You are very welcome!Thank you so much Blooie! I was following the first time chick parents this spring and hit upon one of your posts about MHP. I love the idea! And thanks so much for the links! I've been thinking that I'll need to find those links, order the right heating pad, study your step-by-step instructions for construction etc. This helps immensely. One question I have is how big of an area should I section off for them while they're still quite young and small? And what bedding should I use? There is a very thick layer of leaves in the area of the yard where the coop will be. I think they'd get lost in the leaves. I'm guessing I should rake it out and put something smaller down at first? Thanks for your help!
Don't overthink it! If I didn't have any older chickens out there I'd put the MHP in one corner of the coop or run, block it off to keep them close to it for a few days until they knew that's where "warm lives" and then remove the block and let 'em have the entire space! They won't wander too far from it at first, and since they have this "gang mentality" at first very rarely will one venture too far from the others. That said, I did have one chick who seemed to be more inclined to find trouble than the others and had to be rescued a time or two, but that's true no matter how and where they're raised. Leaves are fine, as far as I'm concerned. The earlier they get used to whatever environment they'll be in as adults the fewer transitions they have to make. I used straw for mine, but only because our nighttime temps were still well below 20 degrees and I wanted that extra insulation qualities a bed of straw can provide. Pine shavings - whatever works for you.
Just a note - when I started using MHP and shared it in the thread, it was working perfectly for me just as I set it up. It still does for most people. But later on in the thread, earlier this year, a few people had chicks who got caught up in the wire of the frame and a couple of those chicks were lost. As far as I'm concerned losing one chick that way is one too many and I felt terrible. So many of those folks went to the way @Beekissed does it and used bungee cords to attach the pad to the INSIDE of the frame, then wrapped the whole thing in a pillowcase to prevent those accidents. Still others combined that with leaving the backside of MHP open so they had two ways in and out and none could get hung up at the back of the cave. I have changed to the heating pad inside the frame, but still leave mine closed completely in the back just because of our low temps when I've got chicks out there. If I could edit my original post to reflect that change I would, but by the time it came up for the first time the thread was already a year old. All of these suggestions and experiences are in the thread, but it's become a pretty long one and most folks don't have the time to start at the beginning and read each post. So here's a link to the page with @Beekissed 's MHP set-up. Since I learned this from her and Patrice Lopatin, I was grateful for her input on how to prevent those chicks from getting caught up.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/956958/mama-heating-pad-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update/450