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

[GardenNut]

Preparing the next generation of MHPers! Nice job!

 

[Blooie]

I finally managed to get my roost and poop boards up. I need to make a ramp still

Looks great! You've done really well!

hey all! I'm a newbie, but I love the idea of this type of warmth for my chicks!

They are in my 60 degree basement so I had a heat lamp AND and electric radiator in my craft room (where their baby pool brooder is.) on full blast, I was able to get the room to 80 degrees and then the heat lamp did the rest, but my darling husband is horrified at what the electric bill will look like if I keep that up. Today, I made one of these using a wooden stool and my 3 heating pads that I use for growing plants.

I wrapped towels around the heating pads and then covered everything in press and seal. I have 2 'over' and 1 'under' the stool hopefully making a little warm cave.

2 questions:
1: Does this look okay? I have the cords from the heating pads running under the sides of the brooder so they can't get to them.
2: how will I know if they are warm enough, too warm etc.

I answered this over on the other thread where you posted it.....

Three new little ones (2-5 days old). It is going to be in the 50s at night for the next few days. They are outside on our patio until they are moved to the coop (still making sure the 10 week olds and the 3 year old are doing well before I make them share a roost and split the coop into 2 again).

I have my 3 little ones in the great dane's kennel with a heat mat (sold as winter use) and a 75 watt bulb. It is toasty warm, but not sure if it will be warm enough when it is in the low 50s out there.
I bought a heating pad to use, but the setup I had worked well for the last batch (now 10 weeks). It is huge though, not really sure why I didn't buy a smallish one since I only ever brood small batches.


My question - if I set up the heating pad, I'm guessing I need to ditch the heating mat too (along with the light, which I'm good ditching). But does the heating pad need to be low enough to touch the backs of everybody? I'm guessing it will still work just fine if I have it as a platform I can raise as needed instead of caved?


Oh yeah, can I fold my huge heating pad in half - loosely at the fold?

I'd ditch the heat mat. They don't need heat from the bottom and the top. Kinda creates a crock pot, and they ain't ready for that yet. You do want the heat close to their backs, but it sounds like your temps aren't all that low either, so if they seem to avoid it, either raise your frame up a bit or turn down the heat a notch. Mine have been outside, 2 different age groups, and the pad is on 4 right now, only because of our nighttime lows. Tonight it's supposed to be warmer (49 - 51 degrees) so I may pop it down to 3. They aren't even using it all during the day and they've had a few forays into the main run - even little Sluff who is just a few days old.

@Blooie Just wanted to say thank you again for your original post on the heating pad idea!! My 3 week old chicks are loving it, and love being out in the coop! ( and I don't mind not having the dust and mess in the house as well lol ) . I belong to another chicken site, and had made mention on the MHP idea, and how it works for me, versus the 24/7 light. I have had so many people message me asking about it, saying they didn't know there were other options! I have told them this was NOT my idea, but I did get the idea from a wonderful person.
So with that being said, there are roughly 6 new people that will be or are converting to the MHP. I do believe the idea is catching on!!


Now I have a question for all of you. My littles are 3 weeks old, and have yet to have their feet on the grass and dirt. At what age can I turn them loose in the run, and will they learn on their own to go back up the ramp and into the coop, or do I need to teach them somehow to use the ramp?

Thank you for that. It was all @Beekissed and Patrice Lopatin's faults!

They lit the fire under me and made me believe in this. Interesting that if someone Googles Mama Heating Pad in the Brooder, this comes up, so obviously folks are looking.

Turn them Littles loose!! You may have to show them how to use the ramp into the coop, I don't know because I don't have ramp and my pop door is open between the coop and the run, where their brooder is located, all of the time so mine just kinda sorta started running and out on their own. Some folks put a little nightlight or solar light in the coop because sometimes they don't like to go in from the lighter run to the darker coop.

Brooder #2 with the older chicks is MHP free now. Those chicks are doing so well at my Mom's house. It's been so fun for her. Some of the 3 week olds are still using MHP #1 at our house. I'm hoping to have the interior of the coop done this weekend so I can integrate the 2 groups into the coop. I'll setup MHP #1 in the coop when we do. I'm SO ready to be done with the coop and to have the chicks in their real home.

We are so glad it worked out for you and that your mom had such a good time! I know the "over it" feeling all to well.

I have both ends open. I have thought, in retrospect I should have scooted them closer together, maybe with a little 2-3 inch space between them so they could have escaped out the middle too..

All I know for sure, is I failed, chick rearing 101 again.

You failed nothing....

Thanks for sharing your experience. You will save someone else from sure calamity. I briefly considered putting the second heating pad in my brooder coop this afternoon, but since chicks are almost 3 weeks old (17 of them) I decided against it.

No, you did not fail. IMO, since we are not broody hens, we are bound to have failures. Even with a heat lamp, it's not unusual for chicks to pig pile at night, resulting in a few deaths. IMO, the bigger the brood, the bigger the risk. The smaller space between pads might have made a difference... then again, it may not have. Who can figure the mind of a chick???

I did a little assembly for 5 classes of first graders today. We discussed the role of chickens in farming for egg and meat production, weed and bug control, tilling the soil, and providing fertilizer. Did a little segment on egg anatomy, egg color. Finished with 3 chicks who stole the show. They were well behaved. No one got pooped on. I was also able to put in a plug for MHP brooding!

