Pre Pads in Brooder Question

[VintageLilFarm]

A heating pad just laid flat won't do much to heat the chicks. Think how chicks warm under a broody hen. They press their backs against her naked, sweaty, warm skin and absorb her body heat by direct contact. That's the principle of the heating pad system.

I cut a scrap of steel field fencing the size of the pad, bend it into a shallow "U" shape and bungie the pad to the concave side. Then I wrap the whole thing in another piece of flannel material and secure it so chicks can't squeeze themselves between the pad and metal, which I did have one chick do and get itself hopelessly stuck. Luckily I rescued it before anything happened to it.

I've found the heating pad system is as close to natural as you can get just this side of an actual broody hen. I adjust the frame upward each week as the chicks grow to accommodate their doubling in size. They naturally wean themselves off the heat and no longer need it by age five weeks, and they then move into the coop with no heat. This is possible because brooding outdoors exposes chicks to very cool temperatures from the start hardening them against cold very early.

Sand, while being a wonderful medium for substrate for brooders, coops and runs, is going to be dusty, no matter how clean it is to start with. This is why brooding in coop or run is the more desirable than in your home.

The "fort" as you describe above is what we plan to do. Thank you for clarifying! Our pad is on the way and I'm looking forward to getting the brooder all set up with my 11yo son on Wednesday.

I am only keeping them in the house for a few days because it is unseasonably cold outside right now, and mostly because this batch was chosen specifically to imprint as pets. This is also the first time I will be using the heating pad instead of a heat lamp, so I feel better about having it where I can easily keep on eye on things.

Thank you so much for your input!

 

[kissezmychicken]

I use those pads under the pine shavings and under the water. If there is a water tipping, it saves the day. They soak the water right up. I have NEVER had a chick or chicken tear or get stuck or even peck at them. They've never paid any attention to them. I can't stress how many times they have saved me from a lot of clean up. You can fold them in half under the water and flip them over if you need to. The dollar store has them and Walmart has 50 for $9.99.

 

[sevenfatcows]

Love all this info.

About your heating pad, do you just have it laying on the floor of the brooder? The things I've read say to make a "fort" of wire with the heating pad on top of it, so the chicks can go underneath.

As for the sand, I'm only planning to be using beach sand that has been rinsed. I read that actually helps with the dust. But now I'm wondering if I should use towels. I've had chicks in the house multiple times and the dust is the worst! I have used pine shavings and pellets. Towels do seem like a good way to cut dust, but I've worried that chicks could get toes caught or get under the towels and suffocate. Fun idea about the bagged soil. Hmmm.

I use light for the first week-a 60 or 75 Watt Halogen bulb in a reflector is the usual choice. There is no need for anything more inside a house, in my opinion. The reason I use light, and a white one, not red, is that I have observed that chicks start eating sooner, eat more, and gain faster than if they are under a plate or heating pad fort. They are more active under white light than red. I have built heating pad forts, but found I did not really need them. I live in the high desert of California; someone in a colder place might need the fort more than I would, but I hatch all year long, and it can get cold, especially at night. There is no substitute for watching carefully after setting things up. When the chicks are about about week old, I switch to the heating pad laid flat on the floor of my brooder, paper towels on top to keep it cleaner. It is very important that it not shut itself off. Walgreens' has one for about ten bucks with no shut-off, though it may be only in the on-line store. It pulls about 50 watts. the Sunbeam model generally used for the forts draws much more, about 150 if I remember correctly. You can tell if it is comfortable by their behavior, just as you can when using light. At night, they will cuddle up in a group on the pad, but that is their natural behavior; it is what they will do when they grow out of needing artificial heat. If it is a real cold night, (we don't keep our house very warm) I may put a light cover over the heated end of the brooder to retain heat better. Plates are great, but I generally use them in the outdoor pens, under the part that I shelter from possible rain. As for the use of towels, I have never had a chick get a toenail caught nor has one gotten caught underneath. I fold over the excess so that it is mostly flat, but have noticed that some of then prefer to rest their little chins on the slight rise of the folds-a chick pillow. The towels are old, "dog wash" towels, so the nap is low. Baby chicks spend all day outside unless it is raining and I do not have a rain proof pen open. They come in at night to the mud room brooders. At about two to three weeks, they begin to stay out all night as well, as long as I have a very secure pen available-this has to do with raccoons. Everything will be easier for you because you won't have the confusion of many pens......yet!

 

[VintageLilFarm]

Just to clarify, you use a regular halogen light, not a heat lamp, so no specific heat source other than the warmth put out by the halogen light in reflector? Then, when 2-3 weeks old, you just lay the heating pad on the floor?

What temp is your house normally, both daytime and overnight?

