Ordered my 1st chicks!!

[KatharinetheGr8]

So my chicks finally arrived this morning after an agonizing wait yesterday! All seem to be healthy, though.

We are having an unusually cold day today so I turned on the heat lamp in addition to the mama heating pad. I don't have many good pics yet (I'm trying to be patient, allow them some time to rest and adjust to their new home). I'll keep posting as I get them!

 

[Blooie]

They are so cute! They should do just fine with just the heating pad. Mine did and it was 20 degrees. This is the critical time for them to learn where that heat will always be and if it's equally warm all over in the brooder they won't learn to do the warm-up duck as well. Most folks who tried using both eventually gave up on the pad completely because the chicks weren't relying on using it like a broody hen and then without the lamp they just stood in a corner and cried. How cold is it where you are?

 

[Mutt Farm]

They are so cute!!! Finally the wait is over!

 

[Jeanette01]

Yay!!

So happy for you!! Beautiful little babies!!

I still have a couple weeks to go...

 

[KatharinetheGr8]

They are so cute!  They should do just fine with just the heating pad.  Mine did and it was 20 degrees.  This is the critical time for them to learn where that heat will always be and if it's equally warm all over in the brooder they won't learn to do the warm-up duck as well.  Most folks who tried using both eventually gave up on the pad completely because the chicks weren't relying on using it like a broody hen and then without the lamp they just stood in a corner and cried.  How cold is it where you are?

Oh goodness it is about 62 here today. Maybe I'm actually becoming a southern girl, it felt so cold to me! I was worried because I don't have thermometer to test the temperature under the mama heating pad. I thought I did, but apparently my father-in-law tossed it. I wasn't sure if it was warm enough under my chick cave. It is about 12 inches by 15 inches with a 6 inch entrance. It tapers to 4 inches at the back. Ionly have 1 heating pad that does not turn off automatically and it is 12"x15". I put them under there when I got them home and they hadn't come out about 40 minutes later. I was concerned because they were 2 days in transit and I wanted them to drink a little water and eat a little feed. Think if i add another heating pad and purchase a little thermometer tomorrow I'll still be able to train them?

 

[N F C]

@KatharinetheGr8 how cute are those little ones! Glad they made it to you safely

 

[Blooie]

They should be just fine. Did you see the first post in the Mama Heating Pad thread? It really gives thorough breakdown on the entire system - not that a heating pad, a wire frame, a towel and a box of new chicks requires much engineering.

Yours could well be a little stressed from shipping - I'd be very surprised if they weren't. That sure would make them cling to the security of having the feeling that they are warm and safe under Mama, and just like under a real broody they'll tend to stick tight at first. But curiosity will make them come out to check out their surroundings. Making sure they know where food and water is located is always a good idea, and making sure they know what to do with it is essential. You've done that. There may even be a chick or two that just plain fails to thrive, and that can happen no matter how they are brooded - under a hen, a heat lamp, or Mama Heating Pad. Sometimes shipping stress appears a few days after they get to their new home. Once they know how to eat and drink, you may need to shove a couple of them under there, holding your hand in front of the entrance for a minute or two until you hear this soft, contented churtling sound coming from there. (I know "churtling" isn't a real word, but since it describes that sound so well it should be!) Then you can take your hand away and let them out. After that they will start running in and out on their own.

When I did a temperature check under MHP, the thermometer read 82.9 in a 69 degree room. Most people who have taken temperature readings under there have reported the same, within just a degree or two. If your pad is 6 inches in the front and 4 inches in the back, is there a way you can smoosh it down so the heating pad is touching or almost touching their backs at the rear of the cave? On page 4 of the Mama Heating Pad thread is a video of what you can expect to see. The lights start out dark, and you can barely hear a little of that churtling. Ignore Ken's grandfather clock ticking and chiming. Once I turn the light on they come running out. Let your chicks explore this big world they are now part of. It's all new right now, but within hours they know where the heat is, where they can dive under Mama if they get chilled or scared, and by tomorrow they will even be climbing on top and napping or tussling.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/956958/mama-heating-pad-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update/30
This is the link to page 4, where the video of my chicks under MHP can be found. Remember, it starts out dark.

