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

[MysticTrev]

I know this was an older thread but wow! I already have so many plans for those heating pad caves! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I know this was an older thread but wow! I already have so many plans for those heating pad caves! Thanks for sharing!

It may have started a good while back, but it is still a very active thread today. I am glad you have gotten some use of it and hope to see you around here is you go through your journey with the mhp

 

[Blooie]

I think if she posts right here, @tigger19687 , we have enough smart engineering and super-handy folks who would be able to steer her right. Lots of times if you try to start a new thread and it contains questions about MHP, people who don't understand the concept - or are dead set against the concept - try hard to help. It just doesn't always work out that way with questions like this.

Photos would help tremendously, @trudyg . Unfortunately for the size of this thread, I'm a visual learning.

 

[Blooie]

Yep, what @Ol Grey Mare said, @MysticTrev! Still active, still helping, still loving MHP!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I have a 10 x 12 coop with a window and 5' opening double doors. When open, the opening is covered by a 6' high dog kennel gate (walk thru door for 1/2), which is then covered with 1/2" wire for predator proofing. No gaps larger than 1/2". the brooder is the 4'x12' section under the poop board, with a divider panel to make a smaller 4x4 space for when they first arrive. I use wire shelving panels 16" wide by 7' and 4' lengths (11') to cover the 12' length, having a single 12" wide panel as an access for me (total of 12'). This is a stacked so that it's a total of 32" high, with each length of shelving attached so I can easily remove it. The plan is to use my shorter divider panels during the day to section off the nest box so the bigs can get in/out but the littles can't yet have the entire coop minus that 4x4 section. They'll be able to see the bigs all the time as well as see outside. I'm just concerned about them sacking out under the coop and me having to find and fish them out at dusk.

Oh I love a good design and problem solving opportunity here on this thred. Could you help us out by posting some photos so we can see what you are seeing and make better suggestions?

 

[tigger19687]

I wasn't trying to be snotty, just thinking that it gets hard to find buried under everything else. It is hard when a thread gets derailed and turns into something else.

 

[Blooie]

I wasn't trying to be snotty, just thinking that it gets hard to find buried under everything else. It is hard when a thread gets derailed and turns into something else.

Oh, good Heavens!! Nobody thinks that!!! I'm so sorry, I must not have worded that well at all!! Yes, we do digress here, but when someone posts photos and a puzzle most of us focus on that until it's resolved.

 

[feathermaid]

Are the nest boxes in the coop? If so, you shouldn't block the older girls out. The chicks can live in a 3'x3' for some time. If you make a portal for them, they will eventually get brave and come out on their own. They likely won't head out down the ramp to the run for some time, scary big spaces!

One thing I found with my brooder having 1/2" hardware cloth sides is the little bird brains could see from inside the coop to where they wanted to be inside the brooder (usually the food and water station) but pass right by the portal and go bananas trying to find a way through the "wall" close to their objective. Not sure how to avoid that. Their immediate access to the barn alley was through a glass door, they could find that opening from the outside easily enough. Of course that door is probably 8"-10" wide

Ok... so I have been considering all of your insight, for both inside and under the coop as a brooder (super helpful to get another viewpoint -thank you!)... and I just may not feel happiest about keeping tiny chicks in the run even if it's covered all around and even though it would be the easiest solution-- it just rains so darn much here and water may seep underneath. So I really want to squeeze them inside the coop which is a total floor space of only 6'x3' including nests and roosts. The food and water has always been in the run area. So if the roosts are raised, the brooder could fit underneath (3'x3' area) with the poop board serving as a ceiling.(edited) Just like @trudyg described her brooder... only a much smaller scale.

Now would it be ok to just keep them blocked in there for say, until they're 2-3 weeks old, with occasional ouside-in-the-grass time? And I see how you say a portal door in hardware cloth can be confusing for them especially when they're in a hurry... so when it's time to "graduate" to free exploring time, maybe I can switch to a different separating method. Like lattice? Or another type of material with many slots they can fit through but the Bigs can't. At that age, if they go down the ramp outside, how much in danger would they be without their MHP? Of course I would be watching them at first to make sure they handle the ramp up & down and that the Bigs are behaving. But is there ever a time they can be UNsupervised? I mean what if they go down the ramp when I'm not around and they forget the only way back to the brooder is up the ramp and through the pop door? What if it's hours before I realize someone's lost?

To make matters even more confusing... there's lots of fencing.
I'm going to show a pic of my very limited space side yard where the chooks are kept. The old and unacceptable pre-fab coop is there, hence the need for a larger (actually longer) and taller one...

See my narrow space? It extends the length of the house 45'x7'wide.
The new coop will be similar format and location... raised off the ground with attached covered run (3'x18' total length). Anyway, that's a lot of see-thru hardware cloth for a young pullet to navigate who wandered out the open run door and wants to get back to the brooder.
Do you think it's even a good idea to put a brooder out there somewhere?
I just really wanted to try the MHP while naturally integrating the chicks as they grow.

 

[bruceha2000]

My concern is if the adults are ever kept in the coop (other than at roost time). When you say 3'x6' including nests, does that mean the nests are on the floor taking up space? If so, giving a 3x3 space to the brooder will take up most of the available floor space that the older girls need when "trapped" inside.

 

[feathermaid]

My concern is if the adults are ever kept in the coop (other than at roost time). When you say 3'x6' including nests, does that mean the nests are on the floor taking up space? If so, giving a 3x3 space to the brooder will take up most of the available floor space that the older girls need when "trapped" inside.

Yes, 2 vertical nest boxes taking up 1sq ft floor space, the coop size will still be small, but bigger than they have now. I've never actually closed the pop door and shut them inside because I think it's just too small in there. I only lock the run door (run is secure all around with hardware cloth into the ground). Food/water is in the run. They only ever go in the coop to lay eggs or sleep. It's been a good system so far and was planning to keep it... just need it to be a bit bigger/longer. My current girls are used to always coming and going as they please... daytime access to the mentioned side yard, and supervised time out in the (still small) grassy front or backyards.