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

[mobius]

I like the idea of an old pillowcase over the whole MHP shebang...if I had it to do over again! That is what I would do..
Report: 8 week old girls had first free range (fenced yard) yesterday, loved it and explored and then put themselves back in the run after about an hour and took a nap! They were super-smart to stay under underbrush: bushes and trees...they almost disappeared via their camouflage...

 

[AllynTal]

Note that Allyn is down south.....you could do a pipe in summer, but it would freeze in winter in MA unless you set up a heater and a re-circulation pump.

Thanks, aart. I'm down south now, but I grew up in NJ and lived a significant part of my adult life right outside Boston, MA, so I've been other places with chickens. Out of my 56 years, I've only been here for the last eight, so I'm a relative newcomer to the deep South.

That is a point about freezing, though. I used to drain the system and put a regular waterer in when the temps got low enough to freeze and stay frozen. Some pipe insulation and an aquarium heater kept the system from freezing on those nights when the temps only dipped to freezing for short periods and then warmed up.

Quote:

When I was up north, I didn't have a problem with it getting too hot. The bucket and the pipe weren't in direct sunlight. Even here in the deep South, if it isn't in direct sunlight, the water doesn't get too hot.

 

[bruceha2000]

She has also called the police on my neighbor (the one in between us) because he mowed part of her lawn (the three lawn mower widths on the section between their houses), so she is a real treat. The upside is I don't think she has any idea how many chickens I am allowed to have (it is based on lot size, my lot is quite a bit bigger than hers) and since they will be in the back, she will have no way to count them.

Carrie

Sounds like a good place for a fence 1" inside the lot line.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Spinning Carrie

We are not allowed roos, and there is a lady two doors down that has the Animal Control on her speed dial.
Carrie

Yuck! We have one of "those" neighbors, too. Miserable, busybody, complainer who has no life, so he has to constantly meddle with everyone else on the street. Literally, EVERY one of my other neighbors have had problems with him, so at least I know he's not just singling us out, lol. Word is, he's being foreclosed on and is moving to another state soon. Fingers crossed it's before my babies are ready to go out into the coop. HE is the reason why I had to get rid of my girls the last time I had chickens. Our city ordinance says all coops have to be at least 100ft from all property lines, and no roosters within city limits, period. No roosters isn't that much of an issue for me, but our lot is long and thin, so there is nowhere to put the coop that's 100ft from all property lines. Zoning came down on me and wanted $500 application fee just to get a hearing for a variance. $500 for a 50/50 shot at getting the okay?! I don't think so. But NOW, my other "good" neighbor next to me has chickens, and hers aren't 100ft away from all property lines either, so if anyone complains, we'll tag-team the Zoning board (at $250 each) to get a variance for the whole street!! And then I'll double the size of my coop and get even MORE chickens!! ha ha ha ha

Seriously, I keep hoping and praying that a giant pterodactyl will swoop down out of the sky at any minute and carry that bad neighbor away... A girl can dream, right?

Heather

100'??? Geez, our last house was on a lot 44x100'. Still would have had to get permission from the neighbor if we wanted chickens though (5 max, no roosters), the requirement is that the coop has to be 20' from all lot lines unless the neighbor agrees otherwise. Kind of hard to do with a 20' x 44' back yard. I think a coop 4' wide and 0' deep would be too small for more than 3-5 chickens

Instead of a variance, I would see if you can get enough signatures on a petition to CHANGE the zoning regs to seriously reduce the setback. Lots of times the regs are made by people that don't know SQUAT about what they are regulating. For instance, in Minneapolis (I think it was) you are REQUIRED to keep your coop at 34F or higher year round. There is not a single reason to do that. Chickens can easily handle temps 40F lower than that. More than likely these well meaning regulators are killing chickens by the bushel basket with people building well insulated, nearly airtight coops so they can keep the temp up. No ventilation, the chickens will die from the ammonia. No ventilation, the chickens will suffer from high humidity. Small enough to heat cheaply, not anywhere near enough room for the chickens. Obviously SOME people would fork over the money to keep the temp up in a more open coop but I bet that is a minority.

