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

[beautifulpirate]

Such beautiful teenagers!!!

So our babies are now 5 weeks old and fully integrated with the adults, they still put themselves away in their brooder, inside the coop. They have been outside with the adult flock since they were 5 days old. Their brooder separating them from the adults will be taken down in the next few days. Funny the babies could roost with the adults now as they have access but still segregate themselves at night. They are fully feathered and I removed their heat pad cave today as they couldn't fit under it anymore. They were a little lost at bedtime, so gave them a huddle box for comfort. They are progressing nicely, I am hoping the darker greyish one is a roo.

By far the fastest maturing and progressing chicks we have raised so far, I credit that to MHP!

 

[csneill]

They'll use it.  The first line in your posts summed up exactly what has happened.  Some chicks have to be shown, and if one balks, they all balk.  If one uses it, they all use it. Gently put them under, and then hold your hand in front for a few minutes so they can't squirt out. Let them feel the warmth and understand that this dark, warm place is safe, not scary.  Then slowly move your hand away.  A few might pop out, but others will most likely stay under there.  Then the pop-outs will join them.  Don't be so quick to give up!  They all seem to get it, and yours will too!  

Well Blooie was right- when I looked out this morning at the babies all I saw was a bunch of little fluffy butts in the cave. They love it! Thanks so much!

 

[Coop de Grass]

Well Blooie was right- when I looked out this morning at the babies all I saw was a bunch of little fluffy butts in the cave. They love it! Thanks so much!

Not surprised! Blooie has this all figured out - you just need to trust her and believe!

 

[lazy gardener]

I've got 9-10 days before I have chicks hatching in the incubator and this is my very first time hatching chicks. My current chickens were raised in the house and I am very happy to find this other method because I am so worried about bringing the Bigs and Littles together as a joined flock-- love it that they will already know each other. I plan to do MHP method in our coop. I have read a bunch but would like to ask a question that I still feel unsure about. I'm hatching the chicks at my house. I have heard a lot about day-old chicks going straight outside to the MHP-brooder but am still unclear if I would basically be taking the chicks from the incubator (once they've dried) and moving them to the outdoor brooder.

If so, would I then wait until all the chicks are hatched before moving them out to the brooder? It's discussed that once chicks are hatched and dried to move them out, but unless I set up an interim brooder, that would maybe mean a few at a time being moved instead of all at once?

Don't know what to expect and nervous.

Oh, also, could someone please post a link to the "baker's rack" that people are mentioning? Thank you.

Thanks for any help!

I hatch my own chicks. I like to get them all moved out of the bator and into a temporary brooder in the house with MHP for at least 2 days. This gives me time to keep a close eye on them, be sure they are using MHP, and eating and drinking well. This season, I hatched some shipped eggs, and had difficulties with my newest home made bator, so had some issues with chicks, resulting in the need to watch, splint, and cull some of them. So they stayed in for almost 2 weeks (in my basement, set up in a large box with HWC lid.) I moved them outside last Saturday. Wednesday night was the last night they used MHP. Temp Thurs night was 43*. They still have MHP, and some of the smaller ones duck under it during the day for a bit. I plan to give them a huddle box for tonight.

 

[bruceha2000]

@bruceha2000 it's 91 inside where the chicks are right now. The pad is set to 95, I should have clarified. They seem to be happy and have not changed their behavior. Too hot you think? We thought a setting on 95 for week one, 90 for week two and down 5 degrees each week? They are 4 days old right now.

The entire room is 91F?? Man, sounds like the bathroom where we brooded the 2012 chicks (with heat lamp). Talk about a WAY too hot room.

If Blooie wasn't such a slacker and had joined BYC 2 years earlier, learned about the MHP method of brooding 2 years earlier and started this thread 2 years earlier, 4 people and 12 chicks would have been a LOT more comfortable.

But I don't hold it against her

If it is 91F only in the aquarium, I would try REAL hard to find a way to drop that into the 60's ASAP. I have to ASSUME that it isn't 91F outside in Indiana this time of year.

I think......
That maybe the feed stores/farm stores aren't going to get too excited about an alternative to selling lots of heat lamps & bulbs

An intrepid farm store owner would be making and selling MHPs for those that don't trust themselves to do it right or just want a "grab and go" brooder

Of course they would probably make a 12x24 cave and claim it will brood 25 to 50 chicks

Love this thread! I started reading on page 1, thinking it was only 18 pages long...HAH Anyhow I skipped through a lot for now. (Will go back read more later). However, in a bit of a panic as eggs should hatch next TH and I do NOT want to use my heat lamp. So I plan on trying to make a MH in the next few days and get this set up. A few questions:

1) I have 28 Salmon Faverolles eggs that should hatch. Brooder will be inside/basement around 55-60 degrees. Will one of these Sunbeam X-Lrg work for that many?

I use a water trough that's aprox 18 x 36 for brooding and would prefer not to need 2 MH set up.

2) Has anyone tried using a small plastic rubbermaid type container upside down and cut a door in a side? or 2 sides?

Thinking if I found one shallow enough, I could elevate the front end to provide different heat


ETA: I hope to sell a lot of these soon after hatching, so would open up room shortly (but can't count on it)

You can certainly start with one large pad cave since you are hoping to sell some of the chicks at a few days old. Even if they all hatch (wouldn't that be great?) they will all fit under one large pad (open front and back for that many birds) for a week or two. If the sales don't materialize, then you'll need to rework the plan.

