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

[aart]

I always get confused but it's either @aart or @azygous -or both- who make huddle boxes. It's a cardboard box with a chick sized opening in one side, and you set it out there upside down on the floor of the coop. You can fill the floor of it with hay or straw, and I think she used some kind of reflective insulation on the inside. I'm hoping someone will wander in here and help me get my foot out of my mouth now...... You might have to kinda stuff the chicks in there and hold your hand over it until they figure out that it's dry, safe and getting warmer in there, I don't know.

Not sure if @azygous uses one...but I have, here's my blurb on a huddle box.....not sure where I got the idea<shrugs>.
I liked the idea because it replaced the overhead 'security' once they didn't need the pad heat anymore, and blocked any breezes out in large coop.
Make them a 'huddle box', put it in the brooder after turning off the heat(you might have to 'persuade' them to use it) then move it out to the coop with them.
Cardboard box with a bottom a little bigger than what they need to cuddle next to each other without piling and tall enough for them to stand in.
Cut an opening on one side a couple inches from bottom and big enough for 2-3 of them to go thru at once.
Fill the bottom with some pine shavings an inch or so deep.
This will give them a cozy place to sleep/rest, block any drafts and help hold their body heat in.

My pad goes on top of the frame, too. And my grow-out coop is a rabbit hutch, so it really is just a big huddle box.

Yep, mine too....it's just simpler IMO.

 

[Blooie]

Not sure if @azygous uses one...but I have, here's my blurb on a huddle box.....not sure where I got the idea<shrugs>.
I liked the idea because it replaced the overhead 'security' once they didn't need the pad heat anymore, and blocked any breezes out in large coop.
Make them a 'huddle box', put it in the brooder after turning off the heat(you might have to 'persuade' them to use it) then move it out to the coop with them.
Cardboard box with a bottom a little bigger than what they need to cuddle next to each other without piling and tall enough for them to stand in.
Cut an opening on one side a couple inches from bottom and big enough for 2-3 of them to go thru at once.
Fill the bottom with some pine shavings an inch or so deep.
This will give them a cozy place to sleep/rest, block any drafts and help hold their body heat in.


Yep, mine too....it's just simpler IMO.

One of these days you two are going to disown me for not being able to remember who did what - but regardless a huddle box makes perfect sense and I'm glad that info is out there! At least I'm now able to link to your thread successfully, so I'm making progress!!

Pad over the frame is definitely simpler. I keep the "day care" brooder that way. It's just temporary anyway because it's only in use in the house until the chicks know how to eat, drink, and duck under MHP, or if one is stressed from a rough hatch or shipping. In the outdoor brooder where they head right after that first 24 hours or so, I did switch to the pad underneath. I read the stories of trapped chicks and since I'm not out there a lot I wouldn't know for some time if a suicidal chick had managed to get stuck, so it made sense. Neither is "right" or "wrong" - just what works!

 

[ShannonO]

MHP Check request: how is this height? They've been home all of about ten minutes. A few have eaten and drank. All just went silent!

 

[ShannonO]

Wow. Totally silent. All are under there of their own accord.

 

[Blooie]

Looks right to me, @ShannonO and if they are sleeping contentedly that's a good sign!! We're just not used to the sound of silent chicks!

 

[debid]

Happy chicks! I might bend it to increase the arch but that's entirely my cave style preference. I have several breeds and one a week younger so a more varied shape suits their more varied heights. ETA: If you are going to tweak it, I wouldn't today. They need the rest after shipping.

 

[aart]

Wow. Totally silent. All are under there of their own accord.

Looks good!

 

[ShannonO]

Thank you all!

Five or six just hopped out, grabbed some water and food, then went back under MHP. Not what I was expecting based on reading stories about travel-weary babies. (I bought from a feed store.)

 

[aart]

Thank you all!

Five or six just hopped out, grabbed some water and food, then went back under MHP. Not what I was expecting based on reading stories about travel-weary babies. (I bought from a feed store.)

Some come thru the travel better than others.

 

[DonnaFreak]

 Sorry for delay, I didn't see your response here.  Yes, that would be great!  I just think the article would really help, and if you've already got that going, I love your writing style and you are actually more in touch with all the changes in best practice than I am.  I think it would help a lot with certain repetitive questions if the info got concentrated. 

If there is anything I can help with, maybe reading it over for you when it's ready before posting, I'm more than happy to help.  I am a technical writer/indexer by trade, try not to be too rigid on myself with perfection in online posting, but I do work as a freelance in publishing so would be happy to support in any way. Would be thrilled to see the article come out.

--Victoria

Is this in the works, or will it take a while? Im just wondering, since my chicks will be here in a month! Im too busy trying to get my coop ready, along with FOUR other major projects all going on at the same time to go through all nearly 900 posts to find the latest info! This is our first spring in our new home, so im trying to get my coop ready, getting my garden spot ready, theyre putting down the new linoleum in our kitchen right at this moment, people will be coming this week to run electricity to a spare garage in our back yard which will become my quilting studio, and I'm training my new puppy! WHEW!! Any help in getting the latest/best info would be very much appreciated!

Donna