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

[MesMama]

Mesmama- That's my understanding. The idea being that when they are subjected to cooler air, their little bodies tend to naturally feather out more quickly as a way of protection from the cold. When they are subjected to constant heat and light, their body temps effectively being regulated for them instead of learning how to regulate for themselves, they tend to not develop feathers as quickly. I have several that are 2 weeks old today and already have wing, tail and shoulder feathers. A couple even are getting some chest feathers developing. Their down is definitely spread much more thinly and it is just so exciting to see them change so much!

If I am being honest, I love the "awkward teenager" stage in chick development more than the fluffy new chick stage. They are just so cute when they are still scrawny and feathering out!!!

I can't wait to see all the changes! When my broodies hatched a couple chicks last year it was different because the hens aren't very tame so they kept us at a distance. So this will be fun!

 

[MesMama]

I don't think the MHP is any different than using a heat lamp......

...... as far as feather development is concerned (before someone bites my head off).......


.......one can manage the heat of a lamp and ambient temps to encourage faster feather growth also.
And on the flip side, you could keep MHP, and the room it's in, too warm and slow feather growth.



Got my brooder all set up, with plans to move the chicks and MHP to the coop after a few days....tomorrow is incubator lockdown on 20 eggs, I'm getting excited!!

Good luck with the hatch!!!

 

[Blooie]

As sacrilegious as it sounds, especially coming from me, I tend for the most part to agree with @aart - There is no documented proof that just having chicks under MHP will help them feather out faster. But that agreement has one caveat - the difference being indoor vs outdoor. I think that when the chicks are brooded outdoors from the start, and the only warmth available is immediately UNDER that little cave, their exposure to colder air comes from the entirety of their environment. A heat lamp, even if it's just on one side of a large brooder, will still heat the air around it in a larger area than the pad does. It's cooler far away from the lamp and gets incrementally warmer as the chicks draw closer. They can lay in the fringes of the imaginary "heat circle" and while it won't warm them, it will be warmer than a spot another foot out. With the heating pad, it's direct warmth but very little, if any, radiant heat. Chicks raised indoors have warmer ambient air surrounding them all the time - it's steady and there are none of the wild fluctuations found outdoors. One minute my chicks are playing in a 30 degree area and within an hour it can drop into the teens or lower. That generally doesn't happen in a house.

So I continue to believe that outdoor brooded chicks, whether with Mom or utilizing the same "single spot" heating of MHP, will feather out faster. Do I have concrete proof? Nope. Anyone have concrete proof that they don't? To run a blind study, the genetics of the chicks in the test would have to be identical, and everything they eat, drink, environment - all of those factors would have to be identical and documented. And since it would mean having to raise a control group of chicks in the house for comparison, I'm out!

Edited to correct: I didn't mean to imply that it was sacrilegious to agree with @aart

Never that!!

 

[dyorto]

Last year I had just 3 chicks that were all the same type. It's fun to see the difference. The EEs seems bigger and are more feathered. The barred rocks are smaller and lease feathered than the EEs and the Isas

 

[mobius]

@Blooie We meant what you knew!

re: sacrilegious!

Wow, sounds like everything going well for all concerned today! Family back, eggs incubating, happy chicks, more feathers! Hurrah!

 

[PaisyQ]

I just want to say thanks for this thread! I can't remember where I learned about it, but it really inspired me. I hate using the heat lamp, and always wanted to buy an ecoglow, but didn't like the price tag on that. This has been the perfect solution.

My chicks are being brooded inside since I don't (yet) have the space for them outside. They get my spare bathroom, and are in the tub. I had a nice rounded cave in the beginning, slanting down in the back, but discovered it wouldn't fit in the tub that way. Oops. So I flattened out the top, and I'll have to make adjustments as the kids grow.

The chicks hatched yesterday, and stayed in the incubator overnight to dry out. This morning I moved them into the brooder. They all took to MHP without a problem. Some pictures:







I like how when I walk into the room they are all out of sight, and quite. But they all come scampering out to see what is going on when I stick my hand in the brooder.

Anyway, thanks so much for the idea!

 

[dyorto]

Cute pics!

 

[MesMama]

Wondering f I can ask a poop question here? I searched the forums but couldn't find anything that matched what I saw. One of my chicks pooped and it had what looked like a string of egg white coming from its bum. The poop was runny and a little yellow. I tried to grab her to isolate her to make sure nothing was wrong and as I reached for her she finished her biz and took.off. Man they are fast! And of course I have like 15 more that look just like her so I lost her in the crowd :/ Anyway, is that stringy looking poo cause for concern?

 

[MesMama]

@PaisyQ Cute!!! What breeds are they?

 

[Jensownzoo]

Wondering f I can ask a poop question here? I searched the forums but couldn't find anything that matched what I saw. One of my chicks pooped and it had what looked like a string of egg white coming from its bum. The poop was runny and a little yellow. I tried to grab her to isolate her to make sure nothing was wrong and as I reached for her she finished her biz and took.off. Man they are fast! And of course I have like 15 more that look just like her so I lost her in the crowd :/ Anyway, is that stringy looking poo cause for concern?

Probably not. The urates are white, so maybe it was just a non-neat deposit of them. Or it could have been shed intestinal lining, which is usually pinkish, but you can also see that normally on occasion.