Mama Heating Pad Problems

[Kale Chips]

OHHHHHH!!! THANK YOU! I have been so confused when they get up on top and start hollering! I wasn't sure if I should rescue them or if they purposely went up there! Ha! This website is just so incredible! So many bird experts willing to help

 

[bobbi-j]

Maybe I can help a little here too. I'm going to make a few recommendations based on what's been shared over on the thread. You may already be doing some of those things, I don't know, but here goes:

The heating pad has a warmer and a cooler side, believe it or not. For using it as MHP, you want to have the printed side down toward the chicks. It's the warmer side. Doesn't make sense, I know, but that's been established with careful measurements by one of our regulars over on the thread. So colored, fuzzy side up facing the ceiling, printed side down toward the floor.

Don't cover it with a lot of fru-fru thinking you're keeping the inside of the cave warmer that way. In reality you're just trapping the heat in the pad. It needs air circulation. A simple thin towel or wrapping the entire assembly inside a pillowcase tied or taped shut does quite nicely, and the main reason for that is to keep the pad a little cleaner.

Don't expect to get that recommended "95 the first week, 90 the second, etc" temperatures under there. Ain't happening. The average temp under a good setup runs between 82 and 86 degrees. I measured it once in answer to a question about it that got me curious, then never looked again. For the age of my chicks at the time it should have been 90 degrees. My chicks should have been dead, according to the books. They were thriving. I nixed the thermometer and never worried about it again. And I agree that you're not measuring in the right place, if you're going to measure. that 82-86 degrees isn't written in stone and it was measured on the floor of the cave, not the pad itself. You don't want it much lower than that 82 degrees, but a degree or two one way or the other isn't a deal breaker. Remember that your chicks are going to be adding their body heat to the cave as well.

The best thermometer for MHP is the chicks themselves. They'll tell you what you need to know, and you'll learn to read them very quickly. If it's too cold, they'll huddle in a back corner under there and not want to come out at all. (Now, sitting tight is typical behavior the first few hours - moving to new digs is exhausting and it's all a big change for them. So you'll likely have them go under - or have to be shown how to go under - and then stay put, so quiet you'd think they were unconscious. If they were under Mama Broody Hen, they'd do the same thing. Being noisy attracts predators when they are most vulnerable, so for the first hours or day they stick tight under her protection.) But after that they should be ducking in and out, up on top, running all over the brooder, and then going under when the sun goes down to go to sleep for the night. If they won't go under at all, or spend all their time at the entrance, it may well be too warm under there. It's not unusual in that case for them to pile up nowhere near the heating pad and try to keep warm without it. Again, if they are running in and out and exploring their brooder, then ducking under for a quick warmup, you've nailed it.

Ideally you should probably just set it up where you want it, get the chicks and base your settings on what THEY tell you, not me or some books. I personally think the cooler the ambient temperatures in the room you're using the better, so the basement seems to be your best bet.

Bottom line is that this is totally different from using a heat lamp and the recommendations for that use. MHP doesn't warm the entire brooder, it works by warming the chicks directly, just as a hen does. They don't need light 24/7 - they need to sleep too. A mother hen doesn't have a night light under her wings, and they don't eat around the clock when she's raising them. When she goes to bed, they go under her and sleep all night. They self-regulate. They know when they need to warm up and they know when they are comfortable enough to go back out. I raise my chicks outdoors using MHP and the temps are still in the twenties, dropping into the teens. They spend as much time out of the cave as they do in it. I have a couple of videos of some very happy chicks using it, if that would help you.

Uh Oh.... I have mine printed side up, and it's supposed to get down to about 30 tonight. i hope they'll be OK.

 

[Blooie]

They should be fine. Others have done that too, so it’s not the end of the world.