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

[perchie.girl]

Wow.... The chicks have been sleeping for 4+ hours. Are they OK?

Or just zonked from the trip?

-Banti

zonked

 

[perchie.girl]

I am reading this thread and I found this method so amazing. I'd like to try it with the chicks I'm getting in April but I wonder if one heating pad will be enough for 16 chicks?

perfect

 

[poodlechicks]

Thanks, perchie. I'm a little nervous to try it, but I think it's worth it.
Blooie, I'm reading all your posts on MHP to make sure I get it right

 

[duluthralphie]

I am reading this thread and I found this method so amazing. I'd like to try it with the chicks I'm getting in April but I wonder if one heating pad will be enough for 16 chicks?

Should be fine, I get over 20 under mine.

 

[perchie.girl]

Thanks, perchie. I'm a little nervous to try it, but I think it's worth it.
Blooie, I'm reading all your posts on MHP to make sure I get it right

Blooie is Da Bomb. When it comes around for incubation time I iwll most likely be brooding up about forty Guinea Keets. They are only available during the wam months so I suspect I can get away with a single large pad.

Environment here Is 90-100 in the summer in the coop and 70-80 at night...

deb

 

[poodlechicks]

Should be fine, I get over 20 under mine.

Do you adjust for size as they grow?

 

[poodlechicks]

Blooie is Da Bomb.   When it comes around for incubation time I iwll most likely be brooding up about forty Guinea  Keets.  They are only available during the wam months so I suspect I can get away with a single large pad. 

Environment here Is 90-100 in the summer in the coop and 70-80 at night...

deb

Much warmer than here. I plan to brood them inside as I love to peek at them any time I get a chance

 

[Blooie]

I am reading this thread and I found this method so amazing. I'd like to try it with the chicks I'm getting in April but I wonder if one heating pad will be enough for 16 chicks?

Thanks, perchie. I'm a little nervous to try it, but I think it's worth it.
Blooie, I'm reading all your posts on MHP to make sure I get it right

I strongly feel it is as close to Mama as we can get. She usually gets it right - so why were we complicating it all so much, you know? A heating pad, a frame, add chicks, food and water. Simple. No real rules except these - a safe place for them, a pad that can stay on continually, a frame that brings the heat down to the level of their backs, watching the chicks, and letting them tell you what they need. That's as right as it needs to get.

 

[Blooie]

Do you adjust for size as they grow?

Yep, just raise the frame a little or turn down the heat. That's it. That's why I much prefer a discarded bit of old fencing...I can just smoosh it down in the center to lower it or pull it up in the center to raise it.

 

[poodlechicks]

Yep, just raise the frame a little or turn down the heat.  That's it.  That's why I much prefer a discarded bit of old fencing...I can just smoosh it down in the center to lower it or pull it up in the center to raise it.

Sounds easy enough. I can't wait to try!