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I already planned on fencing in the raised beds and the compost pile to keep the little scratchers out of them. I am, however, counting on them to keep the rest of the garden weed free for me in exchange for room and board.

No reason to keep them out of the compost pile! They will only eat things they want and they stir it up a bit. When you think about it a real deep litter coop or run IS a compost pile.

Mom's brooder is up and running. 2 lovely Wyandottes are all settled. Black looks 2 weeks, blue more like 3. Mom's been sitting with them most of the day.

I think this is going to be really good for her.

Brooder #2..

Everybody looks happy!!! OK, well except for Sophie her dog. Sophie not super happy that she's not getting 100% of Mom's attention.

My entire life has been overtaken by chickens.

Um, you do realize that when the chicks are 4 weeks old you will need to move them to your house and REPLACE them with new ones at your Mom's!!!! You can't just tease her with chicks for a week or two.

And why is she feeding them M&Ms??

lol...I already realized that @aart doesn't need encouragement. You can't fool me. You are plenty smart @ Blooie.

Nope, Blooie is NOT the brightest crayon in the box, we ALL know that! Heck she's told us enough times over the past 3 years.

Yes on all accounts. We went down to make sure all was well last night and she told us all about their day or running around, trying to fly, scratching with wood chips a flyin', pooping everywhere etc... She had already taken what I had for a feeder out and made her own. Quite ingenious really. She took a shallow Tupperware container and cut a couple of holes in the lid so they could get the food but not scratch it out. Smiles all around.

Mom's still got it! Nice way to find that out.

Good morning, Brigade! Nice to log in this morning and see so many dues payments! Lover it, keep 'em coming!! Looks like most of the questions folks had have been answered so I just get to sit back and admire the chicks and the set ups!

Terry, I think your mom should become the official "Lodge Mom" here, what say you? We could all adopt her! (In truth I think several of us already have)! She reminds me a lot of my friend @Beekissed 's mom.....Bee has a special name for her, given and always spoken with nothing but love - and she also has a heck of a fan club, me strongly included! But you know, a gang of rebels can't have too many moms, right?

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Yep, "the old bat" is a phenom. How many 80 year old women go up on the roof to clean the chimney??

 

[ShrekDawg]

Note that Allyn is down south.....you could do a pipe in summer, but it would freeze in winter in MA unless you set up a heater and a re-circulation pump.

I had forgotten about that. Good point.

 

[Jensownzoo]

Had my first (and second!) chick crisis this morning...hadn't even finished my coffee yet, dammit!  One of my little Sussex had a pasty butt.  She was NOT happy with me, glaring at me the entire time I ran her little toosh under some warm water to loosen it up.  She's all clean now, put a little bacitracin on it to keep it lubed and poop-free.  I'm noticing now, though, that she's smaller than the other Sussex girls that I got.  Her whole backside doesn't look quite as "developed" as the others, like her butt is too short or something.  I guess chickens have runts of the litter, too, right?  Maybe she's just a late bloomer?  Or am I in for a heartache if I get too attached? 

With my first batch of chicks, they had horrible shipping stress PB (this was before MHP too) and six of them ended up half the size of their flockmates. They did recover after a week or so and several months later have mostly caught up in size. So, if you can get your chick's digestive system straightened out, then "late bloomer" may be appropos.

 

[ShrekDawg]

When I was up north, I didn't have a problem with it getting too hot. The bucket and the pipe weren't in direct sunlight. Even here in the deep South, if it isn't in direct sunlight, the water doesn't get too hot.

Thanks for all the great info!!! Good to know and keep in mind.

MOST of what my chickens eat doesn't move. I wouldn't worry about that AT ALL.


Sounds like a good place for a fence 1" inside the lot line.


