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

[Leahs Mom]

Well, now... I have "log envy".

 

[Finelyfound]

Well, with 25 chicks in a 25x25 cave open on three sides I sadly had 2 crushed babies this morning. They were both in the center of the cave, so I don't think the open sides would have helped them. One of them was the chick that had become obsessed with my 6yr old son's bandaid and wouldn't leave him alone, he will be very disappointed when he comes home.
Short of breaking the brood into two smaller groups and giving each group one heating pad over half of a 25x25 cave I'm not sure what I can do to prevent this from happening again.
Saturday and Sunday are supposed to be a low of 39 so I suspect they will be huddling especially close to keep warm on those nights. Last night was a low in the mid 50s.
Any advice would be appreciated
Thank you,
Jocelyn

 

[Leahs Mom]

@Finelyfound

Could you post a photo of how it is configured now?

I am wondering if you could put it end-to-end so that is half deep (12.5).

I'm thinking that would give you 12ish deep and 50ish long.... Then maybe separate the 2 ends from each other with a gap just large enough for them to get out there also... maybe 3-4" apart.

 

[azygous]

Yesterday, at age three-days old, I introduced the sod tray. It was an instant success. I was careful to include some earth worms in the damp soil for added interest, although I don't believe those tiny feet have been able to penetrate the heavy clay soil to expose any yet. But they sure are having a ball scratching around in it.


I had one case of pasty butt yesterday. It was the smallest one that I was worried about from the start because she always seemed to hang back under MHP when the others were out running around. She seems healthy and plenty active now, though.

It dawned on me yesterday that two of them, the lighter colored ones, don't have slate colored feet. Junebuggena, do some EE chicks have white legs? If the hatchery made a mistake, I'm in for a surprise as they develop.

 

[Blooie]

I'm not @junebuggena but I have an EE out there right now which had very light colored legs as a young chick. They darkened as she got older. They still are not a truly slate or green color, but she sure lays pretty blue eggs. If the stupid rain ever stops I'll try to go out and grab a photo of her.

They DO love that sod, don't they? It's so comical to watch them. Around here it goes the same way every time with every batch of chicks. I put the sod clump in (don't have a container for it - I should think about that - and they run like auld Cooty was after them. They huddle in a group and stare at it, waiting for it to rise up and get 'em! Then one will edge in, give it a peck, then two, then dig in. Within seconds here come the rest of them and it's a free-for-all!!

@Finelyfound I am so sorry you lost 2 chicks, and to have one be your son's favorite makes it doubly hard. I don't know what could have happened - I still use the cave configuration so I've never had chicks using the open sides concept. The most chicks I've had at one time under MHP was 15 so I'm also not familiar with brooding so many at once. I sure hope someone who does use the open sides design can answer your question on how to prevent it from happening again. If the sides are open, the chicks on the outside of the chick pile might have tried to get as far away from the open area as possible, and those two got crushed in the center. Perhaps putting a towel over the top that drapes down the sides, holding in heat right to the edge, and giving that feeling of closed in security might help. Since the sides would just be loose, soft fabric, they wouldn't have any hard sides to get trapped against, but it still provides the feeling of being all they way under something. That's all I can think of. I'm so sorry.

 

[aart]

I want to weigh in re: age of integration. When I first joined BYC, I followed the party line: NEVER integrate chicks into the flock until they are as big as the adults... or almost so. 12 weeks was given as the golden standard. So, that's what I did. Integration went ok. Nothing spectacular. Then, MHP entered the scene, along with the increased ease of brooding chicks in the coop. Many of us found that integration went MUCH better when integrating youngsters... (my preference is to integrate between 3 and 6 weeks of age, and the more chicks being integrated, the easier it is) These littles are no where near being sexually mature, and therefore are not considered a threat to the pecking order. They are small enough that they aren't considered any kind of threat. Many of the hens respond to them the way they would to a pesky fly. And the littles are small enough that they can run circles around the older birds.

