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

[Couchmo]

was in the ER all day yesterday and when I got in I saw your post. Another way with out bending Because this kind of wire is historically difficult to bend. You can also make your base out of Pvc dont even have to glue it you could even take two of those panels put them together for lenght if need be or even over lap them for adjustment sake. Run PVC horizontally then down to run pvc the width then up to run pvc the lenght. What you have is a complete frame that you can zip tie to the wire. Half inch would not interfere with the chicks access. Invest in a pvc cutter they are an excellent tool to have As the chiks get taller you can have taller legs ready to go to swap out. deb ETA: sorry for the sloppy sketc I am not seeing too well this morning

Wow, I like this SOOOO much better (prolly cheaper too) than the way I did mine. May re-do it for next batch, lol

 

[CountryChic95]

was in the ER all day yesterday and when I got in I saw your post. Another way with out bending Because this kind of wire is historically difficult to bend. You can also make your base out of Pvc dont even have to glue it you could even take two of those panels put them together for lenght if need be or even over lap them for adjustment sake. Run PVC horizontally then down to run pvc the width then up to run pvc the lenght. What you have is a complete frame that you can zip tie to the wire. Half inch would not interfere with the chicks access. Invest in a pvc cutter they are an excellent tool to have As the chiks get taller you can have taller legs ready to go to swap out. deb ETA: sorry for the sloppy sketc I am not seeing too well this morning

Can't wait to try this out!!! Looks amazing! Looks easy to clean too!

 

[aart]

You can also make your base out of Pvc dont even have to glue it you could even take two of those panels put them together for lenght if need be or even over lap them for adjustment sake. Run PVC horizontally then down to run pvc the width then up to run pvc the lenght. What you have is a complete frame that you can zip tie to the wire. Half inch would not interfere with the chicks access. Invest in a pvc cutter they are an excellent tool to have


As the chiks get taller you can have taller legs ready to go to swap out.

deb

ETA: sorry for the sloppy sketc I am not seeing too well this morning

I really like being able to adjust the height.

 

[bruceha2000]

Hi! Expecting our first chicks in a few weeks and I'm super interested in trying out this method of brooding. Just wondering if anyone has ever run their heating pad off of battery power and if so, how/what worked best? We do not have electricity in our coop right now (though we are toying with the idea of adding it if we can do it on the cheep...err cheap. ) Any thoughts or suggestions for me?

In short - NO.

In long

Yes, but only if you had a pretty big bank of batteries and an inverter to change the 12V to 110V. Remember you are planning to run the heating pad 24x7 for about a month. You are going to need TWO battery banks so you can charge one at the house while using the other. You are talking money now.

How far is the coop from accessible (and weather proof) power? If you have an outside outlet it needs this sort of cover to use it and the outlet must be Ground Fault unless you happen to have it on a circuit on a GFI breaker in the panel.


You should NOT use one of these (they are only for keeping the outlet protected from weather):


People DO run extension cords to their coops but you need to make sure there is no way the cord can get cut, or be a tripping hazard, etc. Better to dig an 18" deep (legal minimum at least in Vermont) trench and run underground rated cable in a conduit from the house to the coop. The gauge depends on the distance and Amp rating (also true for an extension cord). If you are just doing lights, occasional small power tools, heating pad, you can do it with a 15A but 20A wouldn't hurt.

The best option would be to have the cable run from the panel in your house to a master shutoff switch in the coop. Then put outlets and lights in the coop where you need them, again run the wire in conduit wherever a chicken could get to it unless you can put it in a stud wall. You are potentially getting into hiring an electrician for this unless you KNOW what you are doing.

I really like being able to adjust the height.

Hint hint

 

[ShrekDawg]

My parents have constantly been telling me the chickens are cold, it's mean, people they talk to have lost chickens, etc. And how this weekend is going to to be freezing. Well, theyve done our few teen nights fine and one night it may have been 0, but the wind chill IS supposed to be really really bad this weekend so they thought we should move them (well there's no place in the garage now with all the workers stuff) or put a heating pad in there for them. I keep saying no but this weekend is supposed to be very bad so maybe a heating pad wouldn't hurt? But it doesn't really give off heat unless they sit on it, right? They've been using the roosts for several weeks now. They're going to be 16 weeks Monday. Which, by the way, they grow so fast

 

[ShrekDawg]

.

