They are so cute! Glad MHP is working well for them - and you!Success! We all made it through the first night and it was chilly and rainy. My babies were warm an toasty in their MHP cave. I am happy to report that they are coming out to drink and eat and then snuggling back in. And a promised pictures!
Louise is the Buff Orpington and Harriet is a Golden Buff/Comet.
It does look a little too high. They like that pad right at their backs for the first week or so. Can you smoosh it down a little? Don't worry about what the thermometer says. Mine read 82.9 under there and the chicks did just fantastic! Watch them - they'll tell you what they want. Like your setup!Very helpful! As I think my frame is too high. I have a thermometer under the cave and it's only reading 88!! What temps are you getting under there? Here's a pic. Do you think it's too high?
I haven't finished wrapping or covering it. Still in test mode.
Perchie girl is right - logic leads us to believe that the chicks are going on top of the pad because of the heat rising but actually, it's warmer down inside the cave than it is on the top. So once they start outgrowing their need for so much heat, they spend more and more time on top of it than underneath. I found that especially apparent when I brooded my chicks outside this year.....they'd snuggle down on top or scattered all around it and catch naps or tussle or just surveying their domain. But once it got dark and cooled off, they scooted underneath and settled in for the night. They love to sit on top of a broody hen too, and ride around, so this system mimics natural that contact as closely as possible. They choose their comfort zone, and they choose where to find that sweet spot.
Keep an eye on that 95 degrees, RubyNala, and watch the chicks. That seems a little warmer than what I've always showed under my heating pad. Could be a variance in where the temps were read or a difference in thermometers, but mine was at 82.9 when they were just a few days old and they loved it. But let your chicks tell you - if they keep coming out from under and huddling up together instead it's too warm. Just pop it down one notch and then keep an eye on them for a bit and see if their behavior changes. Are you brooding indoors or out - can't remember if you said or not. I kept my pad on 6 for a couple of weeks, just because they were brooded outdoors in the run and the temps were in the teens and twenties, with a whopping snow storm and a power outage tossed in to keep it interesting! But as the temps are running right now here, if I was brooding another batch I'd start them at 5 and turn down if I needed to. They don't get as chilled running around the brooder when it's warmer so they don't need as intense a warmup.
