Mama Heating Pad in the Brooder (Picture Heavy) - UPDATE

[DreamStone]

So, I've set up my heated pad cave for the six chicks arriving Monday. However my thermometers say the tempature is staying around 85° on the highest setting. Should I be concerned? They are day old chicks that will be in my kitchen the first couple weeks (ambient heat is 70°).

eta: heating pad is sunbeams large 12x24" no auto-off.

 

[lazy gardener]

I don't see why you can't use two pads butted up together, LG....make a wider frame to support both and you'd be in business. The small pad is 12x15 and the large one is 12x24. That would give you enough to drape down the sides of the frame as well as over the top, which is what I did. The small one you have, plus either another small one or (given your boundless optimism) the small plus a large, would do them just fine. You could probably use a bit of tape to hold them together butted up, because when those chicks get to tussling up there they might separate the two pads. My Littles will be turning 4 weeks and 3 weeks old this weekend, and they are only in it at night now. I never see one coming out from under during the day. They might rest on top for a quick nap, but boy, once that sun goes down they are in their cave until morning.

As usual, Blooie, me thinks you've missed your calling in life. Occupational therapist, or engineer would both suit you just fine! Why didn't I think of that? If I buy the large pad, that will give me boundless options. Perhaps I'll just have to fill that bator again after this fantastic hatch!

I forgot about the roof of a large chick cave. The space blanket could be stapled onto a towel large enough to cover the entire roof of a large cave with two heating pads under it. The heat reflective material will direct the heat from the heating pads downward evenly over the entire cave. The same with just one pad if it's not large enough to cover the roof area. In other words, the space blanket renders it irrelevant if the heating pad is large or small or if it actually covers the roof area. You can cut the space blanket to fit whatever size area you have. It's very thin stuff, easy to cut with scissors.

Looking forward to how this idea works. My only concern would be that the heating pad would over-heat, if that's even possible. I wonder if it has a shut off feature if the surface of the pad gets warmer than the setting that it's set for. I do like the idea of insulating the sides of the cave. Kind of like those heat plates: they are open on the sides so the chicks can run in and out at will. An other thought I had was perhaps taking Kassaundra's idea of the fleece broody one step further. Remember her bucket with the fleece strips dangling down? If you set something like that OVER the cave, the chicks would have the warm under side (the cave) then the warm top with the fleece danglies holding in heat from above, and making an area that might mimic a hen's feathers to snuggle in. That's the idea I might go for, if I have time, inclination and energy all hit me at the same time in the next 2 weeks.

Oh my gosh!!! A few minutes ago I heard a commotion coming from the coop, so I ran out in my jammies with a broom - and no, don't ask me what I thought I was gonna do against some kind of predator with a broom!

I once did that: Only, I was WAY better prepared than you. I had a broom in one hand, and a waste basket in the other. I have no idea what I thought I was going to accomplish with those weapons of mass destruction, while clad in my jammies!

Blooie you need a Littles cam....

deb

NO! NO! NO! We need a BLOOIE cam!

 

[Blooie]

So, I've set up my heated pad cave for the six chicks arriving Monday. However my thermometers say the tempature is staying around 85° on the highest setting. Should I be concerned? They are day old chicks that will be in my kitchen the first couple weeks (ambient heat is 70°).

eta: heating pad is sunbeams large 12x24" no auto-off

When you say "no auto shut off" do you mean that the pad you have is one that is continuously on, or one that you can disable that auto-shut off feature, like this one? I don't know that it makes a difference, but inquiring minds and all that..........



I put my day olds under Mama Heating Pad as soon as we got home with them, and a day or so later azygous asked if I knew what the temp was inside the cave. I didn't but I put a wireless temperature transmitter in there out of curiosity. You can see that the room temperature was 69 degrees and the temp in the cave was 82.9. I didn't lose a single chick to chilling - in fact they spent a lot of time sitting on top of the heating pad or running all over the brooder so they couldn't have been at all uncomfortable. I think yours will be fine at 85. Watch them - they'll tell you what they need. If they are spending all of their time either out of the cave or hanging toward the front, it might be a little warm at the back, but don't look for that to happen for a few days. In the beginning they are heat hogs! Then you can adjust it down if you need to. I don't think you'll need to adjust it up, even if you could. They'll cuddle when they sleep anyway.

I always hesitate to positively say "oh, go ahead and don't worry about anything" because if you did lose a chick you'd always be wondering if it was the system or something else. I lost a chick out of this batch, but they had just been shipped, arrived at the store, been unpacked and put into brooders, then almost immediately grabbed again and put into boxes for the almost 2 hour drive home - all in the same day. So they were pretty stressed the way it was. I was actually surprised that I didn't lose a couple - there were two that didn't look so good from the start. One I lost, the other recovered and now aside from knowing it was an Easter Egger chick I couldn't tell you which one it was! Shipping always takes it out of these little critters.

Your set up looks like it will work just fine, although as fast as chicks grow it doesn't look like it will hold them for long. Keep us posted on how they do!

 

[Blooie]

@lazy gardener I do remember Kaussandra's fleece covered bucket, doggone it! I wonder if I could have done that instead of the towel,with the fringes hanging down all over for them. If you do it, post lots of pictures! I would hate to see the top of that fleece blankie after all of those chicks discover snuggling on top of it, though!

 

[dpenning]

Or what about hanging the feather dusters over the cave, they could snuggle in the feathers on top of the cave or be inside?