LG, you are a caution! I'd never be able to get up in front of a classroom of kids and each anything - I'd stutter so badly that they'd all be asleep in minutes waiting for the end of one sentence. I'll bet they loved it!

Preparing the next generation of MHPers! Nice job!

Yep, my thoughts exactly!

 

[Serenashome]

We got our chickens today! Three Buff Orpingtons and three barred rocks. We decided to go with this brilliant idea of the Momma Heating Pad. We did not use the heating pad recommended however. We decided to go with a plant heating mat since it will have multiple uses for us since we start plants for the garden indoors, it's waterproof and washable, it also has the benefit of a temperature control unit so we can regulate their temps better. Our chicks are in a 55 gallon fish tank on a sofa table in the dining room for now so they can see outside and can see us. Pictures below.

All six chicks under the Momma Heating pad enjoying their new place.


The thermostat attached to the plant heating mat.



A wider shot so you can see their temporary home.

 

[jrjoplin]

We had our first day out in the chicken yard. All they wanted to do is play on the downed limbs.

They are 5 weeks old and MHP has been stored away for next time

 

[Blooie]

We got our chickens today! Three Buff Orpingtons and three barred rocks. We decided to go with this brilliant idea of the Momma Heating Pad. We did not use the heating pad recommended however. We decided to go with a plant heating mat since it will have multiple uses for us since we start plants for the garden indoors, it's waterproof and washable, it also has the benefit of a temperature control unit so we can regulate their temps better. Our chicks are in a 55 gallon fish tank on a sofa table in the dining room for now so they can see outside and can see us. Pictures below.

All six chicks under the Momma Heating pad enjoying their new place.


The thermostat attached to the plant heating mat.



A wider shot so you can see their temporary home.

Let us know how the seed mat works out for you...we've had people wonder but some first hand advice would always be welcome. I have to be candid and tell you that I still worry about the glass and the window, plus the heat and their own body heat, but I'm always willing to learn too!

@jrjoplin Good job! And I'll bet there will be a next time, right?

 

[GardenNut]

We had our first day out in the chicken yard. All they wanted to do is play on the downed limbs.

They are 5 weeks old and MHP has been stored away for next time

Nice, big yard! My 7x15 run for 4 feels too small, especially as wet as it is from all the rain.

The girls have been MHP graduates for over two weeks. It was my first time raising chicks, and first time with MHP, but it will be the only way I brood chicks, unless I get lucky with a broody hen someday. And there's nothing better than peeking under MHP and seeing happy chicks quietly peeping back at you!

 

[Blooie]

Nice, big yard! My 7x15 run for 4 feels too small, especially as wet as it is from all the rain.

The girls have been MHP graduates for over two weeks. It was my first time raising chicks, and first time with MHP, but it will be the only way I brood chicks, unless I get lucky with a broody hen someday. And there's nothing better than peeking under MHP and seeing happy chicks quietly peeping back at you!

And don't you love that indescribable little sound they make - almost like purring! It's like they're telling each other a bedtime story when the lights go out! Congrats on a job well done!

 

[jrjoplin]

Nice, big yard! My 7x15 run for 4 feels too small, especially as wet as it is from all the rain.

The girls have been MHP graduates for over two weeks. It was my first time raising chicks, and first time with MHP, but it will be the only way I brood chicks, unless I get lucky with a broody hen someday. And there's nothing better than peeking under MHP and seeing happy chicks quietly peeping back at you!

They've got about 1\3 of an acre to roam in so they are happy chicks. The picture was yesterday and today they were a little more adventurous. They still run right back to the tractor when free time is over (it helps that I bribe them). They still steep in a small pile but 1-2 more move over to the roosts each night.

We had some really bad experiences with heat lamps. When I was in high school (many, many years ago) I roasted a littler of piglets when the lamp slid down due to a loose clamp. That was not a good day. Then a few years ago my nephew set up a brooder in the barn and was woke up in the middle of the night by the fire trucks. A total loss, barn, animals, and two tractors. I was so happy when I was looking at other ways to brood the chicks and stumbled across the MHP thread.

 

[Blooie]

Gave away 5 chickens this evening. <sigh> Gave a Buff Brahma, a Red Sex Link, a Light Brahma, a Marans, and Dumb Daphne, the Flock Complainer. Still have a few more to put in freezer camp.....Have the new chicks which will start laying this summer, so the three year olds are going. Well, except for Agatha, Katiebug's chicken. Oh, and Gladys...and not Mathilda either. Edith Ann is staying. So is ....... oh, never mind. I'll just make Ken put an addition on the coop.

 

[azygous]

Blooie, I still have one of my very first chicks, an eight-year old light Brahma. Lady Di laid her last egg at age six, but she's still top of the pecking order and still kicks @$$ when necessary to maintain order. I have two seven-year old Wyandottes still laying regularly, as well as three six-year olds. They're a geriatric crew, but they still pull their own weight.

Of course, I get new chicks at least every other year so they keep the egg factory going strong. But this is why I've had to add on to the coops and run on a regular basis. Chickens at my place have a secure retirement plan.