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

[Hholly]

Why I leave back open. OyVey!!!!...on the extra chicks, 'packing peanuts' for warmth due to shipping in winter(they should have told you tho) and probably all boys.

The back is jammed at one end of the container. So far they are all constantly coming or going though. About the packing peanuts, I was hoping for a heat pack instead, or not so many boys. Guess I was naive.

 

[aart]

Quote: What was the ambient temp then Blooie?

This will be a great test of pad capacity.

 

[bruceha2000]

I think I'm gonna need a bigger brooder. I ordered 12, they sent 25. Oops!

That would be a SERIOUS problem for a lot of people.

Cute babies, thanks for paying your "dues"

Yes, they fit. I worry about the ones at the back getting trapped though. I'm keeping a close eye on them. And they seem very lively so far. They had a feeding frenzy for awhile and now most are napping under the MHP.

I wonder if the cave could be made wider rather than deeper so there is less likelihood any could be trapped. Certainly there are enough of them that they can keep each other warm close to the opening.

 

[Hholly]

That would be a SERIOUS problem for a lot of people.

Cute babies, thanks for paying your "dues"


I wonder if the cave could be made wider rather than deeper so there is less likelihood any could be trapped. Certainly there are enough of them that they can keep each other warm close to the opening.

I can make it wider when I get a bigger container. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[Blooie]

What was the ambient temp then Blooie?

This will be a great test of pad capacity.

Ambient temps started out with daytime highs of upper 30s to low 40s, @aart, then went to he!! in a handbasket. By their 3rd day out we had highs in the twenties, lows in the teens, and a blizzard to make things interesting.

One thing I should add here, is that although MHP can support that many chicks just as I outlined, I don't recommend that as a rule. Just because something can be done doesn't necessarily mean it should be done, as my friend Beekissed says. @Hholly kinda got stuck in the unexpected situation of that many chicks, and is making the adjustment for them, but as a general rule I believe that for any number of chicks over say 18 - 20 I would strongly advise butting a large and a small heating pad together and making a slightly larger cave. My setup was perfect for 15 - one large pad and one adjustable cave. Doing that would also allow one pad to be set at a lower setting (the one at the back) and the front one set at a little higher temp so they can all find a comfort zone.

 

[Paganrose]

Quote:
I've got 25 chicks coming in the middle of Feb. I have an older heating pad (Unknown make) that doesn't shut off and turns itself back on, but is only 12 x 15. I was planning to use this pad along with another pad, still haven decided if a smaller one will suffice, but been leaning towards a bigger one, just have to wait until next paycheck to pick it up. I will be keeping the chicks in my unheated mud room for the first week maybe 2, but after that they will go in a brooder section of the coop/barn. I know March around here can be very unpredictable with wide temperature swings- but I've had baby chicks out in the coop at 2 weeks before with a heat lamp, but this method seems much better.

 

[henless]

With my first batch of chicks, I had 25. The pic below is not of the MHP, but it is with my Premier Heat plate. It measures 12"x12". The heating pad I use is a 12"x15", so just a bit bigger.

Believe it or not, but there are 25 chicks under that heat plate in the pic.



As they got bigger, they still fit, but more would be around the edges or even on top of it. I had them out in the garage, no heat except the heat plate. Temps were down in the 20's.

They all pile up together to keep each other warm. They did just fine under it.



As you can see, they didn't need to sleep under it all the time. They really enjoyed sleeping on top.



Here's my last batch of chicks this past summer using my MHP. I had 11 chicks that ranged from 2 days to 2 weeks old using it.



They really had a blast playing on top!



I like both methods, but I prefer the MHP simply because I can adjust the temp, it's cheaper and more user friendly. My chicks had access to the MHP from the front & both sides. I kept shavings over the back opening.

 

[Couchmo]

I'll be getting 26 chicks sometime between February 10-14. I'm going to order the HPs on the 1st (payday). I haven't yet figured out what to to use for the container. What have you all used, short of building one from scratch? Thanks in advance for all your help

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

And photos...don't forget the photos!

Of course!

I have a rooster recovering from a dog attack (doing well) in this gigantic dog crate - I think I might try turning it into a brooder, at least for older chicks. Too may overhead escapees in the past...




- Ant Farm

 

[henless]

I'll be getting 26 chicks sometime between February 10-14. I'm going to order the HPs on the 1st (payday). I haven't yet figured out what to to use for the container. What have you all used, short of building one from scratch? Thanks in advance for all your help

With my first batch of chicks, I used a watermelon box I got from Walmart for free.




Two weeks later, they moved to my in coop brooder. I also raised my 2nd batch of chicks in this brooder.



I changed things up for my 3rd batch of chicks. I tore out this brooder and took down the solid walls. I put up a wire puppy fence and corralled off a portion of my middle coop for the chicks.

See my English Orps all in a row on the top roost? They had to watch and see what I was doing. Silly girls!




You can see the puppy fence in this pic good. I had to put boards up along the bottome to keep them in the pen, but as you can tell, they loved flying up on the "big girl" roost. These Cream Legbars can really fly!



Just make sure they have plenty of room, ventilation and it's predator proof. My watermelon box was fine since I kept it in DH's shop with all the doors closed.