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

[daxigait]

Just got my heating pad(same as Blooies) yesterday and am playing with(testing) it.
I'm using a rack, think it's out of a grill or oven, similar to this baking rack one I made last year inspired by the same sources as Blooie was.

I will make a page with the details of the build later once I've decided on the final design.

One thing I'm wondering is if you could put that peel and stick stuff right on the heating pad cover?
Just on the top and down around the edges so poops can be wiped off.
I've never used the product but will buy some soon and test it to see if the heat will make it 'glue' to the fabric of the cover.
Says it's fine to use in the microwave, so I assume it can take the heat....but not sure what it would do to the fabric.

lots of reading left. How did this work out.

 

[aart]

Quote: Worked great...here's another place to view,
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/pseudo-brooder-heater-plate
going to make one more change this spring by adding HC under rack so heads can't push up thru rack wires and possibly get stuck.

 

[muddyflipflops]

Has anyone purchased the "chick heating blankets" from a farm supply store? I was so proud about my "chick mama blanket" that I am building, I mentioned it to my parents, husband etc... Saying all the research and the information from "BYC", and my dad told me they had the heating blankets at the farm supply store... So I called them and asked them what it was and told them about my heating system...they laughed at me for doing something "natural" for chickens and said nothing would work better than a heat lamp....so anyways back to my original question... Is the sunbeam brand the only one anyone has used? Also does it get too hot to cause a fire ? (This was something else the associate warned me about, but yet he didn't think a heat lamp would be a fire hazard... I would think the complete opposite...)

https://jet.com/product/detail/d451...d=403-161948&gclid=CJXj_pWTxsoCFZOBaQod0nwORQ [[ Here is an example of what I was talking about. ]]

Also Thank you for all the "hellos" and "welcomes"

@perchie-girl thank you !

 

[Beekissed]

Feed store employees, that bastion of poultry knowledge!

Anything they say, do the opposite and you'll be fine. No worries.

There is danger of fire anytime you combine electricity, heating elements and flammable materials and that's a fact of life. But the heating pads were designed for the utmost safety due to being used primarily for humans. The pad most are using is even designed to be used for moist heat treatments...in other words, you can get it wet and it won't electrocute someone.

It's about as safe as you can get outside of the bottom of a hen when it comes to keeping chicks warm. I've never heard of a chicken blanket but it's only a matter of time until someone puts one out~as an answer to the wave of people using heating pads~and markets it as a chick blanket. They will make a lot of money from it and act like they invented it, when we all know they didn't. There's lots of that on this site, be it inventions or blogs, that rip off information for profit and even feel pretty good about it. It happens.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Feed store employees, that bastion of poultry knowledge!

Anything they say, do the opposite and you'll be fine. No worries.

There is danger of fire anytime you combine electricity, heating elements and flammable materials and that's a fact of life. But the heating pads were designed for the utmost safety due to being used primarily for humans. The pad most are using is even designed to be used for moist heat treatments...in other words, you can get it wet and it won't electrocute someone.

It's about as safe as you can get outside of the bottom of a hen when it comes to keeping chicks warm. I've never heard of a chicken blanket but it's only a matter of time until someone puts one out~as an answer to the wave of people using heating pads~and markets it as a chick blanket. They will make a lot of money from it and act like they invented it, when we all know they didn't. There's lots of that on this site, be it inventions or blogs, that rip off information for profit and even feel pretty good about it. It happens.

Sunbeam heating pad ~$10-20

Sunbeam "Mama hen heating pad" - $40 ($60 if you get the one with chickens stenciled all over it...)

