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

[azygous]

This is like homecoming week!

As I recall the Press 'n Seal leaves an adhesive residue on anything it adheres to for an extended period, especially if it undergoes heating. But I delighted in it's ease of cleanup on the old towel I had draped over the heating pad cave. The residue easily laundered out of the towel.

I was one who had a chick get stuck between the rack and the pad. Luckily I noticed her little legs sticking out from under the pad at the rear where the power cord comes out of the pad, and I rescued her before she smothered.

This is one of the reasons we stress the cover over the entire pad/rack assembly, securely taped up to deny access to little suicidal maniacs.

 

[biophiliac]

One of my favorite things about MHP is the soft peeping as they settle to a dark night...

 

[Leahs Mom]

I agree with @bruceha2000 Put the pad underneath instead of on top.

You can use the small bungies to accomplish that. Just be sure there are no gaps and it's fastened tightly so that the chicks can't get up between the pad and the rack.

Here's an example... Looking from the top down. (I also put caps on the bolts.)

Here it is looking at the bottom that will be facing the floor/chicks:

Then cushion the top since they'll get up on it too.

This shows a thick layer of newspaper then a feed bag filled either with newspaper or shavings. You could use a thick cardboard or something else for the top. Innovate but safely, being sure chicks can't get stuck in any little nooks they can't get out of.

 

[aart]

I just used a piece of cardboard above, with a piece of plastic between cardboard and rack for soak thrus, worked great...just toss them when done.
Pad mini-bungied under rack.
Never liked any cloth wrappings, too risky for burrowing/trapping.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@aart
I think I might go to the plain cardboard or thin sheet of wood on top in the future.

When I used mine, it was only the older chicks that used it as I started them with my Premier heat plate then moved them over the heating pad when a new group of chicks arrived. The little chick in the photo was about the size they were when the went to the pad heater so they weren't as likely to get stuck in anything on top.


PS: Is that a heated pet pad under yours?

 

[Blooie]

One of the great things about MHP - aside from using a pad that doesn't shut off and a sturdy frame - is that people can adapt it to best suit them. Unlike @aart , I do like that softness and snuggliness (is that a word? It is now!) of the toweling over the top and draped down the sides. To me, it mimics Mama Hen more closely, and that darkness underneath plus the way they can make themselves comfy on the soft top is what I wanted from this method in the first place. I basically wanted a stationary broody hen with a cord, I guess. To others, getting closer to the commercial brooder plates - open all the way around and with no fluffiness to entice them to get trapped - is better and seems safer to them, and that's absolutely fine too. Whatever it takes to suit the chicks, the space, the comfort zone of the owner, and gets those heat lamps totally out of the equation is the heart of MHP in the Brooder to me.

And yep - Old Home Week! Welcome back, everyone, and a warm welcome to those venturing into this for the first time! This thread tends to get very quiet until chick season rolls around again, then it picks up right where it left off! Kinda cool, ain't it?

 

[azygous]

Oh, geez. Don't get me infected with chick fever. The last two seasons, I let a broody raise a few chicks for me, so I haven't needed MHP. But last time, I got an "accidental" roo from some pure-bred Cream Legbar eggs where the chicks are easily auto-sexed on hatch. The chick with the most classic, very vivid, non-ambiguous female markings is now a flamboyant cockerel named Tootsie-pop.

From MPC screwing up sexing, sending me three cockerels in two consecutive pullet orders to my own recent screw-up, I need to put myself in "chick-timeout".

 

[Blooie]

Oh, geez. Don't get me infected with chick fever. The last two seasons, I let a broody raise a few chicks for me, so I haven't needed MHP. But last time, I got an "accidental" roo from some pure-bred Cream Legbar eggs where the chicks are easily auto-sexed on hatch. The chick with the most classic, very vivid, non-ambiguous female markings is now a flamboyant cockerel named Tootsie-pop.

From MPC screwing up sexing, sending me three cockerels in two consecutive pullet orders to my own recent screw-up, I need to put myself in "chick-timeout".

Aww, come on...where's your sense of adventure? Where's your appreciation of irony? And don't ya miss us??

 

[aart]

Unlike @aart , I do like that softness and snuggliness (is that a word? It is now!) of the toweling over the top and draped down the sides.

Am not against softness, just folds that could trap.
They get to touch the soft pad underneath....and I have draped a towel on occasion if it's going to be 'cold' once they're out in the coop.

 

[Blooie]

Am not against softness, just folds that could trap.
They get to touch the soft pad underneath....and I have draped a towel on occasion if it's going to be 'cold' once they're out in the coop.

Yep, I stand corrected! But I do like it soft and squishy all over - top, sides, underneath. I secure the pad and the towel so that there aren't any wiggle holes for them to get into, though.