 

[DreamStone]

When you say "no auto shut off" do you mean that the pad you have is one that is continuously on, or one that you can disable that auto-shut off feature, like this one? I don't know that it makes a difference, but inquiring minds

Thanks for the input! It is a heat pad that stays on continuously. I don't have fancy buttons just a slide dial for high-med-low. This spot is just for the first couple weeks when they are more fragile so I can keep an eye on them. I have an xxl metal wire dog crate set for them. With a Great Dane sized crate if need be lol. My first time with chicks so I'm over paranoid. They are getting picked up from Meyer Hatchery but its still going to be a long trip for them. Friend is picking hers and mine up and then I have to pick mine from her after work. So they may be stressed.

 

[Beekissed]

@lazy gardener I do remember Kaussandra's fleece covered bucket, doggone it! I wonder if I could have done that instead of the towel,with the fringes hanging down all over for them. If you do it, post lots of pictures! I would hate to see the top of that fleece blankie after all of those chicks discover snuggling on top of it, though!

Surprisingly it's not much of a problem. I just laid some bedding up there in a thin layer and brush it off to replace it with fresh. Any poo that hits the fuzzy flannel of my pillow case cover quickly dries due to the heating pad underneath. Pretty soon they don't poop up there and then it's smooth sailing. When it's all done the pillow case washes right up and the chicks have stayed warm and dry.

 

[Blooie]

Thanks for the input! It is a heat pad that stays on continuously. I don't have fancy buttons just a slide dial for high-med-low.

This spot is just for the first couple weeks when they are more fragile so I can keep an eye on them. I have an xxl metal wire dog crate set for them. With a Great Dane sized crate if need be lol.

My first time with chicks so I'm over paranoid. They are getting picked up from Meyer Hatchery but its still going to be a long trip for them. Friend is picking hers and mine up and then I have to pick mine from her after work. So they may be stressed.

Forgive me, but I just had to chuckle when I read that. It was a friendly chuckle though, not an "at you" kind of chuckle. These little boogers aren't as fragile as they want us to think. They instinctively seek out warmth and the security of being "hidden" and instantly memorize where food and water can be found. Other than that their needs are simple, and I'm learning from all of this that they are better at knowing and finding what they need than we are in trying to second guess them. Mine have been living outside, and for the first week they were there the night time temps were in the 20s. They did just great. Last night I had reason to go out there so I looked in on them. At only 4 weeks old ( and with the temperature being in the low 40s) some of them weren't even near the cave - they were roosting on the roost in their pen, quite contentedly, I might add, and some were sleeping on top and others around it. Only the very little ones and a couple of the older ones were inside the cave under the heating pad.

I was just as paranoid as you the first batch of chicks I had, so it's pretty normal I think for the first time chicks. I drove myself and everyone around me crazy, as Lazy Gardener and Beekissed can attest! This time I just look in, make sure their food and water is filled, and that's about it. The rest of the time I can just sit on a stump out there and watch them explore, grow, and become chickens! It's the most relaxed feeling!

 

[Blooie]

Surprisingly it's not much of a problem. I just laid some bedding up there in a thin layer and brush it off to replace it with fresh. Any poo that hits the fuzzy flannel of my pillow case cover quickly dries due to the heating pad underneath. Pretty soon they don't poop up there and then it's smooth sailing. When it's all done the pillow case washes right up and the chicks have stayed warm and dry.

I keep putting fresh bedding up there too, and in less time than it takes me to close the door to their pen the little stinkers have it all scratched off. So I quit sweating it. I just pick up the towel every few days and give it a good shake - um, downwind, of course - to get the dried off stuff knocked off, then I put it right back up there. I have real things to worry about, so a little chicken poop in a chicken pen is not real high on the list of panic-able situations. Yes, Bee, this is the same lady who freaked out because her little darlings bit her one day and because their water had poop in it!

I am eagerly looking forward to the day when they decide not to poop up there, though.

 

[DreamStone]

Forgive me, but I just had to chuckle when I read that.  It was a friendly chuckle though, not an "at you" kind of chuckle. These little boogers aren't as fragile as they want us to think.  They instinctively seek out warmth and the security of being "hidden" and instantly memorize where food and water can be found. Other than that their needs are simple, and I'm learning from all of this that they are better at knowing and finding what they need than we are in trying to second guess them.  Mine have been living outside, and for the first week they were there the night time temps were in the 20s.  They did just great.  Last night I had reason to go out there so I looked in on them.  At only 4 weeks old ( and with the temperature being in the low 40s) some of them weren't even near the cave - they were roosting on the roost in their pen, quite contentedly, I might add, and some were sleeping on top and others around it.  Only the very little ones and a couple of the older ones were inside the cave under the heating  pad.

I was just as paranoid as you the first batch of chicks I had, so it's pretty normal I think for the first time chicks.  I drove myself and everyone around me crazy, as Lazy Gardener and Beekissed can attest!  This time I just look in, make sure their food and water is filled, and that's about it.  The rest of the time I can just sit on a stump out there and watch them explore, grow, and become chickens!  It's the most relaxed feeling!

Hehe no, I do realize I'm overly paranoid about them. It's been 3yrs in the making and I picked six different heritage breeds (so each one is extra special to me) and gosh darn I want them all to live! (And not be roos) I really do appricate the experience you and everyone else shares.