MHP questions.

[kesrchicky16]

I don't know much about using heat pads etc because I have always used broody hens, but I know that even in freezing temperatures the chicks do spend a lot of time out from under the mother. The first week they need to be the right temp almost all the time, the second week less and so on. It's not necessarily the temperature that lowers five degrees each week, it's how much time they have to spend being warm each week. So maybe you could continue using the heat pads even though they won't all fit on them as they get bigger, just so the option is there.

Chicks are actually much hardier than people give them credit for.

That was my plan. I have a broody and was trying to be realistic. My alpha roo dies and so it was now or never for his blood line. So I figured 50% failure and 50% death and I would end up with just enough for Hester. Well the little upstarts are doing much better so far then I anticipated! I had 35 in the incubator and 31 still wiggling last time I candled. That's not 50% loss and no chicken can handle 30+ babies on her own. I haven't pestered her eggs but she is still setting.

 

[Hope Hughes]

I have 31 chicks(7 are ducklings ) all under and xl heating pad. We have been in the low 20s here house in the hight 60s.
And my baby quail using a small one,
Mine like to sleep ontop crazy things!
Sometimes they will all be under it sometimes all on top.

Excuse the mess! It was cleaning day lol ​

 

[kesrchicky16]

I have 31 chicks(7 are ducklings ) all under and xl heating pad. We have been in the low 20s here house in the hight 60s.
And my baby quail using a small one,
Mine like to sleep ontop crazy things!
Sometimes they will all be under it sometimes all on top.
View attachment 1230574
Excuse the mess! It was cleaning day lol ​

Adorable
Thank you I'm sure my ducks will get in on the action this spring.

 

[lazy gardener]

I have 30 baby chicks still moving in eggs due to hatch on Friday. I know a lot can still happen but I probably should plan on being ready for them all. I have only lost 4 of them so far.

How large of a heating pad shoild I plan on for that many? I have looked at am planning on building a cave style one like @Blooie designed.

I only have room for that many with power for 2 weeks. They will be in a covered porch that is warmer then outside but still chilly. The fewer survive the longer they can stay inside, but I'm also planning on building a woolly hen like this and giving them microwave rice bags during the day.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...pplemental-heat-at-all.1126460/#post-17380077

My weather is chilly buy not horrible. Below freezing every night but about the time they will graduate to outside it is projected to be low 30s for highs and single digits lows for 2 weeks.

I don't want to kill them but I know they need space, warmth to a point, and safe lodging. I need advice on a balance.

Biggest concern is getting set up for hatch day. I have to get a pad ordered and ready for day 1. I can work on later as it comes.

I have successfully brooded up to 20 birds with a single 12 x 24 Sunbeam XPress MHP cave. You will need to give them the right sized cave until they are 4 weeks old. I'm concerned that you say you can give them power for only 2 weeks. IMO, a wool hen will not be adequate. Is there a reason why you can't keep them in their brooder for the entire 4 week brooding time? Or can you build an outdoor brooder with power?

IMO, you will need 2 pads to successfully brood that many chicks. You might get away with building a hybrid MHP/wool hen. What I envision is putting the heating pad on a rigid frame that works like a standard MHP cave. You would then build a second deck OVER that which would work like a wool hen, complete with the strips hanging down to the MHP frame. You would need to put an opening on both front and back of your wool hen so it did not trap too much heat. And you would need to be extra vigilant to be sure that the space above and below did not overheat. I would make the wool hen box quite a bit bigger than the MHP cave frame, so chicks could jump up onto the wool hen portion from all 4 sides.

The hybrid wool hen/MHP has not been tried to my knowledge. So, if you do so, you will be a pioneer!

As a final suggestion: If you can only provide power for 2 weeks in a limited space, I suggest that you rehome half of your brood so you can provide optimal care for the rest. Keep the best, sell the rest.

 

[kesrchicky16]

I have successfully brooded up to 20 birds with a single 12 x 24 Sunbeam XPress MHP cave. You will need to give them the right sized cave until they are 4 weeks old. I'm concerned that you say you can give them power for only 2 weeks. IMO, a wool hen will not be adequate. Is there a reason why you can't keep them in their brooder for the entire 4 week brooding time? Or can you build an outdoor brooder with power?

IMO, you will need 2 pads to successfully brood that many chicks. You might get away with building a hybrid MHP/wool hen. What I envision is putting the heating pad on a rigid frame that works like a standard MHP cave. You would then build a second deck OVER that which would work like a wool hen, complete with the strips hanging down to the MHP frame. You would need to put an opening on both front and back of your wool hen so it did not trap too much heat. And you would need to be extra vigilant to be sure that the space above and below did not overheat. I would make the wool hen box quite a bit bigger than the MHP cave frame, so chicks could jump up onto the wool hen portion from all 4 sides.

The hybrid wool hen/MHP has not been tried to my knowledge. So, if you do so, you will be a pioneer!

As a final suggestion: If you can only provide power for 2 weeks in a limited space, I suggest that you rehome half of your brood so you can provide optimal care for the rest. Keep the best, sell the rest.

It's a space issue. Going by the 1/4, 1/2, 1, 2 per bird per week guidelines. They can have power til June it they would just stay little and not need room! I will give some to my sitting hen depending on how many she hatches of the 8 eggs she accepted when I started incubating. I have 1 other rehome established just don't know how many they want and how many I'll actually have hatch. I was planning on abysmal and it's going the other way so far. Sad to say but the less successful they are the better situation thet will have.
That being said I want to give them all the best chance that can have.
The wool hen plans is for when they outgrow the porch with power. I am sewing rice bags to put in the center of it every few hours to provide warmth during the day. That was the one downside everyone mentions in the posts. The chicks supposedly do fine at night when they are all sleeping and snuggly but during the day they each need to warm at different times so they don't share body heat.

The plus side of when the do go outside is they will be in the "look don't touch" phase of integration with the flock. My last chicks (broody hen only no incubator) went from snuggliung with mom to other sleeping partners with no struggles. Hopefully the flock will accept them without too much fuss.

 

[lazy gardener]

I strongly urge you to ditch the rice bag idea. When first heated, they are warm enough to cause a burn, and they quickly loose heat and become ineffective. Not to mention the fact that a poopy rice sock is not one you will want to reheat.

And I disagree with your theory that the chicks will be using MHP at different times during the day. Often, my entire brood will be under MHP during the day, especially since they brood outdoors. It's their nature to travel together, like a pack of girls on the playground.

 

[kesrchicky16]

I strongly urge you to ditch the rice bag idea. When first heated, they are warm enough to cause a burn, and they quickly loose heat and become ineffective. Not to mention the fact that a poopy rice sock is not one you will want to reheat.

And I disagree with your theory that the chicks will be using MHP at different times during the day. Often, my entire brood will be under MHP during the day, especially since they brood outdoors. It's their nature to travel together, like a pack of girls on the playground.

The MHP and rice bags aren't ever going to be in the same place. And removable covers are amazing for cleanliness. Also I have never heated a rice bags enough to burn my bare skin we it contact. The 2week + chicks don't have to lay under it for it to make the wool hen warmish.

 

[debid]

Why ask if you've already determined this is what you're doing?

 

[kesrchicky16]

Why ask if you've already determined this is what you're doing?

The question was size and space. I have never incubated before. I don't know how much warm space chicks need. Just because I have read, studied and come up with the best I can do for them doesn't mean I know how big they are, how tight the like to snuggle, or what space they really need. A method and implementation are 2 different things. Besides even "don't do this because..." info will stick in my brain and help me troubleshoot and triage as I learn and experience.