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

[lazy gardener]

Quote:
You are very right, Blooie (of course). I discovered that sometimes a heat lamp must be used. I used it on my 40 (apparently not 41!) babies right after they had hatched to watch for any malformations/splayed leg and failure to thrive. It is hard to see these things when they are itty bitty like that and just stay under the MHP the whole time. It broke my heart to have to hook it up, but realistically, I had not made an MHP big enough anyway. They soon after went out to the coop brooder where there were then two MHP and plenty of room for them to run around.

But I hate heat lamps! Almost burned down my chicken coup and the 15 or so chickens inside it when it fell to the straw floor. Was starting to smolder the plywood floor when I discovered it! Sooo scary!
How did it work for you having 2 MHP in the coop brooder with 40 chicks? I am (hopefully) expecting that many in mid-April. I have an XL and a L pad 12 x 15 and 12 x 24 (I think) I am debating hooking the two together into an XXL (39 x 12) instead of using 2 separate MHP. Thoughts???

 

[Blooie]

I think Fire Ant Farm did it for more than the usual number of chicks, LG...There are several posts about it somewhere about 3-4 weeks ago (somewhere between pages 858 and 865 but I can't remember precisely now) and I think two pads were used. If I wasn't heading out the door for an eye appointment I'd look it up for you...

 

[10AcreChick]

 

 

 
Go figure.  It's amazing the kind of nonsense people can be talked into believing against their own common sense.

Try telling these people (staunch heat lamp advocates) that they should keep a light shining on their baby at night and it won't affect them and their development at all.  See what they say to that.  I'm sure that something like, "well, chickens are different" will come forth.  But that's a completely baseless point that is only meant to rationalize their position and clear the cognitive dissonance.

Whoa...down Trigger!     Heat lamps do have their place, even though that's NOT at my place.  Very large batches of chicks would be almost impossible to raise under MHP unless they were split into groups and each group had their own brooder.  You can make the setup bigger to accommodate like 30 or something, as @Fire Ant Farm
 did, but those of us who believe so strongly in this system have to be careful that we don't become as militantly pushy about MHP as others are about lamps.  We can show, explain, and use it exclusively ourselves, but after that we just have to let them do what they prefer without judgement.  

Personally I'm on a crusade to get folks to look at alternatives....coop and house fires are so unnecessary and I think MHP is so much healthier for the chicks.  But I try (not always successfully, I readily admit) to present what I have learned just to give another option.  What they choose to do with the information after that is up to them, and arguing the point is counterproductive. (That's what my brain says...I wish someone would explain it to my fingers sometimes!)  While I'm so happy that you are a MHP fan, remember that in the beginning you were a little uncertain too.  Every one of us on this thread had little doubts when we started doing this.  It's a huge leap of faith to expect folks to disregard years and generations of "care instructions for chicks" and let them self-regulate.  We need to respect that, but oh, so often I find myself in a feed store watching people select their chicks and then putting the box of fluffs in the cart alongside the heat lamps and the worthless waterers, although not long ago that was me.  I want to grab them and say, "DON'T do that". 

Okay, off the soapbox.  

You are very right, Blooie (of course). I discovered that sometimes a heat lamp must be used. I used it on my 40 (apparently not 41!) babies right after they had hatched to watch for any malformations/splayed leg and failure to thrive. It is hard to see these things when they are itty bitty like that and just stay under the MHP the whole time. It broke my heart to have to hook it up, but realistically, I had not made an MHP big enough anyway. They soon after went out to the coop brooder where there were then two MHP and plenty of room for them to run around.

But I hate heat lamps! Almost burned down my chicken coup and the 15 or so chickens inside it when it fell to the straw floor. Was starting to smolder the plywood floor when I discovered it! Sooo scary!

How did it work for you having 2 MHP in the coop brooder with 40 chicks?  I am (hopefully) expecting that many in mid-April.  I have an XL and a L pad 12 x 15 and 12 x 24 (I think)  I am debating hooking the two together into an XXL (39 x 12) instead of using 2 separate MHP.  Thoughts???

These arent real good pictures, and plz excuse the messy covers ( tomorrow is cleaning day), but here are the two I made.

One is a rectangular sloped from 3 inches up to 6 inches. The other is a sloped dome shape, lower than the first front and back. I made them out of cattle panel fence that I covered from 1/2 inch hardware cloth. They are super sturdy even with the 4 weekers on top. The one weekers like to sleep in the back, which they can escape out of if they need to. I love the MHP sloped style cause you dont have to worry about having the heat up too high. If they r too hot, they just move to the front or sit on top!

The 40 babies and 9 4- weekers have been together for 3 days now and are getting along fine. With that many chicks, I would suggest making sure your MHP is VERY sturdy and can't collapse, with all that weight on top. I think someone on here posted pics of one made from cattle panel. Here's another pic showing some of the frame.

 

[mommakatx2]

A couple of pics of the electric hen in my daughter's kindy class (we hatched these babies). 2 and 3 days old.

I took them straight from the incubator and right under the MHP and they took right to it. Now I wish I had a larger one for the ones I'm brooding at home.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

I think Fire Ant Farm did it for more than the usual number of chicks, LG...There are several posts about it somewhere about 3-4 weeks ago (somewhere between pages 858 and 865 but I can't remember precisely now) and I think two pads were used. If I wasn't heading out the door for an eye appointment I'd look it up for you...

The largest group I've done is 30 - I use the 12x15 pads, and used two side by side (with the long edge on the side), so that the heating pad area is 15x24. Works fine if you can get a nice strong structure. I am in Texas, and I brood indoors, so this hasn't been stressed like it has in Blooie's climate, but it works just fine. Search for my name in this thread and it should show up...

- Ant Farm

 

[Blooie]

The largest group I've done is 30 - I use the 12x15 pads, and used two side by side (with the long edge on the side), so that the heating pad area is 15x24. Works fine if you can get a nice strong structure. I am in Texas, and I brood indoors, so this hasn't been stressed like it has in Blooie's climate, but it works just fine. Search for my name in this thread and it should show up...

- Ant Farm

Now why did I get the idea that it was more than that?

My mistake, totally. Sorry, LG...sorry Fire Ant Farm....

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Quote:
Oh, I'm raising 71 chicks this year (and losing my mind doing it) - just not all in one brooder/space. Each group is about 15-25. Last year I did 30 at once.

I think I recall someone else saying they did it for a larger group of chicks, I just can't remember who...

- Ant Farm

 

[casportpony]

A couple of pics of the electric hen in my daughter's kindy class (we hatched these babies). 2 and 3 days old.





I took them straight from the incubator and right under the MHP and they took right to it. Now I wish I had a larger one for the ones I'm brooding at home.

Love the design!

 

[chicken curious]

Love the design!

X2!

(But you may want something on top to protect the heating pad from the poop)

 

[aart]

A couple of pics of the electric hen in my daughter's kindy class (we hatched these babies). 2 and 3 days old.



I took them straight from the incubator and right under the MHP and they took right to it. Now I wish I had a larger one for the ones I'm brooding at home.

Nice clean design....rack and pad wrapped in plastic wrap?
Is the pad just bare plastic too?

Put another large washer on the top of rack and it'll straighten those legs out.....probably not necessary but...