Reptile Heating Pad

[Sarah47201]

I lost all my chicks and hens in a fire caused by a heat lamp several months ago. I'm about ready to start again but am wanting the safest heat source for chicks. Has anyone tried a reptile heating pad? I've seen some that say they warm up to 85 or 125 degrees Fahrenheit so logically I think it should work...but not sure if it would in the real world.

 

[cavemanrich]

Check this link ... It has been discussed many times. It is from @Blooie signature.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...d-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update.956958/
WISHING YOU BEST WITH NEW HATCH..........

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I brooded 9 chicks under this heat mat this past year as their SOLE heat source from day 5 on;

https://www.amazon.com/Viagrow-20-5-Seed-Propagating-Seedling/dp/B004PAGPVO

They were VERY robust and happy! This mat was bought for my plants, works great for chicks. Doesn't turn off at random intervals like some human ones do, a little warmer than some reptile ones I think, certainly more reliable. I find that reptile equipment tends to just be over-priced and breaks easily. I just used some sturdy wire mesh to make a low dome they could crawl under and I could lift up over time as needed. When they got cold, they went underneath. When they weren't, they just ran around. They frequently slept underneath it. On warmer days they gathered around the entrance to the dome to sleep instead of all the way under it.

I'm going lampless from now on whenever possible and never going back.

 

[pennyJo1960]

I lost all my chicks and hens in a fire caused by a heat lamp several months ago. I'm about ready to start again but am wanting the safest heat source for chicks. Has anyone tried a reptile heating pad? I've seen some that say they warm up to 85 or 125 degrees Fahrenheit so logically I think it should work...but not sure if it would in the real world.

Take wire like hardware cloth real stiff bend the wire in and half circle put heat on top pointed down they can go under for heat o9f leave the heat if it too much

 

[Sarah47201]

Check this link ... It has been discussed many times. It is from @Blooie signature.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...d-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update.956958/
WISHING YOU BEST WITH NEW HATCH..........

I wish I had whatever it is people need to make it through all that...attention span, moral fortitude, or maybe a pot of coffee.

 

[Sarah47201]

I brooded 9 chicks under this heat mat this past year as their SOLE heat source from day 5 on;

https://www.amazon.com/Viagrow-20-5-Seed-Propagating-Seedling/dp/B004PAGPVO

They were VERY robust and happy! This mat was bought for my plants, works great for chicks. Doesn't turn off at random intervals like some human ones do, a little warmer than some reptile ones I think, certainly more reliable. I find that reptile equipment tends to just be over-priced and breaks easily. I just used some sturdy wire mesh to make a low dome they could crawl under and I could lift up over time as needed. When they got cold, they went underneath. When they weren't, they just ran around. They frequently slept underneath it. On warmer days they gathered around the entrance to the dome to sleep instead of all the way under it.

I'm going lampless from now on whenever possible and never going back.

That's awesome!! It looks like I can also get a thermostat to control the temperature, too. That would help to decrease it as they age. I thought something like a reptile heating pad would work (this is even better!) but everything I was finding was saying not to do it.
Thanks!! The thought of losing another hatching to a heat lamp terrifies me.

 

[Birdinhand]

heat lamps are awful, they are huge energy wasters, pose a fire and burn risk. my daughter got a nasty burn on her wrist from one which motivated us to try the mother heating pad. MHP's are vastly superior in many ways for the chicks. the mother heating pad/MHP thread is so long that it has become difficult for someone to zero in on the specs. I'll give you a basic run down. sunbeam makes a heating pad that allows you to shut off the auto shut off, that is the one to go with. you need to take some hardware cloth/wire mesh and form a cave like structure about the size of the pad, allowing for the pad to drape down to the ground on three sides. it needs to be at a slant, almost touching or touching the ground in the back and just below head level in the front. you start out with it on high and then each week you lower the temp setting by a notch, using the behavior of the chicks as a gauge. if they are happy, they will spend some time under it like a mother hen and then come out and forage and frolic about. if they are too cold they will huddle under it mostly, if they are too hot, they will avoid it. at some point they will feather out enough to not need to go under it much and will often perch on top. meat birds need about 4 weeks and layer chicks need 5-6 weeks, depending on ambient temps/time of year. I think the heating pad is better than an under tank heater or other reptile heating source because it is encased in cloth and allows the chicks to get right up against it without getting burned or over heated. they regulate their own temperature beautifully by choosing how far back under the MHP to go, as needed.

 

[Lins_BE]

I brooded 9 chicks under this heat mat this past year as their SOLE heat source from day 5 on;

https://www.amazon.com/Viagrow-20-5-Seed-Propagating-Seedling/dp/B004PAGPVO

They were VERY robust and happy! This mat was bought for my plants, works great for chicks. Doesn't turn off at random intervals like some human ones do, a little warmer than some reptile ones I think, certainly more reliable. I find that reptile equipment tends to just be over-priced and breaks easily. I just used some sturdy wire mesh to make a low dome they could crawl under and I could lift up over time as needed. When they got cold, they went underneath. When they weren't, they just ran around. They frequently slept underneath it. On warmer days they gathered around the entrance to the dome to sleep instead of all the way under it.

I'm going lampless from now on whenever possible and never going back.

Hi,
I found this listing on amazon that ships to belgium. Do you think it would do? I have no idea about the Fahrenheit degrees , so i would like some toughts...
Would this be for keeping the chicks inside or also outside?
Thanks!

 

[Blooie]

I wish I had whatever it is people need to make it through all that...attention span, moral fortitude, or maybe a pot of coffee.

And I've been there since the beginning! It is a long thread! It took on a life of it's own as more and more people got curious and tried it or, quite frankly, tried to come in and shoot the whole idea down as unsafe or dangerous to chicks. But the thread has lasted so long because it's neither one!

I've thought about starting with a fresh one so it's not so intimidating, but so much would get lost - the successful modifications, those that were tried and that didn't work, and all those wonderful pictures.......by the time I was done weeding it all out it would be almost as big as it is now! The basics never change - a flexible frame, a heating pad that doesn't shut off automatically after two hours, and a soft covering over the heating pad secured so chicks don't get trapped. Anything after that is personal preference.

One of the most helpful bits of information came from @Beekissed - such good information and clear photos that I've saved a link directly to that page in the thread, if you think that would be helpful.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...e-brooder-picture-heavy-update.956958/page-46

 

[Smuvers Farm]

And I've been there since the beginning! It is a long thread! It took on a life of it's own as more and more people got curious and tried it or, quite frankly, tried to come in and shoot the whole idea down as unsafe or dangerous to chicks. But the thread has lasted so long because it's neither one!

I've thought about starting with a fresh one so it's not so intimidating, but so much would get lost - the successful modifications, those that were tried and that didn't work, and all those wonderful pictures.......by the time I was done weeding it all out it would be almost as big as it is now! The basics never change - a flexible frame, a heating pad that doesn't shut off automatically after two hours, and a soft covering over the heating pad secured so chicks don't get trapped. Anything after that is personal preference.

One of the most helpful bits of information came from @Beekissed - such good information and clear photos that I've saved a link directly to that page in the thread, if you think that would be helpful.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...e-brooder-picture-heavy-update.956958/page-46

THIS is what you shoulda been doing while on your *break* from BYC... bad, bad blooie!!!