Re: feed: If calcium in layer feed were an issue, many of us would have chicks dropping dead. Or our hens would not survive to become healthy geriatric hens. And, what about the roosters who all live their whole lives on layer feed. How often do you see a sick rooster? As far as calcium goes, I venture to make an extremely uneducated guess that there is a heavy load of calcium in the diet of any chicken of any age who gets any amount of free range time. Many greens are very high in calcium. Ever seen a chicken chowing down on soil? Gotta be a fair amount of calcium there also. Bugs? Bet those tough exoskeletons are also loaded with it. That being the case, why is it that free range chickens are more healthy??? My preference when raising chicks is to switch the whole flock over to a multi flock feed (with oyster shell and egg shells on the side). If that's not available, I would choose grower. The ONLY reason that I EVER purchase layer feed is b/c it is less expensive.

Agrees that brooding in coop and integrating young/small is very cool...glad to have participated in the 'new' way.

Calcium won't kill them dead right off that bat, no...but it can be detrimental to long term health, kidneys, gout.
Chicks, non layers, and cocks don't need that extra calcium in layer feed, so why feed it to them?
I feed grower, starter, all flock, what ever, because I want a higher protein (which is why it costs more) in the main feed ration.

Well, now... I have "log envy".

Me too.....made a mini chunnel instead.

@Finelyfound

Could you post a photo of how it is configured now?

I am wondering if you could put it end-to-end so that is half deep (12.5).

I'm thinking that would give you 12ish deep and 50ish long.... Then maybe separate the 2 ends from each other with a gap just large enough for them to get out there also... maybe 3-4" apart.

12 x 50 would be better for sure.

 

[junebuggena]

Yesterday, at age three-days old, I introduced the sod tray. It was an instant success. I was careful to include some earth worms in the damp soil for added interest, although I don't believe those tiny feet have been able to penetrate the heavy clay soil to expose any yet. But they sure are having a ball scratching around in it.


I had one case of pasty butt yesterday. It was the smallest one that I was worried about from the start because she always seemed to hang back under MHP when the others were out running around. She seems healthy and plenty active now, though.

It dawned on me yesterday that two of them, the lighter colored ones, don't have slate colored feet. Junebuggena, do some EE chicks have white legs? If the hatchery made a mistake, I'm in for a surprise as they develop.

Easter Eggers 'can' have any color legs, technically. But if they are hatchery sourced, they should have yellow skin with a slate wash, resulting in greenish looking legs. Some take longer to turn green in the legs than others. I've got some 2 week olds that are still developing their 'slate' color. It can also be very difficult to see the skin color at only a few days old. All of my chicks have pinkish/white skin for the first couple days after hatch. Then as they age, the skin color becomes more pronounced.

 

[azygous]

Finelyfound- not all chicks are created equal as far as intelligence. You could have everything set up exactly right and still lose a couple due to "chick suicide". It's devastating emotionally when it happens, I know because it happened to me last May, but you definitely shouldn't blame yourself.

I agree that keeping the metal frame open on the sides and back but bringing the material covering the cave down all the way is best.

I'm wondering if maybe you didn't have enough insulating material on top of the cave for overnight when it got very cold. It may have made for a cave that wasn't projecting enough heat downward, and that's why the chicks piled.

Also, one side of the pad is warmer than the other. I made this mistake again this week and noticed it on the first day and flipped it over to the light tan side with the writing on it facing downward and the red-colored side up. You get a little more heat that way.

 

[Finelyfound]

Thank you. the open sides are low and covered with a towel, so not drafty, but no one can be crushed against the side with no escape. I think what I am going to do is a larger version of what another post did. Sorry I don't remember who posted the photos. I am going to go get a wire shelf that is 12" wide and 4' long. Then I will make the legs like the other poster did. Wish me luck.

 

[azygous]

Thanks June and Blooie for the reassurance over my doubts about my light legged EE chicks. I'm not nearly as paranoid over getting the wrong breed as I would be if I thought I had a couple of cockerels. Last summer was a very paranoid one indeed.

These four chicks are proving to be as precocious as EEs I've had in the past. It's one of the reasons I love EEs so much, besides the gorgeous eggs. These girls are already mobbing the meal worm carton and helping themselves to the worms when I open it down on their level.