 

[Beekissed]

My parents have constantly been telling me the chickens are cold, it's mean, people they talk to have lost chickens, etc. And how this weekend is going to to be freezing. Well, theyve done our few teen nights fine and one night it may have been 0, but the wind chill IS supposed to be really really bad this weekend so they thought we should move them (well there's no place in the garage now with all the workers stuff) or put a heating pad in there for them. I keep saying no but this weekend is supposed to be very bad so maybe a heating pad wouldn't hurt? But it doesn't really give off heat unless they sit on it, right? They've been using the roosts for several weeks now. They're going to be 16 weeks Monday. Which, by the way, they grow so fast

They don't need it and they won't use it anyway if they are roosting. If they are 4 mo. old now, they've developed the feathering to withstand cold temps and will do just fine. Resist the temptation to close up the ventilation on their coop, as that will just make them colder as the humidity from their bodies and breath collect on the exposed areas of their body and on their feathers, creating a chill.

Just give them nice, dry bedding in the coop, plenty of water, and good food. That's all they need to get through this cold. People who lose chickens during the cold of winter had unhealthy chickens to begin with, as cold does not kill chickens, the stress of cold on an already weakened constitution will kill chickens.

Chickens are imminently suited for cold weather outdoors because God provided them with downy feathering underneath their guard feathers, both of which trap heat to their bodies. It's 11*~with a windchill of 2*~ here right now and my chickens are out wandering around in the snow after spending a night of negative temps in an open air style hoop coop. They are very content and comfortable, not huddled and shivering and trying to stay warm.

 

[ShrekDawg]

They don't need it and they won't use it anyway if they are roosting.  If they are 4 mo. old now, they've developed the feathering to withstand cold temps and will do just fine.  Resist the temptation to close up the ventilation on their coop, as that will just make them colder as the humidity from their bodies and breath collect on the exposed areas of their body and on their feathers, creating a chill. 

Just give them nice, dry bedding in the coop, plenty of water, and good food.  That's all they need to get through this cold.  People who lose chickens during the cold  of winter had unhealthy chickens to begin with, as cold does not kill chickens, the stress of cold on an already weakened constitution will kill chickens. 

Chickens are imminently suited for cold weather outdoors because God provided them with downy feathering underneath their guard feathers, both of which trap heat to their bodies.  It's 11*~with a windchill of 2*~ here right now and my chickens are out wandering around in the snow after spending a night of negative temps in an open air style hoop coop.  They are very content and comfortable, not huddled and shivering and trying to stay warm. 

Thank you for confirming my thoughts! I always add extra bedding on especially cold nights so good to know thats a real thing. I am a bit worried though now because i just switched to adult food yesterday (they were out and are old enough anyway) so they're still learning to eat it and not eating as much so now I'm concerned. Have given then BOSS too and a suet thing i made they barely touch. Good to know it's usually sick chickens not healthy ones.

But wow that's cold! And they're fine? Its gonna be -5 with -30 windchill tonight apparently and was told its too cold and they'll die if i dont do something

 

[TheChickenQueen]

Chickens handle cold amazingly well, I had some chicks that were 6-8 weeks old that I went and put in a old milk barn with no heat, I only lost one until a dog started to get in there. And now I have a bunch of chickens out in a drafty old chicken coop and I haven't lost anyone.
As long as the coop isn't really drafty they should be fine all cuddled up.

After awhile they will figure that it's what they are supposed to eat, give them some time and they will figure it out.

 

[ShrekDawg]

That's what I've always heard and so far they've been fine but it just scares me :/ they're our first chickens so maybe I'm a bit overprotective hah but -5 plus the wind chill just seems so cold.

I have 8 and some of them eat it, there was some missing this morning, but they don't eat a lot of it. I think maybe they don't like the bigger bits because they eat the smaller broken pieces. I may slow down on the BOSS after the freezing cold just until they figure it out.