Mama heating pad question.

[K0k0shka]

Guess it's no surprise, I've never had more than 4 chicks at a time.

Otherwise yes flat would be ideal for more coverage for more birds.

Also easier for them to get out instead of being trapped in the back.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Also easier for them to get out instead of being trapped in the back.

Shouldn't ever be a trapping issue regardless if it's curved (either U or n shape) or flat, as long as the chicks can easily get out from both front and back. Having it slanted but one end on the ground, would not be recommended, for example.

 

[CaroChickenMom]

I’m loving The MHP. The chicks seems so comfortable with it! They keep coming in to nap and out to eat and play. My cooling rack was too thick in my opinion, and I was worried that the chicks wouldn’t get all the way to the heat so I took this part out from my heat lamp and flattened a little, insulated with tape and use it as the frame for the MHP

 

[K0k0shka]

Shouldn't ever be a trapping issue regardless if it's curved (either U or n shape) or flat, as long as the chicks can easily get out from both front and back. Having it slanted but one end on the ground, would not be recommended, for example.

I’ve seen lots of pictures of people’s curved, cave-style, bent HC type MHP’s with only the front open, and it just looks like a trap for the peeps at the back...

 

[rosemarythyme]

My cooling rack was too thick in my opinion, and I was worried that the chicks wouldn’t get all the way to the heat so I took this part out from my heat lamp and flattened a little, insulated with tape and use it as the frame for the MHP

Clever reuse of the heat lamp guard!

I’ve seen lots of pictures of people’s curved, cave-style, bent HC type MHP’s with only the front open, and it just looks like a trap for the peeps at the back...

Agreed.

 

[aart]

My cooling rack was too thick in my opinion, and I was worried that the chicks wouldn’t get all the way to the heat

That's why it's good to put the pad under the rack....plus they can get their heads stuck in the rack rods(BTDT) trying to push up against the heat.

 

[jreardon1918]

Here are a couple pictures of our MHP from last year. The rack is a cookie sheet 9"x 13". The heating pad wrapped around both bottom and top. We used duck tape to secure it well. One picture is from the first couple days in the inside brooder. You can see that the rack is on an angle. The back is secured to two 2x4 blocks. So in the early stage the chicks could escape from all four sides. The second picture was in the outside brooder. We had added a pillow case. The chicks still had the ability to escape from all sides. As they got bigger, we raised the MHP. We had 6 chicks. This worked great.