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

[ChickNanny13]

Not sure where you are but I got mine at Canadian Tire.

Not sure anyone answered but Amazon has one, Sunbeam 732-500 under $20, I just ordered one.

 

[ChickNanny13]

At 8 weeks, it is safe to say this is a girl?
EEs are so confusing to me

Odd comb....not sure it's pure pea, maybe modified pea...sure is red, which say cockerel to me.
Sometimes you have to wait until 3-4 months for hackle and saddle feathers to grow in.

Looks Cockerel, interesting coloring.

 

[Skink]

A poor man's EcoGlow! This idea is a life saver.. lightbulbs are not only dangerous but a MONEY SINK. I can't tell you how many I've had blow this year alone! And always at the most inopportune times!!!

 

[aart]

.......I ordered all pullets with this order to compensate for the bad odds with the straight run order. We had a Cooper's hawk that reduced the flock by three so the bigs don't get as much free range time as they had been. I've walked out twice now and caught it sitting on the fence eyeing the run. The side of me that knows he's just doing what birds of prey do and the side that seeks vengeance for the lost chickens are arguing (in OK I can legally kill him as he's become a nuciance to my livestock but that is always my last resort). .....

I don't think killing birds of prey in any state is legal(it's a national law) without a permit, which are very hard to get even if you can prove livestock loss.
As far as I know, all hawks, owls, eagles are protected.

 

[lazy gardener]

Looks Cockerel, interesting coloring.

Agreed. Too pink to be a girl at that age.

I don't think killing birds of prey in any state is legal(it's a national law) without a permit, which are very hard to get even if you can prove livestock loss.
As far as I know, all hawks, owls, eagles are protected.

You can kill a predator bird with permit.

 

[aart]

Quote: Yes, as I stated.......bird of prey permits are very difficult to obtain. Even commercial enterprises have difficulty, let alone BYCers.
Best remedy, if you care to go that way, is SSS.

 

[jrjoplin]

I don't think killing birds of prey in any state is legal(it's a national law) without a permit, which are very hard to get even if you can prove livestock loss.
 As far as I know, all hawks, owls, eagles are protected.

Below is the OK statute regarding birds of prey.

Statute Text
A. Except as otherwise provided, no person may knowingly and willfully, by means of any device, molest, injure or kill any species of hawk, falcon, owl or eagle, their nests, eggs or young.

B. Birds exempt from this provision are:

1. Any species of hawk or owl in the act of destroying domestic birds or fowl;

2. Any species of hawk, falcon, owl or eagle, except those species prohibited by federal law, when taken by a licensed falconer for use in the practice of falconry, as provided in Section 29-5-206[29-5-206] of this Code.

---

As I stated before I do everything I can to remedy the situation before taking such drastic measures but it is a legal option if necessary. It is always a touchy subject and in hind sight probably best not brought up on a brooding thread.

 

[aart]

Quote: Got a link?

 

[jrjoplin]

I can link to Title 29 of the statute but not to the specific section. Unless I go to a third party site but then it's not on the states site. The section that addresses this is §29-5-410.

Oklahoma Title 29

 

[Blooie]

I said I'd be back to this thread after I'd experimented using the MHP with goslings. The results are varied.

Let me explain. I set my MHP up keeping the newly hatched goslings my neighbor had in mind. It looked great. Four ducklings and 3 goslings were ordered. Then my goslings arrived. Metzers sent me an extra Super African and neighbor asked me to take in one of her goslings that was smaller than her others which made for 5 geese. The Super Africans were easily triple, maybe quadruple the size of the neighbor's gosling. So out came the heat lamp as they wouldn't fit. I redid everything and set it up again. It worked for a few days. Those Super African goslings grow fast. They were looking over the top of the 7 foot long 2 feet deep stock tank I have them in at 2 1/2 weeks old. They take up easily 1/3 of the tank when they are laying down. They are big but they are still babies and need some heat as the weather has been chilly and damp here.

So does the MHP work with goslings. I'd say it depends. It depends on the number of goslings, the breed of goslings, and whether you also have smaller birds like ducklings in with them. If I had a small breed of geese I'd still be using the MHP. My neighbor who has raised other breeds of geese for years has never seen anything like the Super Africans. We refer to them as "The Monsters" now due to their huge size. Neighbors come over every few days just to gawked at the monsters and shake their heads in amazement.

So my experiment was kind of a failure. I am going to give it a try with the next batch of birds I get, but will be more careful as to what type I get. Wish it would have worked out better as I think it's a wonderful way to raise the babies.

