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

[aart]

All the way up to 41.5 here now. Finally, spring arrives in New England! And on the plus side: MHP works wonderfully to "incubate" seeds! My asparagus has broken ground at 9 days when it's supposed to take 2 - 8 weeks to sprout!!!! Many chicks have been killed by heat lamps. I'll not be pointing fingers, except for the folks who stick a 250W bulb over a tiny little box of chicks in the house, and cook the poor things. Might as well put them in a crock pot.

You're starting asparagus from seed? Doesn't sound too lazy to me.

Finally warming up(again) here too....... time to get out and do something.

 

[bruceha2000]

Nope, and you don't have to worry about the plants committing suicide by wetting between the pad and frame. They are not, however, nearly as helpful with "proper temp", they don't move closer to or farther from the pad if they are not comfortable.

 

[Bowldy45]

Thats about the only downside I've seen with this system. Now that I have them in the run and their own pen, I've gotten freaked if I havent see them all there. Then I"d wind up disturbing them by lifting the cave.

I did that too this morning! I went in to check on them, only seeing 8 of the 9. The one missing was the one I was most concerned about too. So I lifted the cave up fully expecting the worst, and I got this look of... put that back down! I am still sleeping!!

 

[lazy gardener]

Awesome...love it...MHP for seedlings, of course, why didn't I think of that! No towel and straw, tho? Lol...

Nope. However, I do post a very important warning for this off label use of the MHP: You must either post a guard dog or some sort of barrier to keep any feline creatures away from your seedling set up. Cats will be even more attracted to your trays of fresh undug and otherwise unmolested potting soil by the extra heat!!!

 

[mobius]

A potential additional off-label use for the MHP: Mealworm farm??

See, after the chicks no longer use MHP, she gets lonely...next project: Mealworms!!! It just keeps going!
Maybe like this:

From Chicks to Seedlings to Mealworms...

Never lose your MHP again!!

 

[MesMama]

I know chicks grow fast, but WOW! These MHP raised chicks...I had two almost escape the brooder this morning as I changed their water and filled the feeder. They flew right up onto the ledge Usibg the MHP as a flight deck Lol! It gives them an extra few inches they need to make it...mental note, IF we raise chicks again, we need to rework the brooder so we can walk into it and SHUT THE DOOR behind us, doing the feed and water changes is getting harder and harder. Little escape artists! They're only 3 weeks and I'm not sure if they're big enough to escape the bigs when needed.

 

[MesMama]

Also I have a sick hen, thinking she might be egg bound, if you want to weigh in its over on the illness forum

 

[Bowldy45]

Nice setup

Frankly, I think that the "Doubting Thomas" that tries something they aren't convinced will work and finding it works not only better than they had thought it MIGHT but far better than the "they say you have to do it this way" method is the best "salesman". Not to diminish the positive reviews of those that trust up front! Soon, hopefully, those that use a heat lamp will be the minority. We will refrain from sending them PMs saying they are killing their chicks

Nope! Forecast is that the sky cover will increase to 1% at AM Friday. Rising to 14% by 8 PM. Solar array working today

Thank you on the set up I belong to another site that is mostly about chickens, and its amazing to me how set they are on using the red light! I have mentioned the MHP a few times, and explained how it works, and received TONS of negative remarks about how cruel and mean it would be to use such little heat. They are firm believers in the red light method,,, all I can say is.... they have been blinded by the light!

 

[bruceha2000]

Thank you on the set up I belong to another site that is mostly about chickens, and its amazing to me how set they are on using the red light! I have mentioned the MHP a few times, and explained how it works, and received TONS of negative remarks about how cruel and mean it would be to use such little heat. They are firm believers in the red light method,,, all I can say is.... they have been blinded by the light!

Keep working on them

Gently of course.
Ask them how many hens provide 24x7 light.
Ask them how many hens provide an ambient temp of 95F for a week then 90F for a week etc in the entire environment the chicks are raised in.

And show them this picture of 4 day old chicks in a 70F barn. I got 7 chicks in June, as you can see not one of them is currently under the hen. But she is sitting there waiting until they want to go in her "cave" to warm up before going out again ... just like the MHP cave sits waiting.



And maybe video your quiet chicks doing chick things and ask if their chicks under heat lamps are so quiet.

 

[WyoJax]

Cochix, my guest had the same idea and we'll actually be hitting up the city compost facility today for prepared soil. Although I'm finding my love for chickens I loooove gardening!! I can't wait for my girls to get out and enjoy the sun with me while I garden.
Blooie, I'm over the snow already.. Super over it. I was ready for winter this last fall but now with this most recent 18 inch storm that I still had to work in...I'm done.
MHP will get her dues in this weekend if we actually get the snow.