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

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If it's not too cold where the brooder is, they should be fine. Little stinkers! Otherwise - and if you'd feel better - by all means tuck them in. Just be forewarned....once they get used to being tucked in, bedtime story or not, they soon learn to wait for you come and do it!
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Blooie said:
If it's not too cold where the brooder is, they should be fine.  Little stinkers!  Otherwise - and if you'd feel better - by all means tuck them in.  Just be forewarned....once they get used to being tucked in, bedtime story or not, they soon learn to wait for you come and do it!  :he
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Ok thanks. I'll leave them. They are inside anyway and it only gets down to 60 maybe at night. I'm sure they will make their way under in they need.
 
So babies first day was trying. The girls decided that they liked the top better and were getting chilly. We had to keep putting them in so that they would get warm. Now that it is dark though it is quiet as a empty classroom. I peeked at them and they are all snuggled. I don't know how anyone else does it, but I turned it down a little and put a cloth over the top to help with the dark. Let's hope I didn't mess up!!!!
 
Im getting 8 chicks today and this is my first time. I heard the first week they need 95f temperature and then you drop it by 5 every week after that.

Well i plugged in my mhp its a 12x24 heating pad over a small tomato cage cut in half and the bottom cut off. At the front its 7in tall at the back its 2. I trial ran it last night and its at 90f in the back 85 in the front. Im assuming that will be alright because once theyre in there it will heat them up more.

Also im getting 8 more chicks in a week so ill have 1 day old and 1 week old chcks in the same brooder. Should i turn the mhp down in a week even though ill have 1 day old or should i keep it up for another week?
 
Stehiiboo said:
Im getting 8 chicks today and this is my first time. I heard the first week they need 95f temperature and then you drop it by 5 every week after that.

Well i plugged in my mhp its a 12x24 heating pad over a small tomato cage cut in half and the bottom cut off. At the front its 7in tall at the back its 2. I trial ran it last night and its at 90f in the back 85 in the front. Im assuming that will be alright because once theyre in there it will heat them up more.

Also im getting 8 more chicks in a week so ill have 1 day old and 1 week old chcks in the same brooder. Should i turn the mhp down in a week even though ill have 1 day old or should i keep it up for another week?
Click to expand...
Go by chick behavior rather than temp.

Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:
They need to be pretty warm(~85-90F on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.


Or you could go with a heat plate, commercially made or DIY: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/pseudo-brooder-heater-plate
 

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