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

[odysseychicken]

I raised my first five chicks last fall with the Mama Heating Pad. The brooder was set up in my house and it was a great success. Now, I am raising my second set of chicks. I am using the Heating Pad again but this time I am raising them in the coop with the other birds. Everything is going well. They are in a cage in the coop. They are just over two weeks old now. When I am home I let them out in the run. They absolutely love that. My hope is that this will make integration easier. So far it has been fine. The big girls do not love the idea. Even though the chicks have been out in the run for a week now my older hens still chase them and scream at them. Some times it seams pretty violent but there has been no blood and the chicks have not been hurt. They have plenty of safe areas to run to.

At two weeks they have feathered out quite a bit. I don't think the ones I raised in the house were as feathered at two weeks. The heating pad has been set to 2 for the last two nights. We may have a drop in temps next week so I might have to bump it up a notch, we will see. So far, the only down side I can see to raising them in the coop and letting them run around the in the run all day is that they are very independent. They are nowhere near as personable as my first batch. I try to handle them as much as possible but they are a little skittish. With my first batch, in the fall, they would get very excited to see me. They would all hop up on my arm, preen for a while, then go to sleep on me. These new ones will hop on my hand for a second or two if they are in their cage. If they are in the run? Forget about it. There are too many way more interesting things to do. They don't come running to me and are sort of a challenge to wrangle back into their cage in the evening. I guess this is the trade off. I am hoping that when they are grown they will at least not be afraid of me when I approach them. My older girls come running when they hear the screen door and they will follow me around the yard. Once the new ones are big enough to hang out in the yard with them I hope they will pick up these traits as well.

These pictures were taken four days ago (about two weeks old). They are even more feathered now.

 

[odysseychicken]

I should also add that I put these chicks into the coop (in their own cage) with the adults the same day they arrived from the hatchery. No issues.

 

[azygous]

• odysseychicken -

Are these new chicks a different breed than last years? That can make a huge difference.

I'm raising my new chicks exactly the same way as last years, but they are a different breed. This year I have all EEs and they are fearless, calm and quiet. Last year I had a combination of three different type of Marans and Cream Legbars. They weren't as in to interacting with people and they still are aloof. Maybe the Copper Marans is coming around, but the rest do not enjoy being handled any more than they did as chicks.

 

[ShanandGem]

Hatched on day 19 (Wed) and is STILL waiting for some siblings to show up! She has a duck stuffie and a her MHP so she is pretty content for now, although she does call a couple of times a day for someone to come down and keep her company.

 

[odysseychicken]

• odysseychicken -

Are these new chicks a different breed than last years? That can make a huge difference.

I'm raising my new chicks exactly the same way as last years, but they are a different breed. This year I have all EEs and they are fearless, calm and quiet. Last year I had a combination of three different type of Marans and Cream Legbars. They weren't as in to interacting with people and they still are aloof. Maybe the Copper Marans is coming around, but the rest do not enjoy being handled any more than they did as chicks.

Yes. I thought of that as well. My first were three Buff Orpingtons and two Black Australorps. My new ones are one Golden Laced Wyandotte and two others that are either Welsummers or Brown Leghorns (we are hoping they are Welsummers). I know that different breeds have different personalities but the fact is that they see us a lot less than the ones in the house did. Half the time I am handling the new ones it is after chasing them and then shoving them in their cage. So, their association with me is different than the first set. I am sure once they are older and know that I am the one who brings the snacks they will learn to come to me.

 

[saraem]

It's best to give a cockerel a chance to gain some size and self confidence before sending him off to live with a new flock. I wait until he's at least 10 weeks old, preferably closer to four months.

Thanks! I'm still crossing my fingers that we've got all pullets, but it's not looking good!

 

[aart]

Quote: I agree chicks are much less 'friendly' when raised in the coop than in the house.....just because it is less comfortable for me to spend as much time with them.

EE leg color....I've got five 6wo EE pullets....they are all so different...but one has amazingly dark legs, almost black...will be curious to see how that evolves.

 

[Nariah01]

Well I turned my heat off last night and so far everyone is still ok. Having never brooded chicks any other way I have nothing to compare it too but this way seems super low key and very relaxed.

 

[Finelyfound]

THANK YOU Azygous!!!! I didn't even think that the heating pad might be warmer on one side. One was wire down the other was not. I am going to look at a wire shelf, but still feel like the one they have now is ample space and every inch of it is covered with a heating pad so if they are cold a different shape won't necessarily prevent them from squishing the chicks in the middle.
I initially didn't put too too much insulation on top because I was worried that multiple towels covered with straw might absorb more heat. I will add another towel and more straw for insulation. I'm really worried now since we are going to be having cooler temps the next couple of nights.
It's funny, I ordered 5 more chicks than I "needed" because I figured I might lose one or two in transit or they might be sick when they arrived. Problem is now I'm attached to ALL of them and I feel horrible that I might have contributed to their being crushed. I know there is a learning curve and I really did do my homework before getting chickens so hopefully I will make very few mistakes due to ignorance, but I still feel awful, poor babies.

 

[Finelyfound]

Azygous. The cave now has 3 bath towels folded in half on top of the heating pads (previously only one folded bath towel) all topped with straw. The heating pads are inside of a jersey cotton pillow cases for protection. I'm going to add some fresh shavings under the cave with a little straw and hope for the best. I did purchase a 36x12 frame, but I'm not convinced it would be an improvement, I still think the chicks in the middle of the huddle could get crushed. Hopefully if it's warmer under there they won't huddle so close together.