I am so glad you reported back. I don't think there was any trace of "failure" in it! We were all curious about how this would work with goslings knowing the body shape is so different in them than in chicks - they are taller with much longer necks while chicks tend to be short and squat. @Jensownzoo suspension system seems to be the answer for raising them with MHP. I"m so glad you tried it and doubly glad you remembered to post back with your results. HOWEVER...all that said.....dying to see photos here!

My EE pullets are now 3 weeks old. I removed the HP and left them under MamaFenceAndTowel.

Until the cold front came through last night, they were roosting on the perch I gave them. Tonight when I closed up the coop shed, they were all snuggled in the cave.





Since I'm new to this, can someone please let me know if this is on track for feathering out at 3 weeks? They look fine to me but then, I've been wrong before.

They look great to me!! I think that stage where they want the cave but not the heat is so funny - can you say "creatures of habit"? That is my best reminder that they have indeed learned to control their own comfort level rather than being stuck with a heat lamp still glaring on them because the books say they still need it at 3 weeks!

Look who's all integrated already!
I opened the portals a couple days ago, just after Thelma, Louise, Lucy, and Ethyl turned two weeks. I just let them into the adjoining pen for starters, without the adults, so they could learn how the portals work. Then yesterday, I opened all of them. Most of the adults are ho-hum regarding the chicks, and the one or two who insist on pulling rank aren't enough to dampen the chicks' spirits. They just fly up onto that perch you see behind me, and all's good.

Sight for sore eyes, @azygous Those portals are priceless and will be a forever part of my set up too! I may change things up from time to time, but those portals are invaluable for integration. The first chicks I hatched out - Yokel, Wilbur (formerly known as Sweet Pea) and Sluf, along with the 6 I bought them for company, are now fully integrated, living full time with the adults. But the goofy things found a gap between the brooder pen and the outer wall of the run, so at night they are still dashing back there. But they do use all the roosts during the daytime, so it won't be long before they don't need that corner anymore either. I didn't think any of the chicks in the new batch of shipped eggs would hatch, so I ordered a few more pullets from MPC, and they are now in the brooder pen. The same day they came, the Silkie eggs I got for Katie started hatching and I got a pretty decent hatch from them! So she has her 7 Silkies. (We actually hatched out 9 from the 14 eggs that went into lockdown, but lost 2 little yellow ones.)

I've got a new batch of chicks in the brooder. Using my same setup as I didn't have a chance to do the reworks. The brooder is out in my shed and even with opening it up as much as possible it's about 70-80 degrees. The chicks run in and out of the MHP but don't linger in there like the chicks in March did. Still, they are mostly quiet and content. I do have one that has quite a set of lungs on her. I can hear her from about 30 yards away but each time I check on her she quiets down and is fine. I did rearrange the layout of the brooder so there is more open space. I'll try to get some pictures of the new batch. Since they arent up at the house I have to make a note to take the camera as I still have issues getting phone pictures to upload.

I ordered all pullets with this order to compensate for the bad odds with the straight run order. We had a Cooper's hawk that reduced the flock by three so the bigs don't get as much free range time as they had been. I've walked out twice now and caught it sitting on the fence eyeing the run. The side of me that knows he's just doing what birds of prey do and the side that seeks vengeance for the lost chickens are arguing (in OK I can legally kill him as he's become a nuciance to my livestock but that is always my last resort). From my original batch of 26 i have 14 left. The largest drop was from the death and then early processing of the meat birds that were sent with my order. MMM sent 8 Pioneers that started dying off at 7 weeks. From asking around it looks like i was overfeeding them so i processed 4 of them early but have kept the smallest to see how she does (the fact that she's one of my few hens tipped the balance in her favor). Of the 14 from that batch i have 5 hens. Of the 9 roosters only 1 gets to remain intact. I've got it narrowed down to 3; the SLW, the White Wyandote, and the Dark Cornish. I have SLW and DC hens so the WW probably won't be the winner but he's an impressive looking bird and about as friendly as you could hope for.

I appear to be rambling so I'll let you all get back to your MHPs.

Rambling works......we don't mind rambling!! I have a screamer too. Nothing wrong with her - she's just fine. She's just very demanding! Silly chickens!

A poor man's EcoGlow! This idea is a life saver.. lightbulbs are not only dangerous but a MONEY SINK. I can't tell you how many I've had blow this year alone! And always at the most inopportune times!!!

Well, climb aboard the Broody Brigade train! Sure has been a lifesaver for many of us, and the chicks thrive!