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

[ShidelsRestBB]

Had to lower the top roost, because of frostbite.

Leghorns have large single combs. The d'Ucclets that I am getting in the spring, are extremely cold hardy, and have small combs. Less chance of frostbite.

Looking at getting 6 different colours. Will be very photogenic... Lol

 

[Blooie]

Boy, @Bubbles12345 , as strong an advocate of this method as I am, I don't think even I'd do it in -20 temps, I have to be honest! I learned my lesson about raising chicks - even under a broody hen - in sub zero temps and I'll never, ever risk it again, regardless of the heat source. Scout was my lesson, and I learned it well. (For any who don't know, you can read Scout's story by clicking on the link in my signature. He was my learn on chick for the heating pad method after he got frostbitten feet out with his mom) I did put him back out there when it was below zero with the heating pad, but frankly we weren't sure he was going to survive anyway and we knew if he did he'd need to be a solo bird being integrated with an existing flock if we didn't at least try to put him back out. He was also pretty well feathered by that time.

@ShidelsRestBB I'm so happy to hear that Mama Heating Pad has worked so well for you. I'm afraid I'm mathematically challenged (have to count the dots on the dice to play Yahtzee) so I don't know how -29 degrees C translates into F, so you'll have to excuse me if I sound dense. But you are correct about no drafts, good ventilation and rapid and easy integration.

Now, @Bubbles12345 Mama Heating Pad can still work very well for you in an indoor brooder setup if you want to go that way. Scout was in his indoors for many days before we moved him out, and it worked perfectly.

 

[BantyChooks]

Boy, @Bubbles12345
, as strong an advocate of this method as I am, I don't think even I'd do it in -20 temps, I have to be honest!  I learned my lesson about raising chicks - even under a broody hen - in sub zero temps and I'll never, ever risk it again, regardless of the heat source.  Scout was my lesson, and I learned it well.  (For any who don't know, you can read Scout's story by clicking on the link in my signature.  He was my learn on chick for the heating pad method after he got frostbitten feet out with his mom) I did put him back out there when it was below zero with the heating pad, but frankly we weren't sure he was going to survive anyway and we knew if he did he'd need to be a solo bird being integrated with an existing flock if we didn't at least try to put him back out. He was also pretty well feathered by that time.  

@ShidelsRestBB
 I'm so happy to hear that Mama Heating Pad has worked so well for you.  I'm afraid I'm mathematically challenged (have to count the dots on the dice to play Yahtzee) so I don't know how -29 degrees C translates into F, so you'll have to excuse me if I sound dense.  But you are correct about no drafts, good ventilation and rapid and easy integration. 

Now, @Bubbles12345
 Mama Heating Pad can still work very well for you in an indoor brooder setup if you want to go that way.  Scout was in his indoors for many days before we moved him out, and it worked perfectly.  

Thanks, I certainly am NOT gonna have chicks at that tempature anyway!
I was curious if there was a sudden drop and I was away if all the chicks would die or not.
I will definitly use this method for my chicks coming in the spring, though!

 

[Blooie]

Thanks, I certainly am NOT gonna have chicks at that tempature anyway!

I was curious if there was a sudden drop and I was away if all the chicks would die or not.
I will definitly use this method for my chicks coming in the spring, though!

<Whew> I had visions of frozen chicks and someone being mad at me for pushing this! We had a snowstorm blow in and we knew it was going to be a doozy. So we piled on extra straw for the one week old chicks out there, and dumped a pile of deep straw in the run where the 4 weekers were, and hoped for the best. Well, winds hit 60+mph and the snow was blowing sideways. This old trailer house was rocking like a tugboat in heavy seas. We went to bed about 10:30 or 11.

Must have been shortly after that that the power went out. Ken woke up around 2 to the sounds of the power coming back on and woke me up. "The CHICKS!!" he yelled. We got up, bundled up, and headed out there in the sideways snow to turn the heating pad back on and check on the babies. They were just fine - much more upset about the flashlight waking them up than they were from the cold. The straw and their combined body heat held in enough residual warmth to keep them safe until we got the pad back on. @henless has found the same kind of heating pad that we recommend - the Sunbeam with the switch that allows bypassing the auto-shut off feature - but the one she found will turn itself back on after an outage. She put hers to the test and it did exactly what it was supposed to do. I'll see if I can find the page where she talks about it and gives the link.

 

[BantyChooks]

<Whew>  I had visions of frozen chicks and someone being mad at me for pushing this!  We had a snowstorm blow in and we knew it was going to be a doozy. So we piled on extra straw for the one week old chicks out there, and dumped a pile of deep straw in the run where the 4 weekers were, and hoped for the best.  Well, winds hit 60+mph and the snow was blowing sideways.  This old trailer house was rocking like a tugboat in heavy seas.  We went to bed about 10:30 or 11.