Thank you-all great points! My basement is 2500 sq ft partially finished lol so yes it animal proof (Using one of our daughters rooms downstairs that has since moved off to college-hardwood floors-easy clean)

When I used this water trough in the past as a brooder, I put screening over the top and it worked well. Once the were too big for this, moved them outside. However, I am hoping to sell all but a handful of these, and the few I want to keep-I have a eye on a broody hen I am hoping to use (Shes glued flat to her nestbox for the past week but she would be a first time mom)

Good point about the plastic container-BeeKissed also reminding me that that would prevent the benefits of this simulating a hen. I am thinking my better half can put together the bakers rack on adjustable legs shown at the beginning of this thread pretty quickly-as long as Amazon comes through on their end with shpg.

If your broody sticks, you are in fat city. Stuff 10 or 12 of the new chicks under her in the pitch black of night. I did that with the 7 chicks I got last June. Zorra was a fabulous 1st time mom... until she kicked them to the curb at about 2 months of age. But by then they were already a month older and had 2 months more schooling than Zorra and her 11 "sisters" had when they went out to the coop never having seen another chicken in their lives once they were shoved in a box in Texas at 1 day old and mailed to Vermont.

In fact, I wonder what would happen if you made a large brooding space in the coop, put the MHP cave in there AND the broody. This would be new territory, not sure if all the 28 chicks would want to get under the hen (fat chance!) or some would use the MHP and some the hen. Can't say I have any idea if this would be a good idea or rank amongst the worst ideas of all time.

So I had an old hp here at the house that I think should work- no 'auto off' option here! Here are my 7 little wellies just 4 days old! I love them so much already! We have an established flock they will join soon- planning to do this whole integration thing you all keep talking about! They are checking out this new blue 'cave' I just surprised them with!

ie. brooder space in the coop with "portals" into the common area?

Quote:
Blooie is always right! She will deny it of course, and claim that she has made mistakes

 

[Victoria-nola]

I hatch my own chicks. I like to get them all moved out of the bator and into a temporary brooder in the house with MHP for at least 2 days. This gives me time to keep a close eye on them, be sure they are using MHP, and eating and drinking well. This season, I hatched some shipped eggs, and had difficulties with my newest home made bator, so had some issues with chicks, resulting in the need to watch, splint, and cull some of them. So they stayed in for almost 2 weeks (in my basement, set up in a large box with HWC lid.) I moved them outside last Saturday. Wednesday night was the last night they used MHP. Temp Thurs night was 43*. They still have MHP, and some of the smaller ones duck under it during the day for a bit. I plan to give them a huddle box for tonight.

Thank you! Wow sounds very challenging. Ok, so I might consider a couple of days indoors as an option since that seems to be a popular idea. I lean toward that, myself, but I also like the idea of having MHP all set up and preheated, and a temp indoor brooder would likely mean I'd have to move MHP outdoors with the chicks in immediate need of it. I guess ideally, to do this, I would have an MHP indoors and one outdoors all set up and warm.

I would like to know if anyone actually puts them right out in the coop after hatching, using MHP and outdoor method.

Thanks everyone!

--Victoria

 

[Serenashome]

The entire room is 91F?? Man, sounds like the bathroom where we brooded the 2012 chicks (with heat lamp). Talk about a WAY too hot room.

If Blooie wasn't such a slacker and had joined BYC 2 years earlier, learned about the MHP method of brooding 2 years earlier and started this thread 2 years earlier, 4 people and 12 chicks would have been a LOT more comfortable.

But I don't hold it against her

If it is 91F only in the aquarium, I would try REAL hard to find a way to drop that into the 60's ASAP. I have to ASSUME that it isn't 91F outside in Indiana this time of year.

OK Temp Check! 91 under the MHP (yesterday for maybe 2 hours it climbed that high), it's sitting at 86 right now and the aquarium is 74, the room is about 67.

 

[aart]

Quote: I'd turn it down.

 

[Blooie]

Thank you!  Wow sounds very challenging.  Ok, so I might consider a couple of days indoors as an option since that seems to be a popular idea. I lean toward that, myself, but I also like the idea of having MHP all set up and preheated, and a temp indoor brooder would likely mean I'd have to move MHP outdoors with the chicks in immediate need of it.  I guess ideally, to do this, I would have an MHP indoors and one outdoors all set up and warm.

I would like to know if anyone actually puts them right out in the coop after hatching, using MHP and outdoor method.

Thanks everyone!

--Victoria

The earliest I've put one out was when we put Sluf out last week. He went out the day after hatching. He was a lone chick so I brought both of the Bantams in to keep him company for a day. He watched them eat, drink, and use MHP, and he did whatever they did, so I knew he was probably good to go, even though the other chicks out there were a couple of weeks older. I now have 2 heating pads, the large one for outside and a smaller one I pop into a dog crate for indoors. They're not indoors that long anyway. Sweet Pea and Yokel, the first two we hatched here, were only inside 2 days.

@Ridgerunner puts them out as soon as they are dry and fluffed. Don't know if he puts them out as he takes them out after drying or waits until all are hatched, but seems to me you could just stagger it with no problems. They won't squabble in there because they're all the same age. You could PM him and ask - he's always been really good about helping people out. He uses a heat lamp but the pad would be the same I think

I'd turn it down.

Agreed.

And quit saying all that "Blooie is always right" garbage. Nope, nope, and nope, and I don't wanna be anyway! This wasn't even my idea, you goofballs!!

 

[csneill]

Not surprised! Blooie has this all figured out - you just need to trust her and believe!

Oh I had no doubt about that!!