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

[Nathan J]

I just went out there again and heard cheeping. So I peeked in and about half were piled in the corner away from the MHP and half were underneath it. Go figure. The heating pad was on Hi and I turned it down to Med. The temp in the box away from the MHP is about 75 deg. I guess the space heater pointed at it is working better than I thought it would. I didn't expect that.

 

[Texgal57]

I would love to have my chicks in the garbage rather than the house. Do you think the MHP would keep them warm enough?

 

[junebuggena]

I just went out there again and heard cheeping. So I peeked in and about half were piled in the corner away from the MHP and half were underneath it. Go figure. The heating pad was on Hi and I turned it down to Med. The temp in the box away from the MHP is about 75 deg. I guess the space heater pointed at it is working better than I thought it would. I didn't expect that.

Oh yeah, it's probably too warm in there for them. You don't need the space heater on. Contrary to everything you may have read in books about keeping chickens, chicks do not need to be protected from cool temps. They just need a place to get warm if and when they need to. I've had hens take their 3 day old chicks out on 40* days, raining and blowing wind. Chicks were perfectly happy to zoom in and out of mom's feathers.

 

[junebuggena]

I would love to have my chicks in the garbage rather than the house. Do you think the MHP would keep them warm enough?

I brood mine out in an unfinished room next to the garage. The concrete floor keeps it at about a constant 40 to 50 degrees, perfect for getting them used to outdoor temps. And many have used the heating pad directly out in the coop, even in freezing temps.

 

[Blooie]

I brood mine out in an unfinished room next to the garage. The concrete floor keeps it at about a constant 40 to 50 degrees, perfect for getting them used to outdoor temps. And many have used the heating pad directly out in the coop, even in freezing temps.

That would be me......

All things considered, I think it's really important not to go outside your own comfort zone. @Texgal57 so much depends on your temperatures and that all important comfort zone. You don't say where your chicks are coming from, but anyone who gets chicks via shipping should be sure that they aren't suffering any shipping stress - immediate or delayed - so even with as many times as I've used MHP I wouldn't take them out immediately to the garage. You want to know they are eating, drinking, and know where the heat is and how to access it. I set up MHP temporarily in the house, in a room where I can turn off all the lights so they sleep in the dark under the pad, and watch for those things. Then in a day or so, I just unplug the frame, take out the entire assembly, and put it where I'm going to brood the chicks.

As for the other poster (sorry, name escapes me and my brain is a little fogged tonight on a new med) I agree that it might be a just a little too warm...especially with the space heater out there.

 

[debid]

I would love to have my chicks in the garbage rather than the house.  Do you think the MHP would keep them warm enough?

Mine are out in a coop and started there when I got them (at 3 days old). We've had lows in the 20s all the way to highs in the low 80s. The MHP is warm enough without overheating the coop. I go out to check on them and find them playing in their run in sub-freezing weather. Heck, they thought the snow was great fun!

ETA: I buy my chicks from a local source. They've never been shipped so I'll bow to Blooie's cautions there. I did block off the access to the run for the first few days and watched them until I was satisfied they were capable.

 

[oldhen2345]

The box is a wardrobe box I got from U haul. I got the braces with it. They are supposed to hold clothes LOL. I put it on it's side and cut the top off. I taped the ends down so they would not come apart. It's kinda big for the four chicks, but these were a surprise. I went to a friend's house and her neighbor has chickens- she lets them run all over the neighborhood. They lay eggs inmy friend's garage and she gathered up the eggs from the day I visited and gave them to me- I incubated them and presto- cuteness. I made the box for my set of day old chicks coming at the end of April. now the thing has been broken in and works well. Yay. I am all ready.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Oh yeah, it's probably too warm in there for them. You don't need the space heater on. Contrary to everything you may have read in books about keeping chickens, chicks do not need to be protected from cool temps. They just need a place to get warm if and when they need to. I've had hens take their 3 day old chicks out on 40* days, raining and blowing wind. Chicks were perfectly happy to zoom in and out of mom's feathers.

I just went out there again and heard cheeping. So I peeked in and about half were piled in the corner away from the MHP and half were underneath it. Go figure. The heating pad was on Hi and I turned it down to Med. The temp in the box away from the MHP is about 75 deg. I guess the space heater pointed at it is working better than I thought it would. I didn't expect that.

Nathan J - junebuggena is right, sounds like it's too warm & space heater not needed. Think they'll be happier under Med, it's not the temp in the box that keeps them warm, it's them snuggling against the MHP, like they would with a Hen.

 

[Nathan J]

To be clear, the only reason I have the space heaters out there is that it was forecast to be in the teens overnight and the chicks weren't going back under MHP themselves. So I wanted a bit of insurance against all that by keeping the garage temp up some (kind of like bringing them into the house).

Right now it's 39 deg in the garage, 15 deg outside, and 65 deg in the box, away from MHP. And the heating pad is on Med.

So anyway, I just went out to check on them (almost 6 am CDT) and it was all quiet. Well, that's either very good, or very bad, right? They're fine. 14 of 16 were huddled against the side of the box again, and 2 were under MHP. Ah well. At least it seems that they were warm enough.

I put them all under MHP again and left the light off. I'll check on them again in a while and turn their light on.

 

[Nathan J]

So, another update on my saga (if anybody cares

). I went back out about an hour & 20 later and they were all still under MHP. Just a little soft cheeping as I pulled back the cover and let some light in. But nobody came out. I did some cleaning up and used some cardboard to make their world a bit smaller, as advised by @Shezadandy . They still didn't come out. No problem. I haven't turned on their light so the garage light is just providing some soft light, kind of like a dawn effect. I'll turn theirs on after I get done here.

I've been feeding them fermented chick starter on a couple of food container lids and I have dry in a feeder. They've barely touched the dry and crowd around the fermented/wet. So that's good, as the reverse is sometimes a problem, apparently (I think?). I also put some Nutri-Drench in their water, as well as ACV, garlic, honey. I'm still trying to get a sense of just how much mess to allow in their food; balancing waste vs. sanitation. They do like to stand in it, don't they? Surprisingly little poop in there though, as far as I've can tell.

I was going to put a drop of the Nutri-Drench in their mouths upon first arrival but that quickly went by the wayside. There was no way I was going to make that happen with that big dropper and my somewhat clumsy (aka newby) handling of them! So I gave up after dripping a bunch on the first one without a bit going in his little mouth.

I'm sure it's possible, but not with me right now! Interesting scent to that stuff. Not offensive, just unique. (vitamin-y smell, now that I think about it; duh).

Sorry for lack of pictures but I don't have a smartphone (shocking, right? how do I live?

) and so taking and posting pictures is a big hassle that just doesn't fit in right now.

Edited to add: I've got 5 Barred Rocks, 5 Black Australorps, and 6 Golden Comets (they sent an extra), from Cackle Hatchery. They shipped on Monday and I got them at 3 pm on Tuesday, for those wondering. They are all in good shape so far, active, etc. Hopefully that continues.