunny and cool winds. Tonight should get cooler. Will actually throw a tarp over it tonight for a temporary measure. I am pleasantly surprised how warm it is staying inside it as it is a larger area being a bucket. It is sitting down in a depression however and I am guessing the soil is insulating it a bit too.

On a fun note, they ate a bumblebee today. One of the huge fuzzy ones. I saw one on the ground in their coop and I stepped on it. They bore into the wood here. Drives me nuts. Anyway, I tossed it down by their food and they ran out and attacked it. Chasing each other around snatching it out of their beaks. Was funny and cute.

They seem to be growing by the day! Just overnight they look bigger than the day before! We have low "roosts" in there and they hop all over them, run up and down them. I was sitting on a stump I put in there for them to climb around on and the RIR walked up to me, looked me up and down and jumped up on my shoulder. Sat there for a few minutes. The others came over and started flinging themselves at me. Nutty birds!

 

[LindaB220]

We plan on doing plastic for fall/winter. Likely shower curtains. But for now will probably do more temporary. This is unusual weather for us. It was mid 80s last week. It will get much, much warmer very quickly For us. We are in south Mississippi. What is cold to us is likely not to many here. I was cold at 69 degrees! With a t-shirt, jeans and a long sleeve shirt over the T! If the didn't get driving reason yesterday, they won't get it. Short of a hurricane that is. And in that case, it's still usually warm. Lol they are under a drop shed butted up to a 24x48 foot building over 15 feet high. The east side of their coop is 15 feet uner a roof, the west side is a 13 feet from where the mama heating pad is from the edge. Now the north is closest at 9 feet from the edge of the roof to where the pad is. And there are stands of planted pines to the northwest which helps with the wind.

I'm not being disagreeable. I really really appreciate input. Just trying to help visualize where they are because the coop is very open. But at the same time is somewhat sheltered. With that in mind, would love to know what you would do in this setup. The heat and humidity is why we built the open air coop. But I have to say, I was skeptical of the 5 gallon bucket. That was hubby's idea. But after checking Temps just putting my hand in, and judging their behavior, I do feel better. But I am such a newbie, I welcome the feedback!

Hey, we are practically neighbors. But I'm in NW La and our problem is gonna be the heat this year. I've got my growout pen in the shade but I've got to get the handyman to finish it. I've got babies coming due out of the 'bator in a few days. They won't need much extra heat added except at night. When I had the Sebrights 2 months ago it was still cold and they consistantly stayed in the feather dusters I had bunched together across the space from the overhead heat lamp. So I'm thinking they may just need those down he in the south in this heat. I did very well with just plastic shower curtains on my open coops last winter. I'm going to do it again. You place sounds great.

 

[LindaB220]

He's pretty handy. That child of ours is the most capable kid I've ever seen. His dad showed him how to reset the valves on the 4-wheeler. He did it himself the next time. He's a knowledge junkie. I am so thankful that he is! I agree, I think learning at mom and dads elbows is the best thing ever. He can bake you some bread from scratch or build you some nest boxes! Thanks.

Best kind of kid to have. Mine (all 3 girls) knew nothing and waited for Daddy to come fix. (Just like me) I've learned more about repairs and actually myself in the last couple of years since getting into chickens. : D
Got serious envy at your southern coop. Fabulous!!!!! I have one 8' X 12' dog kennel coop and a 4' X 6' one. One 12' x 12' wooden pallet one that you can see by going to the interview page in my signature. So far that's the only pictures I have on here. You'd think I'd learn how. Son in law promised to teach me but just did it for me instead. sigh