Must have been shortly after that that the power went out. Ken woke up around 2 to the sounds of the power coming back on and woke me up.  "The CHICKS!!"  he yelled.  We got up, bundled up, and headed out there in the sideways snow to turn the heating pad back on and check on the babies. They were just fine - much more upset about the flashlight waking them up than they were from the cold.  The straw and their combined body heat held in enough residual warmth to keep them safe until we got the pad back on.  @henless
 has found the same kind of heating pad that we recommend - the Sunbeam with the switch that allows bypassing the auto-shut off feature - but the one she found will turn itself back on after an outage. She put hers to the test and it did exactly what it was supposed to do.  I'll see if I can find the page where she talks about it and gives the link.

The more I read the more I realize that 95 degrees is NOT necessary for survival!
So glad I found this thread!

 

[henless]

<Whew> I had visions of frozen chicks and someone being mad at me for pushing this! We had a snowstorm blow in and we knew it was going to be a doozy. So we piled on extra straw for the one week old chicks out there, and dumped a pile of deep straw in the run where the 4 weekers were, and hoped for the best. Well, winds hit 60+mph and the snow was blowing sideways. This old trailer house was rocking like a tugboat in heavy seas. We went to bed about 10:30 or 11.

Must have been shortly after that that the power went out. Ken woke up around 2 to the sounds of the power coming back on and woke me up. "The CHICKS!!" he yelled. We got up, bundled up, and headed out there in the sideways snow to turn the heating pad back on and check on the babies. They were just fine - much more upset about the flashlight waking them up than they were from the cold. The straw and their combined body heat held in enough residual warmth to keep them safe until we got the pad back on. @henless has found the same kind of heating pad that we recommend - the Sunbeam with the switch that allows bypassing the auto-shut off feature - but the one she found will turn itself back on after an outage. She put hers to the test and it did exactly what it was supposed to do. I'll see if I can find the page where she talks about it and gives the link.

Here's the link to that pad Blooie. Sunbeam Heating Pad with Ultra Heat Technology - Blue One thing about this pad, there is NO 2 hour auto shut off. It NEVER shuts off, so no need to have a bypass option. If the electricity happens to go out, it WILL come back on with the electricity. I checked it myself and it works great. I plan on using it to brood some chicks in a couple of months.

 

[Blooie]

Here's the link to that pad Blooie. Sunbeam Heating Pad with Ultra Heat Technology - Blue One thing about this pad, there is NO 2 hour auto shut off. It NEVER shuts off, so no need to have a bypass option. If the electricity happens to go out, it WILL come back on with the electricity. I checked it myself and it works great. I plan on using it to brood some chicks in a couple of months.

Thanks, @henless ! I hadn't yet taken the time to find the page where you talked about it, so I sure appreciate you jumping in and providing that link. I did mis-speak about the 2 hour shutoff, but as long as the pad doesn't got off it's all good, right?

 

[bruceha2000]

Yep, they would. You're going to be nervous as a cat in a room full of rockers for a bit, but let your calm head and your common sense take over. Common sense is your best friend when you are making a change like this - listening to your chicks, checking on them periodically, and letting them do the rest is your best bet!

You've got this, Trace!

I'm too late for this but for others who follow, get a book and take the rocker out to the brooder. Sit, read, watch

@ShidelsRestBB I'm so happy to hear that Mama Heating Pad has worked so well for you. I'm afraid I'm mathematically challenged (have to count the dots on the dice to play Yahtzee) so I don't know how -29 degrees C translates into F, so you'll have to excuse me if I sound dense. But you are correct about no drafts, good ventilation and rapid and easy integration.

Me too on the Yahtzee dice! You don't need a precise conversion of -29C to F, the answer is "freeze your butt off cold!"

But you can type -29C to F into Google if you do want to be precise, or be nice to people who use other than F when you post temps so they don't have to convert.

 

[ShrekDawg]

That's what I should have done, would have been friendlier. Next batch.

I did discover the other day though that one of them will tolerate or even like sitting on me. She was settled down on the ground so picked her up as is and at first she protested just a bit (I usually football them and while some eventually settle none LIKE it) so then I thought "she approachs me/Orps seem friendly so maybe she just doesn't like being HELD (restrained)!" So I tried putting her on my leg and sure enough she settled right down above my knee (I was squatting down) and stayed a while till I either had to get up or she decided to,leave, can't really remember. I just found it so interesting because they act like they hate me but then not being RESTRAINED or FORCED to be there seemed to make all the difference. Of course, the rest still pretend to hate me unless I have food but the Orps are pretty sociable, even if they don't like to be touched much

 

[ShrekDawg]

Also, you are right about the "freeze your butt off cold!" Bit!! I tried Googling it and this is what I got.