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

[aart]

... I hate to see chicks brooded in rubber maid totes, because there's very little room for them to act like chicks want and need to act!

SHM...I Know, Right??!! Especially with a heat lamp overhead!! Shake My Head right off my neck!

We need a 'NO TOTES' Brigade.......the next idiocy to abolish now that we've taken care of the evil heat lamps.

 

[woods79]

You're already ahead of the curve by choosing to use a HP instead of a heat lamp! The other thing that will put you at the top of your chick game will be to have a brooder that provides plenty of room for them to move around and play. I hate to see chicks brooded in rubber maid totes, because there's very little room for them to act like chicks want and need to act!

This years chick will have plenty of room as we do not have other chickens so for the first few weeks I am sectioning them off in a 3' x 4' area I can expand it if need or just let them have the entire coop 8' x 8' we have a 4' x 8' storage and to me brooding area on the main door side. Next year I will build a free standing brooder for the next set of chicks.


I did reset my thermometer on a pan just under the pad. On #6 it was reading 110 deg F where it will be in the coop it will cool faster in the evening so plenty of room to play with temps.

 

[lalaland]

Yeah, I think you are all right about getting them down to the ground. I planned to have them on ground after the first week, but will move them today.

This morning, every single chick was under the MHP - air temp in the brooder was 48.

That is so interesting that the the brown green tarps are cooler temp wise - who would have thought? I've got the billboard tarp on half the coop - thinking the roost end should be protected from rain and sun. I'm going to move it over a few inches from the end so there is an opening on top to allow more air flow. The sides can be rolled up. The 2nd half of the hoop coop has a brown tarp, more for the babies protection, and not intended to be permanent.

I'm a little nervous about the 2x4 openings in the welded wire fencing that covers the cattle panels. There is a 3' hardware cloth covering around the bottom of the panels, but then only the welded wire fencing. So a coon or fox couldn't get into the coop (also fencing skirting the coop on the ground so nothing can dig under), but a weasel surely could.

 

[Beekissed]

That is so interesting that the the brown green tarps are cooler temp wise - who would have thought?

I've tried the silver/brown and the brown/green, but the green/blue seemed to perform heads and shoulders above those two....instantly cooler by several degrees when I took one off and applied the other. Maybe the green/blue diffuses the light better? Could be why the world is half green, half blue.....

 

[Beekissed]

This years chick will have plenty of room as we do not have other chickens so for the first few weeks I am sectioning them off in a 3' x 4' area I can expand it if need or just let them have the entire coop 8' x 8' we have a 4' x 8' storage and to me brooding area on the main door side. Next year I will build a free standing brooder for the next set of chicks.


I did reset my thermometer on a pan just under the pad. On #6 it was reading 110 deg F where it will be in the coop it will cool faster in the evening so plenty of room to play with temps.

Don't know if you are finished with your nest boxes or not, but you'll be wishing you had a board across that front to hold the nesting materials in and also a roost bar out in front of the nests for ease in mounting up and walking into the boxes. Also might run into problems with them if they are higher than any of your roosts....young birds in with older flock members will tend to hide out in the nest boxes if they are level with or higher than the lowest roosts and they will leave behind a very dirty nest. Gets to be a pain if you want clean eggs.

I like your good and sturdy construction and also your ventilation.....makes for a nice coop.

 

[lazy gardener]

Don't know why your quote didn't quote. Re: 2 x 4 at top of HC, those openings will be quite the invite to rats and weasels. Especially weasels. They can wipe out an entire flock in a single night just for the sport of it. A small weasel can squeeze through an opening the size of a quarter.

 

[woods79]

Don't know if you are finished with your nest boxes or not, but you'll be wishing you had a board across that front to hold the nesting materials in and also a roost bar out in front of the nests for ease in mounting up and walking into the boxes. Also might run into problems with them if they are higher than any of your roosts....young birds in with older flock members will tend to hide out in the nest boxes if they are level with or higher than the lowest roosts and they will leave behind a very dirty nest. Gets to be a pain if you want clean eggs.

I like your good and sturdy construction and also your ventilation.....makes for a nice coop.

these pics were taken a week ago I have since put a front on the nesting boxes and a roost rail... I was thinking the same thing about the nesting boxes being higher than some of the roost and the chickens staying in them. I am currently thinking of lowering them from the 20 inches off the floor to 12 inches off the floor

 

[Murphy212]

No problem, glad to help.
I wouldn't count on the littles taking a place on the main roost until they start laying, even then they will likely still be subordinates in the pecking order.
But you never know with chickens<shrugs>

Some of my 9 week olds have been roosting on the far end of one of the main roosts, but only because none of the bigs like that spot.

"you never know with chickens" truer words were never spoken. My 7 bigs have a whole 8 ft roost. Before the littles moved in, they all slept at one end all bunched together. Leaving plenty of room, Now...they spread themselves out so there is no room for the littles. Crazy Chickens!!! (I think they do it on purpose) HA
I do hope they move to the roost before they start laying. I have a poop board under the roost that makes cleaning so easy. Where they sleep now is a mess and harder to clean. I don't want to put another poop board in there.
Thanks again.

 

[aart]

Quote: Or maybe because it's getting hotter? Mine usually spread out more if it's hot.
How many littles? 8 feet is good for 8 birds(they often sleep on less, but use that room to settle in)

 

[bruceha2000]

No problem, glad to help.
I wouldn't count on the littles taking a place on the main roost until they start laying, even then they will likely still be subordinates in the pecking order.
But you never know with chickens<shrugs>

Some of my 9 week olds have been roosting on the far end of one of the main roosts, but only because none of the bigs like that spot.

Interesting in that last year my 7 broody raised chicks moved themselves (over a 3 night period when they were 4 weeks old) up to the 4' high roost with the 8 other 3 Y/O hens. But I have WAY more roost space than the MINIMUM 12" per bird. 24' in 2 parallel roosts at 4' high and the broody buster support frame (made from 2x4s) also at 4' high that is on a perpendicular wall and is ~2'x4' with a center brace. Figure another 7' of roost. Then there is the 8' roost at 2' high which no bird has used to sleep on, they just stage their starting point on the 4' high roosts.

"you never know with chickens" truer words were never spoken. My 7 bigs have a whole 8 ft roost. Before the littles moved in, they all slept at one end all bunched together. Leaving plenty of room, Now...they spread themselves out so there is no room for the littles. Crazy Chickens!!! (I think they do it on purpose) HA
I do hope they move to the roost before they start laying. I have a poop board under the roost that makes cleaning so easy. Where they sleep now is a mess and harder to clean. I don't want to put another poop board in there.
Thanks again.

You need more roost space, you barely exceed the minimum for 7 birds as it is.