 

[Mutt Farm]

Oh goodness it is about 62 here today. Maybe I'm actually becoming a southern girl, it felt so cold to me! I was worried because I don't have thermometer to test the temperature under the mama heating pad. I thought I did, but apparently my father-in-law tossed it. I wasn't sure if it was warm enough under my chick cave. It is about 12 inches by 15 inches with a 6 inch entrance. It tapers to 4 inches at the back. Ionly have 1 heating pad that does not turn off automatically and it is 12"x15". I put them under there when I got them home and they hadn't come out about 40 minutes later. I was concerned because they were 2 days in transit and I wanted them to drink a little water and eat a little feed. Think if i add another heating pad and purchase a little thermometer tomorrow I'll still be able to train them?

IMO, an accurate well placed thermometer is critical, not another heating pad. The dimensions of the cave aren't important. The temperature is critical. if it's too hot or cold, you'll loose chicks. Did you stick their beaks in water? Are they drinking? Did they eat?

 

[Blooie]

Mutt, ya know I like ya but I must respectfully and politely disagree. The dimensions of the cave are very important. I do agree that another heating pad is unnecessary. But as for the dimensions of the cave, for the first few days the chicks like that heat almost right on their little backs, just as they would experience with a broody. As I said earlier, the temperature under the pad in my brooder was 82.9 degrees in a 69 degree room, and everyone else who has taken temps has reported the same within a degree or two. Subsequent batches of chicks were raised outside in the run in a brooder pen and it was in the teens and twenties, with a blizzard and 60+mph wind tossed in for good measure. But as long as they could get right up under that heating pad they did just fine for the first few days. Then after that they started spending more and more time on top of it, surveying their domain, or cuddled alongside. I never lost a single chick, nor were any ever in distress from chilling. Believe me, if I had thought for one second that my chicks were in any danger at all they'd have been back inside under a heat lamp and I'd never plug in another heating pad in my life!

They decided how much heat they wanted and they knew exactly where to get it. It's the proximity of the heat to the chicks that's critical, and the fact that their entire environment isn't being heated is what makes this so successful. A broody that hatches chicks in the dead of winter - and many do - isn't heating the entire room for them - they know where she is and they scurry right under her to get it.

 

[Mutt Farm]

Mutt, ya know I like ya but I must respectfully and politely disagree. The dimensions of the cave are very important. I do agree that another heating pad is unnecessary. But as for the dimensions of the cave, for the first few days the chicks like that heat almost right on their little backs, just as they would experience with a broody. As I said earlier, the temperature under the pad in my brooder was 82.9 degrees in a 69 degree room, and everyone else who has taken temps has reported the same within a degree or two. Subsequent batches of chicks were raised outside in the run in a brooder pen and it was in the teens and twenties, with a blizzard and 60+mph wind tossed in for good measure. But as long as they could get right up under that heating pad they did just fine for the first few days. Then after that they started spending more and more time on top of it, surveying their domain, or cuddled alongside. I never lost a single chick, nor were any ever in distress from chilling. Believe me, if I had thought for one second that my chicks were in any danger at all they'd have been back inside under a heat lamp and I'd never plug in another heating pad in my life!

They decided how much heat they wanted and they knew exactly where to get it. It's the proximity of the heat to the chicks that's critical, and the fact that their entire environment isn't being heated is what makes this so successful. A broody that hatches chicks in the dead of winter - and many do - isn't heating the entire room for them - they know where she is and they scurry right under her to get it.

Blooie, I love you to pieces and back! Please don't ever worry about a difference of opinion! The point that I was trying to make with my unskilled words is that IF she had NO thermometer and NO clue how cold or warm the babies are, a second heating pad (and the heat lamp) would be way less necessary than an accurate thermometer. I've heard of littles dehydrating and cooking from overcare and too much heat. OP said she had no thermometer to monitor heat. That worried me alot.