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

[christatothemax]

I have a brooder in lower level of a walkout, basically a basement with lots of windows one one side, but now put chicks out in the coop a week after hatch for less mess in the house and easier integration with flock.

Your basement might work....as long as there's nothing down there you don't want covered in dust. Is there any natural light down there?
I still think you'll only do that once.

No, that's a good point - it is very dark. I'll have to wait until Spring it seems! More time to plan! When should I get them?

 

[aart]

When should I get them?

After the coop is done?
Then you won't even have to set up a brooder in the house.
When designing/building your coop, think about being able to split off part of the coop with a wire wall to brood future chicks.

 

[blackdog043]

Waiting until early spring to get them will be best. I agree, brood in the coop and keep the mess outside, as long as your coop will be big enough. Integration will be easier also.

 

[christatothemax]

Waiting until early spring to get them will be best. I agree, brood in the coop and keep the mess outside, as long as your coop will be big enough. Integration will be easier also.
View attachment 1920140

Oooh, so the brooder doesn't HAVE to be separate?! Why was I under the impression than it did... jeebus. Okay, so I can just put the cardboard or dog crate or tote or whatever, in the middle of the coop and it'll be just fine. Brilliant. Here I was thinking most of the morning about how to place a brooder in the barn that wouldn't take away from the coop... lol

 

[bruceha2000]

Alright, so if I keep my chicks inside the house (basement) in a cardboard box until they are fully feathered, on paper towels that I change twice a day... I should get the "Sunbeam Heating Pad | X-Large | 12-Inch x 24-Inch" and use bungee cords to attach it to an arched piece of wire shelving, with a piece of cardboard and then a towel on top?

No need to keep them in the house until they are fully feathered, the key thing about being fully feathered is that is when they don't need external heat, they can do it themselves. If you were to read the entire 1150 pages, a mere 11,500 posts you would find that @Blooie broods outdoors sometimes in sub freezing temperatures.

I would suggest you get the coop ready before the kids show up. They don't grow as stupidly fast as Cornish X meat birds but they do grow pretty quick and you will find that your box in the basement will seem to shrink in a short time. And they won't stay inside it unless you have a cover on it. Since these are your first birds, no need to have a brooder area set up in the coop, they can have the whole thing. When you build it, it can be entirely open (ie just hardware cloth) on the none exterior wall sides or you have have a solid half wall on those sides which would save some on the cost of the HW cloth.

As to when to get them, check the hatchery of your choice's website to see how many they will ship as a minimum. In the colder months, most have a larger minimum and some send "packing peanuts" (ie extra chicks, probably male) to maintain a larger heat mass. That would be a problem for you since you likely have a max number of birds and you likely can't have roosters. Everyone has their favorite hatchery so check out a number of them. Since you are in Ohio, you might even decide to pick them up instead of having them shipped. Saves money (for example I use Meyer and shipping for a small number of chicks is about $35, no packing peanuts) and stress on the chicks. Stoney Ridge Farm has a video of their tour of Meyer on their YouTube channel, they came all the way up from North Carolina.

Most breeds start laying at 20 - 26 weeks of age though I have had "outliers" on both sides. Unless you add light in the coop, most won't lay in the winter after their first adult moult. If you get them in the spring/early summer that USUALLY means when they are about 1.5 years old. I've no experience but I would guess that a December born chick would tart laying in April and likely moult the following fall and not lay again until Feb/Mar. I've had 2 batches that were June hatch and 2 that were late April. The June girls started late Oct to Dec and laid through their first winter (I don't add light) the April ones started in Sept/Oct did not. I got them earlier thinking they would start laying when the older girls stopped in the fall (which they did) EXPECTING them to lay through the winter. Only 1 bird of 9 did so. Small amount of data but the chicks I got this year are June hatch, I will see if they lay through the winter or not.

If you are only getting 5 chicks, you can use the regular size pad. I put mine on the underside of the support and encase the entire thing in an old pillowcase with Gorilla tape holding the case and pad up against the frame. There are no gaps between the case and the pad that the chicks can get into since the Gorilla tape covers the pillowcase opening as part of the "attachment" process.

A word of caution, if you lose power, the digital pad will not turn on after your electric comes back on, you must turn it on again and make sure you press the button so it stays on.

This is VERY important to remember.

 

[blackdog043]

Oooh, so the brooder doesn't HAVE to be separate?

No, it's better if it's inside the coop, especially if you start raising chicks and you have older chickens also. In my picture a couple posts back, is a dog X pen and a dog crate hooked together, so they have enough room.

 

[bruceha2000]

Oooh, so the brooder doesn't HAVE to be separate?! Why was I under the impression than it did... jeebus. Okay, so I can just put the cardboard or dog crate or tote or whatever, in the middle of the coop and it'll be just fine. Brilliant. Here I was thinking most of the morning about how to place a brooder in the barn that wouldn't take away from the coop... lol

Nope, since these are your first chickens, you don't need a brooder area at all, just the MHP, food and water. The coop will be their brooder. You will need a brooder area when you get your NEXT chicks

 

[Aunt Angus]

No, that's a good point - it is very dark. I'll have to wait until Spring it seems! More time to plan! When should I get them?

Girl, get chicks when you want to get chicks. I have gotten mine at all different times during the year. I get them when I have time to care for them. I have brooded two sets in the house and one in the coop. Both ways are fine. I brooded my last trio in the house for a lot longer than I intended (over 2 months!) due to circumstances beyond my control. I kept them in a frequented area of my house. They were never messy, and they didn't stink because I cleaned their cage 2x a day. I used puppy pads so everything was absorbed. Five chicks won't be too messy if you clean regularly. Still, have the coop ready before you get them so you have options.

BUT I will say that my climate is forgiving, so if you are getting them shipped to you, you will want to take that into consideration. Cold climates can be perilous during shipping.

FWIW, I liked having them in the house so I could keep an eye on them and so they got used to people and my dog.

 

[aart]

Nope, since these are your first chickens, you don't need a brooder area at all, just the MHP, food and water. The coop will be their brooder. You will need a brooder area when you get your NEXT chicks

Exactly!
Tho you may need to confine them a bit, close to the heater for the first few days, depending on how big your coop is. they can get 'lost' in too big if a space.

When designing/building your coop, think about being able to split off part of the coop with a wire wall to brood future chicks.

This is how I do mine:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/

 

[Aunt Angus]

This is how I do mine:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/

I love this! Ingenious. I wish I was that handy and resourceful!