I have always had good success with brooding, but I've never hatched this early in the year. I'm probably over thinking it. But I don't want to lose babies if I can help it!

 

[sevenfatcows]

Correct, regular halogen lamps like people use for track lighting, outdoor lights etc. Halogen lamps come in different focus types which is almost as important as wattage. "Medium flood" is what we usually use. I would not advise spotlight focus, for instance. My home is generally between 60-65 degrees day and night in the winter. In the summer it runs around 70-78 by day and drops to 65 by early morning because we run a swamp cooler pretty much 24/7. For everything we do with chickens, heat is much more of a problem than cold. I have to put frozen 2 liter plastic bottles of water on top and around the nests of broody hens from May to September! However, tonight we will have frost and the low is going to be right about 31 for maybe 3 hours close to dawn. My- one month- olds are in an old sky kennel within a safe pen sheltered from wind. Tonight is the first night they will not have a seed germination pad turned on.I just checked on them and they are nicely cuddled up toward the back of the kennel, making little chick go-to-sleep- sounds (my favorite chick noise). I'll check again late tonight, but expect that they will do just fine and be out scratching around before I ever get out there tomorrow. If anything makes me think they are not okay I will plug it in.
I am convinced that most of us overheat our young chicks and heat them for too long. I say this because I have watched the behavior of my mother hens with their broods. I have a broody with month old chicks in my main run right now and although she snuggles down with the babies at night, I have scarcely seen her shelter them by day in temps in the 40's. Very little chicks will run about in even lower temperatures- just heading back for a quick warm up in the mother's feathers before starting to explore again. Mother hens do not seem too concerned about keeping their young constantly warm. If you try these methods, just set yourself up so you can watch what the chicks are doing. Your own good sense will let you know what to do.
The ordinary halogen bulbs work great for me. I suspend them over the center of one end of the brooder, which for us, would be a large Rubbermaid-type plastic bin. That way, I can raise or lower it easily to adjust the warmth. Birdies who've graduated to the heating pad may have a LED lamp in a reflector over them if I want them to stay awake. I think the LED lamp I'm using is 10 watts max; it's just for light,not heat. I have so many batches of chicks right now that this weekend's bunch are in a smaller, clear plastic bin with a 40 watt halogen bulb placed just a little lower than a higher watt lamp would be. They are fine, spread out like a fan at the edge of the main flood. As the house cools down they will move toward the center. I just check on them when I pass by (easy- they're in the kitchen) and keep an eye out for problems baby chicks can develop. I think the most powerful halogen lamp we've used in a couple of years was 75 watt. If I can help you any further, just let me know.

 

[sevenfatcows]

A heating pad just laid flat won't do much to heat the chicks. Think how chicks warm under a broody hen. They press their backs against her naked, sweaty, warm skin and absorb her body heat by direct contact. That's the principle of the heating pad system.

I cut a scrap of steel field fencing the size of the pad, bend it into a shallow "U" shape and bungie the pad to the concave side. Then I wrap the whole thing in another piece of flannel material and secure it so chicks can't squeeze themselves between the pad and metal, which I did have one chick do and get itself hopelessly stuck. Luckily I rescued it before anything happened to it.

I've found the heating pad system is as close to natural as you can get just this side of an actual broody hen. I adjust the frame upward each week as the chicks grow to accommodate their doubling in size. They naturally wean themselves off the heat and no longer need it by age five weeks, and they then move into the coop with no heat. This is possible because brooding outdoors exposes chicks to very cool temperatures from the start hardening them against cold very early.

Sand, while being a wonderful medium for substrate for brooders, coops and runs, is going to be dusty, no matter how clean it is to start with. This is why brooding in coop or run is the more desirable than in your home.

I used to think that the pad under the chicks would not work and used to build the forts as well. However over time, I switched to using the pad underneath and noticed no problems. I do not do this until the chicks are at least a week old and partially feathered. And they go outside with a heat source, usually a plate, right away during the daytime. I had some problems with the fort type, using the Sunbeam heating pad, I felt like it was keeping too low a temperature. I remember struggling to get it above 88 degrees underneath during the winter when my house is very cool. They go from the heating pad to the seed germination pad by three weeks, even in the winter. The Sunbeam heating pad also drew more power than halogen lights, so that is a major consideration because I hatch almost continuously and may have several groups in brooders at the same time. It adds up, and the electric company routinely sends me "shaming letters" pointing out that I use more power than my "efficient" neighbors! My husband is an electrical contractor, so it's kind of funny. Anyhow, I don't say this to be contentious, but a heating pad underneath does work for me and I hatch, brood and sell hundreds of chicks per year. Location may matter-we are in the high desert above the Coachella Valley in So Cal at about 4000' elevation. What we think is cold would seem spring-like to many other folks. It is interesting to hear about what works for others.