- Ant Farm

 

[Blooie]

Has anyone purchased the "chick heating blankets" from a farm supply store? I was so proud about my "chick mama blanket" that I am building, I mentioned it to my parents, husband etc... Saying all the research and the information from "BYC", and my dad told me they had the heating blankets at the farm supply store... So I called them and asked them what it was and told them about my heating system...they laughed at me for doing something "natural" for chickens and said nothing would work better than a heat lamp....so anyways back to my original question... Is the sunbeam brand the only one anyone has used? Also does it get too hot to cause a fire ? (This was something else the associate warned me about, but yet he didn't think a heat lamp would be a fire hazard... I would think the complete opposite...)

https://jet.com/product/detail/d451...d=403-161948&gclid=CJXj_pWTxsoCFZOBaQod0nwORQ [[ Here is an example of what I was talking about. ]]

Also Thank you for all the "hellos" and "welcomes"

perchie-girl thank you

!

When worrying about the risk of fire using a heating pad vs a heat lamp, think about this. Would you put your hand on a heat lamp? Would you put your clothes up against one? Turn one on and place it on a chair? Does a heat lamp provide natural day/night cycles? How much area around the heat lamp heats up, often to dangerous levels? Which does a feed store sell, heat lamps or heating pads? Which uses more electricity?

A heat lamp heats the air, dust, dander, the walls, the entire brooder box, the floor.....it heats it all - and can burn it all. Does a real broody hen heat just the chicks when they need it or the entire brooder even when they don't? A heating pad is designed to come into contact with the human body, including our clothing. It's a safe, gentle heat. It doesn't keep them up 24/7, and they decide their comfort level. Chicks raised this way are stronger, feather out faster, are more confident, and just all the way around do better than chicks raised under the harsh heat and light of a heat lamp.

I wasn't the first to figure this out - it's been done by far wiser people than me for sometime.....Beekissed, Patrice Lopatin, aart....with rousing success. Look at how many people have changed to this from heating lamps and haven't looked back. The pages of this thread are full of folks who have decided that this is as close to a broody hen as we mere mortals can get, and some were pretty skeptical at first.

But don't take my word for it. Take the word of these chicks:

And the same chicks moved to the outside run when temps were in the teens and twenties:

I'm not trying to sell anything or force anyone to do anything they aren't comfortable with. If it ends up not being right for you, that's fine! The ultimate goal is healthy chickens, no matter how they are raised, right? It sounds like you are on board and ready to go, but the rest of the family has concerns. That's happened on here plenty of times, too.

Without exception, after seeing it at work with their own chicks, they seem to change their minds.

I can't tell you anything about the heating blankets. I don't know enough about them. Those of us who use this system use heating pads because we know that we can fine tune the setting to what the chicks tell us they need. Using reptile heaters has been discussed on the thread a few times, but without exception the poster went with the Sunbeam heating pad instead.

Whatever you decide to do, enjoy your chicks and the great adventure of raising them to be a productive flock!

 

[Blooie]

And Miss Bee and Fire Ant Farm beat me to it! Bee, I've been BLOOIED! AGAIN!

 

[muddyflipflops]

@Blooie oh that is such a good perspective and way of putting it !!! No i don't even like touching a bulb in a house lamp nonetheless a whole heat lamp for an animal lol. Ha ha and yes I understand there are always people who will disagree with something !! I am a "crunchy mama" per say, so I am used to disagreeable people *laughs*

I love all of your responses and thank you, again, for all the information !!!

 

[Hholly]

Ok, I did a test run last night in my 60 degree room. There's a thermometer in the cave and after 2 hours on setting 6, it's only 70 degrees in the cave. Any thoughts?

 

[aart]

Ok, I did a test run last night in my 60 degree room. There's a thermometer in the cave and after 2 hours on setting 6, it's only 70 degrees in the cave. Any thoughts?

I found it very difficult to measure the temp accurately under the HP as it doesn't work like a lamp and radiate heat very far....
......they put their bodies right against it, like they would a broody mama.
That's why I like a flat rack rather than an arched one, more contact area, especially the first week.

Try putting the thermometer between the pad and rack, or raise the thermometer on a block of wood to get it closer to the pad, and see what you get.
It can be a leap of faith using this method......going by chick behavior more than the thermometer.