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

[bruceha2000]

You could but I doubt it would be very effective. Seems like it would be too low in the middle and too high on the sides. The idea is the birds can get their backs up against the pad and a sloping surface lets them choose just how close they want to be.

If you don't care about the spare, you could mess around with bending it to see what more useful shape might be possible.

 

[Blooie]

Welcome! I agree with Bruce. The key to using MHP is the proximity of the chicks to the heat. It warms just like a Mama Hen does. While the turkey rack is a viable option, it's not the ideal one just because of the height differences from zone to zone and the potential places for a chick to get "stuck" with those widely spaced wires. After just a week or so, the chicks are spending huge amounts of time on top of the pad, just surveying the world or snuggling down for a nap, and the shape of the turkey rack just isn't conducive to that.

 

[Birdinhand]

you could take it apart, reduce the pitch and make it so the sides brackets were adjustable so it could be raised as they grow, but then you are into fabricating and might as well just start from scratch. in some ways just a piece of hardware cloth that can be molded/adjusted as they grow is probably the cheapest and simplest solution.

 

[Blooie]

Yep, or even a scrap of welded wire fencing.

 

[NNYchick]

Thank you, I will keep looking. One of the reasons I keep trying to come up with things besides using welded wire or fencing is I forgot to grab some out of the shed before the big snow storm, now it I wont be able to get to it till spring. I am trying to avoid going out and buying a whole roll just for this project. So I have been on a scavenger hunt around the house to see what might work instead. I had planned on making this hanging one https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mama-heating-pad.1088644/#post-16707264 as I had all the materials needed to make it and hang it in the wire dog kennel that I fixed up as a brooder like I seen you do Blooie with the hardware cloth around the bottom. But I forgot to leave a piece of hardware cloth out for the mama heating pad.

 

[bruceha2000]

So much snow you can't dig out enough to open the door a couple of feet?

 

[BBZZZZTT]

This will be my first time raising chicks. I am planning on using this method because I like that it gives the chicks more opportunity to naturally wean themselves from the heat. Plus my fiance is not a fan of heat lamps with fire hazards. (Neither am I...)
I made mine using a cookie cooling rack and some nuts, bolts, and washers to give it adjustable legs. I can post some pictures if anyone wants to give some feedback.
I'll be getting my chicks in spring so plenty of time to make modifications if necessary.

 

[Blooie]

Welcome to the Broody Brigade. Yes, by all means....post pictures if you have them! A lot of people have used some kind of flat rack with adjustable legs, the way you plan to do it. I have never done that, but they all seem to like it. If you post yours, they’ll be better able to offer suggestions than I can.

 

[mrsdee]

I really love this idea! But I have some reservations about using it during this brutal winter...we've been having consistent HIGHS in the mid teens and lows overnight around 0. Seems very cold for Kentucky this year. My eggs are due to hatch next week and I'd love for it to warm up but don't have any hope until late February. I'll be brooding out in our completely enclosed shed in a big metal bin (like the ones they have at farm stores). I am planning to have a lot of bedding down and would love to use MHP but am skeptical it will keep all my chicks as warm as they should be. Does anyone have an experience with MHP outside in very cold winter temps? If not, I'm afraid to try and may just go with our old heat lamp.

Any input would be very welcome!

 

[Blooie]

The coldest I ever raised chicks in the run was in the twenties, dropping down into the teens. Would I recommend raising them outdoors with MHP in your current Arctic Blast? If you have never used this method before, my short answer is “no”, not even as strongly as I believe in the entire system. There is a learning curve with this, and You could start them under MHP in the house for the first couple of weeks, but I’d be lying if I said I could enthusiastically recommend outdoor brooding for yours in this weather. Bottom line, if it’s all new to you and outside your comfort zone, and as much as I hate to discourage anyone, I wouldn’t.