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

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chfriedmam said:
We are getting a box of chicks in a couple weeks and I'm also in la area, lows in the mid 60s lately. I am wondering if I could get away with using a seedling mat or two with some sort of "cave" inside our coop. It does seem like it will be so much better for their development to just start out in the coop. PS no other chickens to integrate with.

Despite what everyone says, the heating pad touching plastic wrap and blankets makes me nervous. Those pad have a shut off valve because they've killed lots of people in the past setting beds on fire.
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heating pads, like any electrical item, can cause fires if the cord gets frayed or the covering on the wire gets cut. Most heating pad fires happen when the interior wires get broken which can happen if the pad is folded hard, or if it gets too old and gets brittle.

Personally, I think the risk of a new heating pad, used gently (don't crimp it hard with clamps, watch those bungee cords, don't fold, etc) causing a fire is pretty darn low, and definitely lower than a heating lamp.


In case anyone is interested, a great, safe way to store your pad is to hang it from a skirt or trouse hanger - the kind that has built in clips that you clip to the edge of the fabric cover. Hang it up somewhere out of the way, and you won't have to worry about bending and breaking the interior heating wires.
 
dyorto said:
I was just out admiring how handsome my rooster was getting at 13 weeks. We have had a few raccoons spotted around so I've purposely been locking the birds up early. My run has a chicken wire fence but isn't secure. Tonight I went out while it was still light out and found all the girls in the roost and my rooster no where to be found.
After searching around I did catch a glimpse of a raccoon and found several of my rooster feathers.
I know I'm going to have to trap and shoot the raccoons, but do I keep the 5 hens confined to the coop until then? I've never had a loss or a predator issue before so any help is helpful. I know I ultimately need a secure run, but that will be a bit
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hugs.gif
Sorry to hear about your roo. We lost a couple of young ones last month. I cockerel, and 1 pullet. We think it was a raccoon, but never saw it. We've tightened up the fencing in the larger run - we could tell where he got in - no losses since then, but we are going to do a more permanent fix this weekend. Unfortunately it isn't something that I can do by myself- I need DH to dig and put in the posts. Then I can handle the rest!
 
We're getting our very first batch of baby chicks in a couple days, and after reading through some of this threat, I want to try the MHP. We are getting 30 chicks. How many can fit under one 12x24 heating pad cave? I have two, and made one deep cave. Will that work? Or should I make two smaller caves? Or will I need more heatin pads? TIA!
 
AlbertaChick said:
We're getting our very first batch of baby chicks in a couple days, and after reading through some of this threat, I want to try the MHP. We are getting 30 chicks. How many can fit under one 12x24 heating pad cave? I have two, and made one deep cave. Will that work? Or should I make two smaller caves? Or will I need more heatin pads? TIA!
Click to expand...



I just did 25 chicks with two 12x24 pads, put end to end - 4 feet long, 12 inches wide. Mine used the MHP for about a week and a half, we had temps at night in the 60's- and they would still use it but I switched to pads on the bottom because I was having trouble with the heavy metal grate that formed the structure- was afraid I would squish a chick.

Now, at 2 weeks, they need the entire space of the two pads. And that is only 25 chicks...

Some have reported that when they had two separate mhps, the chicks would all try to use one and wouldn't use the other.

So, definitely get another pad. I would not try the cave aspect with 30 chicks. On mine, they could enter and exit on all 4 sides, and it worked fine. I used a towel to drape over the edge to keep heat in and to make it more sheltered.

I've heard that if you make a really deep cave, you run the risk of them piling up and smothering. THat is why I did the end to end - but I have to say that 4 feet long is awkward to handle.

You could make it so it was open on both sides, or all 4 sides, and squish the middle down a bit so
 
dyorto said:
I was just out admiring how handsome my rooster was getting at 13 weeks. We have had a few raccoons spotted around so I've purposely been locking the birds up early. My run has a chicken wire fence but isn't secure. Tonight I went out while it was still light out and found all the girls in the roost and my rooster no where to be found.
After searching around I did catch a glimpse of a raccoon and found several of my rooster feathers.
I know I'm going to have to trap and shoot the raccoons, but do I keep the 5 hens confined to the coop until then? I've never had a loss or a predator issue before so any help is helpful. I know I ultimately need a secure run, but that will be a bit
Click to expand...
I'm sorry for your loss. Sounds to me like you need to get the birds in even earlier. "Early" is relative but coons are mostly nocturnal. Bring your birds in by 4pm-ish, before the shadows get long? At least for a while.
 

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