 

[VintageLilFarm]

I used to think that the pad under the chicks would not work and used to build the forts as well. However over time, I switched to using the pad underneath and noticed no problems. I do not do this until the chicks are at least a week old and partially feathered. And they go outside with a heat source, usually a plate, right away during the daytime. I had some problems with the fort type, using the Sunbeam heating pad, I felt like it was keeping too low a temperature. I remember struggling to get it above 88 degrees underneath during the winter when my house is very cool. They go from the heating pad to the seed germination pad by three weeks, even in the winter. The Sunbeam heating pad also drew more power than halogen lights, so that is a major consideration because I hatch almost continuously and may have several groups in brooders at the same time. It adds up, and the electric company routinely sends me "shaming letters" pointing out that I use more power than my "efficient" neighbors! My husband is an electrical contractor, so it's kind of funny. Anyhow, I don't say this to be contentious, but a heating pad underneath does work for me and I hatch, brood and sell hundreds of chicks per year. Location may matter-we are in the high desert above the Coachella Valley in So Cal at about 4000' elevation. What we think is cold would seem spring-like to many other folks. It is interesting to hear about what works for others.

So you use the halogen light for weeks 1 and 2, inside the house, then a heating pad underneath for a week or two in an outside brooder, then seed germination mats until they are feathered out?

I live in Oregon, so we are fairly temperate, but not as warm as you are. I think I would have to adapt accordingly, but your method does sound very workable to me. I just want to make sure I understand correctly.

With regard to keeping them in your kitchen, how do you keep the dust down? I used to brood in a side room of my home, which was used to homeschool my children. I did it probably 3 times. After the last time, I said no more! Every book on every shelf and every nook and cranny was covered in dust and took a great deal of time to clean up! I plan to brood these babies in the kitchen for a short while, dependent mostly on weather. Particularly if I get any Silkies out of this batch, I will play this by ear since they can tend to be a little more fragile than some other breeds. I will be doing all I can do to keep the dust down in the kitchen! This is one big reason why I am entertaining new litter material ideas other than pellets and pine shavings!

 

[sevenfatcows]

Yes, that is basically how I do it, depending, of course on the weather, except that the heating pad is just in the brooder at night for the first two or three weeks because I usually bring them in at dusk. I worry about clever predators for tiny birds and I like to have them in so that I can enjoy them. I really thank God for my little encounters with His creatures and consider that a hatching egg, in all its complexity, is a downright miracle. I have chick plates that I use during the day outside, BUT before I had the plates, I used to just hang the halogen lamp in a corner of my pen, a sheltered corner, and they would go under it as needed. Seed germination pads are made to handle wetness so when the little guys are ready for that, around three weeks, that goes outside, usually in a kennel, for day and night use. Sometimes, rarely, we get cold enough for making snowmen for a couple of days and I would take some other measures to keep them warm, but for us, it is not really an issue.
As you may have figured out, a lot of what I do is meant to reduce the costs of raising pullets, and electricity is a bigger factor than most people need to keep track of, but an added benefit to my method is that the chicks see and do more and get independent more quickly than if they are kept in a brooder, pecking at dust motes on the walls day and night.
When you make any change to where they sleep, such as going from night time brooder to kennel with heating pad, it may take two or three nights of being "put to bed" before they get it, but is is usually not necessary since they quickly find out that the pad in the kennel is like the one in the brooder-warm. As for the indoor dust issue, the reason I switched to old towels rather than litter (and I tried all kinds of sand, shavings, cat litter, you name it..) is that it cuts down on the dust so dramatically. The chicks in the kitchen are there for the first few days just because I pass by them so frequently and these are some expensive ones, already sold. This morning, was pen graduation day, so mud room brooders went outside to 24/7 pens and now the mud room will be where these babies go. That's my system, but I am always learning from other people and experimenting.
I wish I had done this when we were homeschooling our five kids, a long time ago, (when prefect strangers would become confrontational about our decision to do) so-it would have been so much fun for them!

 

[VintageLilFarm]

Thank you!

My set up in the past has been my heat lamp over a Rubbermaid pond liner I have, with old walnut sorting trays on top, weighted down, in my little greenhouse. After a few days inside , this is likely what we will do. I think I will take your advice about the towels when they are inside. I just need to figure out what I'm going to do about heat while inside. Probably either a heating pad on the floor and a halogen above or a heating pad fort.

 

[VintageLilFarm]

I started homeschooling quite awhile back too, over 20 years ago. I had 6, and my youngest is only 11. Since I was divorced, it became impossible to homeschool any longer, but I am thankful for the time I had, and still do everything I can with my younger kids to make learning fun.