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

[Coop de Grass]

@Blooie and all you experienced outdoor brooders. I could use your advice! I moved my chicks into the little coop outside, with their brinsea ecoglow. I put them in as soon as I finished the pen that I attached to the coop. They seemed happy to have all that room and were happy until it got dark and all the other hens went into the larger coop. I had to go down to put two chicks into the large coop because they did not follow the broody in, and I hear my little ones doing the hysterical chick cries. I admit that I'm a push over and brought them back inside. I plan to take them out tomorrow morning.

I don't remember going through this with the original flock, but I had 9 pullets then. There are 3 chicks and 1 roo in this hatch.

How do I deal with this separation anxiety???

 

[COChix]

I am cheering you on, CO Chix - Wishing the very best with your hatch !!!   

My 16 chicks are doing well on day #8.  Woo hoo. !!   I love this MHP method !!   
Jan

Thanks for the good luck wishes and glad that your littles are doing well now. Good job!

Me too!  Um, and me too again!!  

GOOD LUCK BLOOIE! stop by @Sally Sunshine incubating thread, lots of helpful folks on there willing to help with everything hatch related and lots of not hatch related discussions, fun group. Plus Sally has painstakingly complied a resource list on the first page. Any questions on hatching, equipment, humidity, etc is there with links to the posts that answer the questions. Pretty amazing that she has the time and energy for that. It is a fast moving thread so be forewarned.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...riends-come-hatch-learn-chat-meet-new-friends

 

[duluthralphie]

I am so glad I decided to try one of these MHPs!

This morning I came out made my coffee flipped the light on and looked at the chicks. I had some sleeping under it, some sleeping on it and one sleeping 6 inches in front of it. They were out like drunk after a cheap bottle of port!


They started to stir with the light, stretched and milling about. I think they get a better night sleep as much as they protest when the lights go off. ( I find less protesting if I slowly darken them).


I know I am preaching to the choir, but I love it (the MHP).

 

[Coop de Grass]

I am so jealous! How did you transition them?

I wimped out last night when I went out and heard them pitieously making the panic cheep....

 

[duluthralphie]

Mine "live" under a folding table I have the hatchers set up on.

I have a LED desk light under the table. I turn that on during the day so they get "bright" light. In the evening I turn that off first. Leaving the dining room light on. After a little bit I turn off that light, we have a pass though are from the kitchen I leave the kitchen light on for a bit, then I turn it off and just leave a dim light on ( like a night light but dimmable) Turning that off when I go to bed. I hear protests but they eventually just go to bed. (at some point during the lights off procedure. The loudest complaints are when I turn the dining room light off.

 

[bruceha2000]

....
or similar to "50 million (or is it 60 now?) Frenchmen can't be wrong"
....

How much food they go through also depends on how many times you have to dump out a large part of of their feeder because they've filled it with poop or other yucky stuff and how much they spill or scratch out. So your best bet is to monitor the food consumption over the time the bag lasts and make a determination from there on how much to pick up next time. Just too many variables to specifically say exactly that "5 pounds of food with 2 chicks should last 3 weeks."

Yep

Don't put a lot of food in their feeder all at once with only 2 chicks. They are little, they won't eat much each day. Just put in enough that they don't run out. That way if they poop in it or bill it out, not much is wasted.

I'm going to be using sand for bedding is this a good idea or???? and thank you all for all the help

oh and also medicated started or non medicated?

I used paper towels in the bathtub with the 2012 chicks. Easy to pick up and replace. The 2015 girls were out in the coop with a broody so they were on pine shavings. No issues with them thinking it was food.

I don't do medicated feed either. I think of it as being somewhat like the now banned (or soon to be banned?) feeding of antibiotics as a prophylactic in commercial livestock operations. It isn't the same as a vaccination against viruses. If they aren't sick, don't medicate.

I am so jealous! How did you transition them?

I wimped out last night when I went out and heard them pitieously making the panic cheep....

Panic cheep because they couldn't get to their MHP? Or because it was dark? Or because they weren't with the older birds?

I'm a bit confused about the comment that they didn't follow the broody into the coop. If she is brooding chicks, she will make sure they are in at bedtime.If she doesn't she isn't brooding them.

 

[dpenning]

I am so jealous! How did you transition them?

I wimped out last night when I went out and heard them pitieously making the panic cheep....

Do yourself a favor, move them outside early in the day assuming you have somewhere secure. That way you can check on them periodically during the day. In the evening just after dusk check on them one last time and scoot them under MHP then go to bed. I put mine out after the first night of listening to them cheep all night. It has been a couple of weeks, it has been raining small farm animals for 2 days and they are perfectly happy chickens. AND I don't have to smell them or listen to them! They will be fine. I still have my MHP on low, they don't go under any more but hang out on top sometimes.

 

[dpenning]

 

[Blooie]

Yep, yep and yep!!

 

[dragonthehunter]

So I can use sand as bedding right from day 1?