New to backyard chickens

[jclausen]

So just heating pad covered with towel ?

 

[jclausen]

They are so cute.Is this your first flock?

Yes very first time with chickens.

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC and congrats on your new hobby.

Here are some links to key resources:

• List of guides on how to use the site - announcements-feedback-issues-guides.3
• Great resource for beginners - https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/category/learning-center.11/
• Good starting point for browsing the site - https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/
• Interesting feedback on how members manage their flocks -https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archives
• Excellent source of local information - Find your State's thread. Use the BYC search facility to find other country / regional threads.

Best wishes

Pork Pie

 

[CindyinSD]

Make sure the heating pad will stay on (most shut off automatically after 2 hours.) I’m pretty sure you could cut out the controller and just wire the cord back together without it, but I haven’t tried it since I bought ones that will stay on.

I use hardware cloth as an armature to allow me to shape the arch of the “cave” as needed. I cover the heating pad and hardware cloth with an old plasticized feed bag and duct tape it together, folded to fit, with the cord coming out at a corner. A towel would *not* protect it adequately. I run it on the highest setting but maybe you have a really hot one—for mine, high is perfect.

I put the chicks under there the first time. It should more or less touch their backs. They’ll adjust it to their needs by finding a sweet spot. After a few days they’ll most likely find they prefer sitting on top of it.

 

[CarpCharacin]

Welcome to BYC! We're glad that you decided to join our wonderful community!

 

[007Sean]

Howdy and Welcome to Backyard Chickens.

Happy to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!

Thanks for joining our community!

 

[jclausen]

Thank You

 

[jclausen]

Make sure the heating pad will stay on (most shut off automatically after 2 hours.) I’m pretty sure you could cut out the controller and just wire the cord back together without it, but I haven’t tried it since I bought ones that will stay on.

I use hardware cloth as an armature to allow me to shape the arch of the “cave” as needed. I cover the heating pad and hardware cloth with an old plasticized feed bag and duct tape it together, folded to fit, with the cord coming out at a corner. A towel would *not* protect it adequately. I run it on the highest setting but maybe you have a really hot one—for mine, high is perfect.

I put the chicks under there the first time. It should more or less touch their backs. They’ll adjust it to their needs by finding a sweet spot. After a few days they’ll most likely find they prefer sitting on top of it.

Thanks for this great info from all.

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us

 

[jclausen]

Thanks for this great info from all.

Thanks for that info