Chick peeping loudly, help!

[PirateGirl]

It seems to be working ok for us. We can’t manually control the temp on it, but it has never shut off and is just producing a fairly comfortable amount of heat for the chicks when they stand/lay on it. The box claims to be good for both chicks and outdoor weather, but it’s mainly marketed as a coop heater, so that’s probably its best use.

Not that I’d recommend the product to anyone, but we’re getting along ok on it now. We had a huge scare with our heat lamp being unsecured in the brooder with our other pullets and don’t think it’s worth the risk putting it back in. Thank you all for looking into it.

Right, but thermostatically controlled, as it is advertised, means that while the mat is "on" as in plugged in and the thermostat is operating, the heat will turn on and off intermittently based on temperature. Somewhere it should specify the temperature range that the built in thermostat is set at. This may or may not provide an adequate temperature for brooding as it does not seem that this is the intended use of the product. If you are going to continue to use it for brooding I would invest in a small thermometer so that you can monitor the temperature.

 

[Kris5902]

It’s 44 (daytime) degrees outside here now and raining. I have 40 1 week old chicks outside in an unheated, we will be nice and say “extremely well ventilated” barn. They have a Brinsea heat plate they can go under, but spend most of their time running around. They have been out there since day 3? of their lives (I don’t know if they were actually a day old when they shipped). They do have solid sided brooder panels to prevent drafts.

I wonder if maybe we baby them more than is necessary? But if you only have two, they wouldn’t have any group warmth. Oh, and I often lose power for a few hours each day on my plates, weather is just miserable and my solar isn’t producing... no signs of chilling, pasty butt, or distress peeps (except when the giant, that’s me, comes in with food and water or with the scary drill trying to work out a lid for them before some predator figures out they are in there). I really like the MHP, heat plates, and such because it lets them self regulate and wean themselves off heat. It just seems more natural to me than a lamp and indoor brooding.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

It’s 44 (daytime) degrees outside here now and raining. I have 40 1 week old chicks outside in an unheated, we will be nice and say “extremely well ventilated” barn. They have a Brinsea heat plate they can go under, but spend most of their time running around. They have been out there since day 3? of their lives (I don’t know if they were actually a day old when they shipped). They do have solid sided brooder panels to prevent drafts.

I wonder if maybe we baby them more than is necessary? But if you only have two, they wouldn’t have any group warmth. Oh, and I often lose power for a few hours each day on my plates, weather is just miserable and my solar isn’t producing... no signs of chilling, pasty butt, or distress peeps (except when the giant, that’s me, comes in with food and water or with the scary drill trying to work out a lid for them before some predator figures out they are in there). I really like the MHP, heat plates, and such because it lets them self regulate and wean themselves off heat. It just seems more natural to me than a lamp and indoor brooding.

As someone who also broods outdoors in an insulated coop using the mama heat pad, I don't disagree with the assertion that in general people can tend to over estimate the fragility of chicks as well as the need for heat that they have.
That being said, what the OP has described in their post, is the behavior of a chick who is peeping in a distressed manner and generally is associated with a chick who feels too cold. The important difference there with your situation, and mine, in how we brood is that the chicks are able to self regulate because they have an appropriate heat source that does give them the amount of warmth that they need when they need it. That appears to be somewhat lacking in the set up the OP is using, resulting in a chick unable to self regulate and be confortable

 

[Quailberries]

Again, thank you all. This is only a very short-term set up and if we do ever end up brooding chicks again (certainly not planning on it) we will totally invest in more proper equipment. We do have a thermometer already, and we're a little higher than the normal temperature range but that seems to be what the chicks are most content with. We're going to continue the current set up and bring the heater down some if they ever seem too hot.

 

[PirateGirl]

Again, thank you all. This is only a very short-term set up and if we do ever end up brooding chicks again (certainly not planning on it) we will totally invest in more proper equipment. We do have a thermometer already, and we're a little higher than the normal temperature range but that seems to be what the chicks are most content with. We're going to continue the current set up and bring the heater down some if they ever seem too hot.

Oh good, it sounds like you are able to make appropriate adjustments! This is most important with any setup. I hope the little one settles down some for you.

 

[Kris5902]

As someone who also broods outdoors in an insulated coop using the mama heat pad, I don't disagree with the assertion that in general people can tend to over estimate the fragility of chicks as well as the need for heat that they have.
That being said, what the OP has described in their post, is the behavior of a chick who is peeping in a distressed manner and generally is associated with a chick who feels too cold. The important difference there with your situation, and mine, in how we brood is that the chicks are able to self regulate because they have an appropriate heat source that does give them the amount of warmth that they need when they need it. That appears to be somewhat lacking in the set up the OP is using, resulting in a chick unable to self regulate and be confortable

Agree completely, I don’t question the reasoning behind the loud peeping and each situation is different. I’d look into other heating options for the future as well, and of course there are some places that still have unseasonably cold weather right now too! I personally really like the top down heating arrangement, but everyone needs to work with what they have.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

One other thought, op, is your brooder set up so that the chicks are always within sight of each other or when the people of distress is going on is 1 chick possibly out of sight of the other?
I currently gave two chicks indoors in a tote brooder with their mama heat pad because they were unplanned additions that I came to have just as my last batch of coop brooded chicks were starting to integrate with the adult flock at 3-4 weeks.....meaning the new babies couldnt go out into the coop brooder. (They will move in the next week once I feel comfortable closing the "safe space" off from the newly integrated batch)
Anyway, these two are in their brooder and several times a day one or the other will start peeping its fool head off...on investigation invariably one chick is under the mhp, and the other on top.....so neither can see the other. Under chick is happy as a clam.....the chick on top is convinced it's all alone in the big scary world and stands there desperately calling out for its broodermate. As soon as it jumps down or the other chick pops out to see what the ruckus is about, they "find" each other and all is well again.

 

[seminolewind]

She may be hungry. I have found many chicks who can't eat the crumbles because they are too big. They "look" like they're eating but are not. Grind your crumbles down. Jump start them (especially the loud one) with crumble mush made with warm water. They become vultures.

I lost 2 chicks with my first and 2nd hatch , both because the crumbles were too big and both chicks was loud like all day before I caught on. The third hatch I realized that None of the crumbles were being eaten-the same amount was cleaned up that I had put out. They were all starving until I ground the crumbles down. I do that for a few weeks.

 

[danceswithronin]

For anyone looking for a reliable and safe brooder lamp, I can't recommend these Brinsea EcoGlow brooders enough: https://www.schoolspecialty.com/bri...MI582nm8HN4QIVQ18NCh0zLgnrEAQYAiABEgIS6vD_BwE

I even have one that got left out in a plastic bin outdoors over the winter in rain and all kinds of hot and freezing temperatures and I plugged it in this spring and it STILL works. Holds a steady temperature too, but never gets so warm you can't pick it up barehanded, so there's no worry about a fire hazard or burning up your chicks.

 

[Kris5902]

I even have one that got left out in a plastic bin outdoors over the winter in rain and all kinds of hot and freezing temperatures and I plugged it in this spring and it STILL works.

I had the same accident but just with rain, it was completely submerged when I found it. The plate came through fine, but the DC adapter was ruined. Simple fix...

A bit expensive, but IMO worth it, and they are functional with my off grid solar setup, so little electric needed.