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

[bruceha2000]

Our chicks are coming in about a month! Yay! I have all the stuff for the mama heating pad. ( correct sunbeam heating pad.) hubby will start building our coop next weekend. Wondering where is the most cost effective place to buy hard wire? And does the gauge matter?

You want 1/2" hardware cloth not 1/4". 36" fit the openings I had in the horse stall I was converting. Much cheaper than local when I bought mine it was from Amazon (4 years ago) but only because of the free shipping.

That will keep out coon, weasels, rats, etc. If you have a serious large predator problem where you live, you can put 2x4 welded wire fencing on as well. That will keep large canines out even if they are determined enough and have a long enough time to manage to get through the hardware cloth. I don't know that I've ever seen anyone on BYC post that predators had gotten through their 1/2" hardware cloth. Not all that hard to find reports of losing birds kept "safely" inside chicken wire. I'm glad you've gotten that message

 

[aart]

Smaller mice can possibly get thru 1/2" HC.
Have seen HC torn...when it wasn't properly secured at edge and animal was able to get a tooth in it.

It's toss up between the 1/2" 19ga and 1/4" 22ga....those are pretty standard wire gauges for the mesh sizes.
I went with 1/2" because of the heavier wire gauge,

 

[duluthralphie]

Smaller mice can possibly get thru 1/2" HC.
Have seen HC torn...when it wasn't properly secured at edge and animal was able to get a tooth in it.

It's toss up between the 1/2" 19ga and 1/4" 22ga....those are pretty standard wire gauges for the mesh sizes.
I went with 1/2" because of the heavier wire gauge,

Not here!

My mice are huge, I have never seen one small enough to fit through 4x4 square hog netting. If a mouse here attacks you or bites at you, you will lose your leg.

Most the mice eat pit bulls for snacks. We use 12gauges to control them....



And on MHP news, I ordered another heating pad yesterday, This time I got the smaller one. I have my first cage I put the chicks in and the large one is just too big in there...


My wife was not happy about the Amazon order, but I am not sure if it was just the heating pad or the 4 rolls of game bird netting... She has this foolish idea I spend too much on my birds.

Also last night I had one chick that was too stupid to crawl under the pad. I had turned the pad down to 4 as they were sleeping outside the pad. This chick went up on the roof and started complaining about being cold. As soon as I put him at the entrance he crawled in and shut up. This one is going to be a chicken genius.

 

[circlehouse]

Thanks everyone! Definitely looks like Amazon will be the way to go! MPC was much more than some that is found on Amazon.

 

[Jensownzoo]

This is where I'm getting my hardware cloth (19ga. 1/2", 36"x100'). It depends on how much you're ordering at once as to if the shipping charge makes it less expensive than Amazon.

http://www.midlandhardware.com/search.asp?keyword=Hardware+cloth&search=

 

[ShrekDawg]

Are you sure you dont mean rats??? Never ever heard of a mouse getting that big but have heard rats... Those sound like killer mice or rats! Dang!

 

[ShrekDawg]

This is where I'm getting my hardware cloth (19ga. 1/2", 36"x100'). It depends on how much you're ordering at once as to if the shipping charge makes it less expensive than Amazon.

http://www.midlandhardware.com/search.asp?keyword=Hardware+cloth&search=

Wow thanks for the link! If I found the right one it's $71.54 and I calculated the shipping to my area and it's $18.92 which is actually pretty reasonable so it's 90.46. so a couple dollars cheaper than Amazon. I think i may get it from there. Although i only added one, maybe shipping would be more if i got more

 

[bruceha2000]

Not here!

My mice are huge, I have never seen one small enough to fit through 4x4 square hog netting. If a mouse here attacks you or bites at you, you will lose your leg.

Most the mice eat pit bulls for snacks. We use 12gauges to control them....


And on MHP news, I ordered another heating pad yesterday, This time I got the smaller one. I have my first cage I put the chicks in and the large one is just too big in there...

