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

[eagrbeavr]

Welcome home. Hope everything went well.

 

[COChix]

e our fearless leader has returned. . So glad you are back in the comfort of your own home with hubby and animals. Rest up, see ya in a few day.

 

[COChix]

Here's some pics

Inside (I removed the fleece and added a towel on the floor)

Cute and nice improvise with the towel. They look snuggled and warm now. You could also build up your bedding material a bit under the heat pad to raise up them up closer, but give them a week or two and they will be bigger, they grow like weeds.

 

[Blooie]

Boy, you said a mouthful there, @COChix ! I swear sometimes if you sit real still by the brooder you can hear them growing!

I took the time to read back a few pages and see what everyone is doing. I'm seeing a lot of stuff that maybe is making the system a little more complex than it needs to be. I know that the entire Mama Heating Pad cave configuration seems too simple to work safely. But it's just that simplicity that makes it work so well. Too much fussing makes raising chicks this way almost as stressful on chicks and owners as the other brooder system with the lamp. So relax, set up your cave with the heating pad on the inside of the frame with bungee cords to prevent chicks from getting caught in the wires, and enjoy the experience of "being" a broody hen! That's the only change I'll be making since my first heating pad raised chicks. I've never had one get caught, but others have. Bee recommends doing it this way and there are very few people I have more faith in when it comes to raising chickens. So I plan on putting the pad inside the frame rather than draped over the top, and slipping the entire assembly in a pillowcase. Should be all you need to do to raise happy and healthy chicks!

 

[ShrekDawg]

I think that way sounds better too because maybe it was just me but once mine got a little older, they kept jumping up top and knocking the towel and pad all over the place!! Attached to the bottom or just attached in general and theoretically they wouldn't be able to do that anymore!

 

[ShrekDawg]

Also glad to see you're home and feeling better!

 

[COChix]

Boy, you said a mouthful there, @COChix
!  I swear sometimes if you sit real still by the brooder you can hear them growing!  

I took the time to read back a few pages and see what everyone is doing.  I'm seeing a lot of stuff that maybe is making the system a little more complex than it needs to be.  I know that the entire Mama Heating Pad cave configuration seems too simple to work safely.  But it's just that simplicity that makes it work so well.  Too much fussing makes raising chicks this way almost as stressful on chicks and owners as the other brooder system with the lamp.  So relax, set up your cave with the heating pad on the inside of the frame with bungee cords to prevent chicks from getting caught in the wires, and enjoy the experience of "being" a broody hen!  That's the only change I'll be making since my first heating pad raised chicks.  I've never had one get caught, but others have.  Bee recommends doing it this way and there are very few people I have more faith in when it comes to raising chickens.  So I plan on putting the pad inside the frame rather than draped over the top, and slipping the entire assembly in a pillowcase.  Should be all you need to do to raise happy and healthy chicks!

Awww spoken like a mama hen herself! I am right there with you on putting the heating pad on the inside of the frame. Last year I did not and even used chicken wire, I had no issues (I consider myself lucky given some of the issues we have seen recently). This year I don't want to take any undue risks so I have been plotting out my plan. Should be picking up eggs in a week, so I still have time to get my new frame set up. I have secured three different size grill grates, have zip ties and my heating pads. getting eggcited e

 

[COChix]

I think that way sounds better too because maybe it was just me but once mine got a little older, they kept jumping up top and knocking the towel and pad all over the place!! Attached to the bottom or just attached in general and theoretically they wouldn't be able to do that anymore!

Mine did that last year, I couldn't keep them from tearing things up and making a mess imagine that!

 

[ShrekDawg]

Mine did that last year, I couldn't keep them from tearing things up and making a mess imagine that!

Yeah, I had to fix it every time i went out there! Mine also knocked it off the bricks constantly which was most of what i had to fix every time. Maybe part of that's OCD but i had put the front on bricks as they got older to raise it up and they would constantly knock one side off!!! And can't even count the number of times they tipped food over!!!

 

[bruceha2000]

Boy, you said a mouthful there, @COChix ! I swear sometimes if you sit real still by the brooder you can hear them growing!

I took the time to read back a few pages and see what everyone is doing. I'm seeing a lot of stuff that maybe is making the system a little more complex than it needs to be. I know that the entire Mama Heating Pad cave configuration seems too simple to work safely. But it's just that simplicity that makes it work so well. Too much fussing makes raising chicks this way almost as stressful on chicks and owners as the other brooder system with the lamp. So relax, set up your cave with the heating pad on the inside of the frame with bungee cords to prevent chicks from getting caught in the wires, and enjoy the experience of "being" a broody hen! That's the only change I'll be making since my first heating pad raised chicks. I've never had one get caught, but others have. Bee recommends doing it this way and there are very few people I have more faith in when it comes to raising chickens. So I plan on putting the pad inside the frame rather than draped over the top, and slipping the entire assembly in a pillowcase. Should be all you need to do to raise happy and healthy chicks!

Yeah, I had to fix it every time i went out there! Mine also knocked it off the bricks constantly which was most of what i had to fix every time. Maybe part of that's OCD but i had put the front on bricks as they got older to raise it up and they would constantly knock one side off!!! And can't even count the number of times they tipped food over!!!

Sounds like a good reason to go with the most basic frame

• A piece of 1/2" hardware cloth or welded wire fencing.
• Attach the pad to one side with the printed side showing, fuzzy side against the wire.
• Stick the whole thing in a pillowcase you got cheap at Goodwill if you don't have any old ones.
• Use some method to hold the pillowcase up to the pad so the chicks can be in contact with it.
• Bend the whole thing into the shape you need for day old chicks. About 2" high in the back, 4" in the front.
• If you like, put an old towel over the top hanging down a couple of inches in the front.
• If it is outside in the coop, maybe cover the top with hay.
• Need it higher as they grow? Bend it to make it arch more.

Done