Mama Heating Pad Question

[Trisseh]

yes, exactly, i mean using a seedling mat overhead (instaed of a heating pad), mainly because seedling mats are available in a 20x48 option. based on your experience a seedling mat is HOTTER than a heating pad? perhaps i could make it work for the chicks by just starting out slightly higher than i would with a pad? I'm just trying to figure it out and was hoping to have everything set in place before chicks got here so I'm not just giving up and using a heat lamp due to frusteration or worry

I haven’t measured the temp on it but it feels a lot hotter against my hand than the sunbeam one - I did fry roots on some seedlings with one before too. So maybe they’re just a little bit worse at fluctuating. I always just set mine up so the front is just low enough they have to duck under it, and the back is low enough they can lay down and still touch it with their backs. Then I watch them and see how they’re responding to it. I usually time my hatches so they’re going in the brooder at a time that I’ll be home for a good 8-12 hours to watch them and make sure they’re good.
With a larger number of chicks, you may want to start with a divided brooder with multiple “pens” and an appropriate number of chicks per pen/heating pad set up. When they’re older and pros at getting under the heating pads, I would think they’d be fine being in a larger group with multiple stations to choose from. With too many chicks to fit under one heating pad, I would be concerned the smaller ones would be either pushed out entirely, or suffocated/cooked in the middle.
I know the feeling of wanting to make sure you’re all set well before they arrive. I set up and changed my brooder probably half a dozen times in the 3 months that I waited after ordering.

 

[redrobynlane]

I haven’t measured the temp on it but it feels a lot hotter against my hand than the sunbeam one - I did fry roots on some seedlings with one before too. So maybe they’re just a little bit worse at fluctuating. I always just set mine up so the front is just low enough they have to duck under it, and the back is low enough they can lay down and still touch it with their backs. Then I watch them and see how they’re responding to it. I usually time my hatches so they’re going in the brooder at a time that I’ll be home for a good 8-12 hours to watch them and make sure they’re good.
With a larger number of chicks, you may want to start with a divided brooder with multiple “pens” and an appropriate number of chicks per pen/heating pad set up. When they’re older and pros at getting under the heating pads, I would think they’d be fine being in a larger group with multiple stations to choose from. With too many chicks to fit under one heating pad, I would be concerned the smaller ones would be either pushed out entirely, or suffocated/cooked in the middle.
I know the feeling of wanting to make sure you’re all set well before they arrive. I set up and changed my brooder probably half a dozen times in the 3 months that I waited after ordering.

I'm certainly no newbie to chickens (or chicks) but this method of warming is new to me totally. I have always just used heat lamps. This last year I tried ceramic bulbs instead to help with the day/night training but still feel like they are dangerous! I want to go with a more natural approach. I have thought maybe doing a few smaller divided spots would work out better than one large one... My plan is to probably have a 3 teired brooder (stacked boxes) so that I can have multiple levels and/or divide by age etc... that way I'd only be warming 40-50 chicks at a time, which seems doable with a 12x24 mat (since the sweeter heater is 11x40 and says it does 90 at a time).

 

[azygous]

When using any product in any way other than it was designed, you run the risk of injury. Being aware that baby chicks can risk getting burned from direct contact with anything over 100F, it's good you're testing these various methods before exposing the chicks to them.

As I mentioned in post # 2 second paragraph that chicks can get burned on a heating pad if you set it up without a cloth cover. The same thing would apply to a seedling mat. By covering the mat with cloth you would be dispersing the heat to the cloth instead of directly to the chicks' skin. That would prevent hot spots from burning them.

You need to put the entire assembly in a pillow case or wrap it up in a towel so chicks can't squeeze in between the heat mat and the frame and get fried and suffocated and killed. It would benefit you and your chicks to read through the thread on Mama Heating Pad for the Brooder and glean the benefit of other's mistakes. I had a chick get caught between the frame and pad and luckily found it before it died. https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...d-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update.956958/

 

[rosemarythyme]

I have thought maybe doing a few smaller divided spots would work out better than one large one... My plan is to probably have a 3 teired brooder (stacked boxes) so that I can have multiple levels and/or divide by age etc... that way I'd only be warming 40-50 chicks at a time, which seems doable with a 12x24 mat (since the sweeter heater is 11x40 and says it does 90 at a time).

With up to 100 chicks, I'd definitely break them down into even smaller groups both to fit under a heat pad/seed mat (whichever you go with... I do not have experience converting a seed mat) and to prevent crowding/crushing which can potentially happen if a lot of chicks try to cram under a single heat source. Nevermind the overwhelming size of brooder you'd need to fit 50 chicks on a single level.

So maybe 20 chicks per brooder level? Heat pad set ups are not meant for large quantities due to the fact that they're generally curved/"cave" shaped. So you lose a lot of surface area from the heat source because you can't stuff extra chicks on the curved sides, if that makes sense.