100'??? Geez, our last house was on a lot 44x100'. Still would have had to get permission from the neighbor if we wanted chickens though (5 max, no roosters), the requirement is that the coop has to be 20' from all lot lines unless the neighbor agrees otherwise. Kind of hard to do with a 20' x 44' back yard. I think a coop 4' wide and 0' deep would be too small for more than 3-5 chickens   

Instead of a variance, I would see if you can get enough signatures on a petition to CHANGE the zoning regs to seriously reduce the setback. Lots of times the regs are made by people that don't know SQUAT about what they are regulating. For instance, in Minneapolis (I think it was) you are REQUIRED to keep your coop at 34F or higher year round. There is not a single reason to do that. Chickens can easily handle temps 40F lower than that. More than likely these well meaning regulators are killing chickens by the bushel basket with people building well insulated, nearly airtight coops so they can keep the temp up. No ventilation, the chickens will die from the ammonia. No ventilation, the chickens will suffer from high humidity. Small enough to heat cheaply, not anywhere near enough room for the chickens. Obviously SOME people would fork over the money to keep the temp up in a more open coop but I bet that is a minority.


Sounds like a good candidate for a wireless electric fence. I really don't like to see dogs tied up.


No reason to keep them out of the compost pile! They will only eat things they want and they stir it up a bit. When you think about it a real deep litter coop or run IS a compost pile.


Um, you do realize that when the chicks are 4 weeks old you will need to move them to your house and REPLACE them with new ones at your Mom's!!!! You can't just tease her with chicks for a week or two.

And why is she feeding them M&Ms?? :/


Nope, Blooie is NOT the brightest crayon in the box, we ALL know that! Heck she's told us enough times over the past 3 years.


Mom's still got it! Nice way to find that out.


Yep, "the old bat" is a phenom. How many 80 year old women go up on the roof to clean the chimney??

Yeah, we thought about an electric fence but he's half Pyrenees so I think he would run through the fence. We do have an e collar somewhere, lost now, we used for a time and while it worked sometimes because he's pretty sensitive and hated the pain and eventually he learned what the remote and vibrate meant so we didn't even need to shock hom, he also eventually figured it out after a while and it would need to be turned up higher, etc. Which I didn't like doing. Maybe if we got it again and reminded him what it meant he could jist come to the remote or vibrate, maybe no collar needed. But an electric fence does seem like a good idea. Might look into a regular physical fence though but it's so expensive.

I'll try to get pics or a short video of his ropes, it's not extremely short like a tether or chain spot or anything, he can still get a lot of the yard, but it used to be a few hundred feet long and go into the woods and everything.

But I hate seeing him tied up too. The worst is when he tries to go after a toy or say hi to someone and his rope doesn't reach.

 

[Jensownzoo]

There are a lot of dogs who are willing to take the hit from an invisible fence to get out of the perimeter...who are then unmotivated to take it to get back IN.

 

[beautifulpirate]

Took MHP out of the brood pen. They did great without last night. They are now five weeks old but the coop still isn't finished

Anyway, hoping we get a break from the rain this week so we can get it finished. BUT, God help me, I swear I just heard one of the babies do a little baby crow. They are literally in the room next to ours... I'm positive two of our six are cockerels, possibly 3 or 4 so I need to get them out there asap. Of course I am always complaining that I have trouble getting up early and really want to so maybe little cockerels will help out on that. At least until they head to freezer camp.

 

[dyorto]

These two love this nice cool spot on a warm day

 

[Nariah01]

Ok so I have only read through part of this massive thread so if these questions are answered somewhere in it I apologize. So I brought home 5 one week old chicks from Wilco today and wanted to use this method of heating as I am scared of heat lamps. So my plan is to build a larger better brooder over the next few days and put it on my front porch and brood them outside. Until then they are in my spare room in a plastic tub brooder. I set up a little heating cave for them and they took to it immediately, so that is good. Here's the thing they haven't come out like at all, they just seem to want to chill out under there. So I guess how much do they move around during the day, or how active should they be at this age? Or could they just be a bit stressed from coming home and need time to just chill out in there?

My second question, is the way we have it set up, for now there is a bit of a gap between the cave structure and the heating pad on the edges. Some of my chicks are going in there, so between the heating pad and the cave side, if that makes sense. Should I be worried about the chicks getting burned because they are in direct contact with the heating pad? It doesn't feel real hot and they are not sitting on it they are just under it so I think its ok, but this is my first time with chicks, well any chickens for that matter. I am planning on redoing the cave structure to hopefully fix this problem but until I can I was hoping they would be ok as is.

Thank you all so much for any help!