My wife was not happy about the Amazon order, but I am not sure if it was just the heating pad or the 4 rolls of game bird netting... She has this foolish idea I spend too much on my birds.

Also last night I had one chick that was too stupid to crawl under the pad. I had turned the pad down to 4 as they were sleeping outside the pad. This chick went up on the roof and started complaining about being cold. As soon as I put him at the entrance he crawled in and shut up. This one is going to be a chicken genius.

I suppose you could skip the bird netting and see how she feels if you lose a bird to an avian predator

I have never seen a mouse that could fit through a 1/2" square other than maybe a very young one. But the size you describe would be a vole or rat around here. The mice are mice size.

This is where I'm getting my hardware cloth (19ga. 1/2", 36"x100'). It depends on how much you're ordering at once as to if the shipping charge makes it less expensive than Amazon.

http://www.midlandhardware.com/search.asp?keyword=Hardware+cloth&search=

Wow thanks for the link! If I found the right one it's $71.54 and I calculated the shipping to my area and it's $18.92 which is actually pretty reasonable so it's 90.46. so a couple dollars cheaper than Amazon. I think i may get it from there. Although i only added one, maybe shipping would be more if i got more

http://www.midlandhardware.com/150029.html#.VuhLc5MrJE4

I sure think so. Amazon is asking ~$98 for the same thing, shipping included. For 1 roll it was $20.49 to my zip code in VT. But when I checked the shipping for 2 rolls, it was $49.99. And it was the same when I put in a Boston zip code instead of mine. That makes it ~ $3 less than getting 2 rolls from Amazon. For 3 rolls shipping goes up to 69.99, ~ $3/roll more than a single roll.

So .. if you need more than one you place multiple orders for 1 roll? I expect it is purely based on weight and the second roll makes it go over a break point. I wonder if you called them you could swing a deal telling them it makes more sense for them to send multiples at one time rather than processing multiple orders. It may not matter since they are likely paying FedEx, UPS or DHL and their shipping price won't be flexible.

 

[curious chickee]

So I have one MHP for my layer chicks in a sectioned of piece of my corner. Now I am hatching a ton of chicks, about 20 bantam brahmas a week. They spend week 1 in 65 gallon reptile tank allows me to keep close watch on them, week 2 in large rubber maid tote, week 3 & 4 grow out pen in coop with pop door to main pen. The grow out pen has my heating pad attached under a shelf that holds the totes. Question for weeks 1 and 2 do I need a cave or can I just lay the heating pad on the bottom of the tote takes up about 1/2 the tote and set on 4 and cover with a press and seal for easy wiping and a towel. I live in CA so not very cold. Also chicks week 1 and 2 will be in the garage by the incubator.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I suppose you could skip the bird netting and see how she feels if you lose a bird to an avian predator 

I have never seen a mouse that could fit through a 1/2" square other than maybe a very young one. But the size you describe would be a vole or rat around here. The mice are mice size.




http://www.midlandhardware.com/150029.html#.VuhLc5MrJE4

I sure think so. Amazon is asking ~$98 for the same thing, shipping included. For 1 roll it was $20.49 to my zip code in VT.  But when I checked the shipping for 2 rolls, it was $49.99. And it was the same when I put in a Boston zip code instead of mine. That makes it ~ $3 less than getting 2 rolls from Amazon. For 3 rolls shipping goes up to 69.99, ~ $3/roll more than a single roll. 

So .. if you need more than one you place multiple orders for 1 roll? I expect it is purely based on weight and the second roll makes it go over a break point. I wonder if you called them you could swing a deal telling them it makes more sense for them to send multiples at one time rather than processing multiple orders. It may not matter since they are likely paying FedEx, UPS or DHL and their shipping price won't be flexible.

Yeah, I tried adding 3 rolls and shipping went up to $69.99 but I check Amazons price for 3 and it actually ended up about $10 less than Amazon so I may get it from there.