Don't be hard on yourself, there is a learning curve. I had two close calls with my two broods last year, fortunately didn't lose either chick.
Mama Heating Pad in the Brooder (Picture Heavy) - UPDATE
- Thread starter Blooie
- Start date
That sounds really good to me!!
Thanks! So far no new issues. All 9 chicks seem very happy.
eleanors_garden
In the Brooder
- Sep 29, 2023
- 10
- 40
- 46
Hello all!
I had posted a thread elsewhere asking about MHP & outdoor brooding, and in that short time things have changed! I will be getting my chicks a lot earlier than expected.. and the advice there is not applicable..
I will now be getting 50 2 week olds, and 50 day olds THIS weekend, as opposed to 4 week & 2 week later.
I have been going through this thread like mad looking for answers, but I think my questions are too specific (or they're in here and I just haven't reached that page yet lol.) While I've learned A LOT from this thread I'm on a time crunch.
SO has anyone had experience with:
1. Starting day old chicks in an outdoor brooder?
2. Using a pet heating pad instead of a standard heating pad?
I know I read from an article from azygous (and from Blooie) stating that you can (and azygous did? memory is fuzzy from the influx of reading on BYC) but I've only read so far here that most people have only started at day 2 or 3, or even after the first week.
Our coop set up (almost finished construction) is similar to azygous: we have 2 horse stalls in the barn that are converted to coops. We have one already set that our 14 hens and 2 roos are happily living in. The stall next will be the brooder coop- starting small and expanding as they grow to not overwhelm them with the surface area.
My concern is that with 100 chicks the standard HP's won't be adequate in size. My thoughts are instead of getting multiple small standard HP's I'd go for a larger pet HP, as well as a smaller version of the same one.
This one here has all the same settings as the Sunbeam. https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0CKDVCPTX/ref=sw_img_1?smid=A3HNQ01795LB5Z&psc=1
I didn't love our set up last year with the indoor brooder (the standard set up most of us end up with.) But it was our first time lol so we were learning on the fly as we all do.
We did end up losing 2 chicks within the first week- one during the night and have to assume she was too cold, and the other I didn't get her electrolytes in time. Both of them I chalk up to the stress of travel. We got them from a feed store about a day after they were shipped in. This time there is a local hatchery close by- so the stress right off the bat should be less than our previous.
Thank you everyone in advance for your input!
I've been loving the support and community through this thread (and BYC)
I had posted a thread elsewhere asking about MHP & outdoor brooding, and in that short time things have changed! I will be getting my chicks a lot earlier than expected.. and the advice there is not applicable..
I will now be getting 50 2 week olds, and 50 day olds THIS weekend, as opposed to 4 week & 2 week later.
I have been going through this thread like mad looking for answers, but I think my questions are too specific (or they're in here and I just haven't reached that page yet lol.) While I've learned A LOT from this thread I'm on a time crunch.
SO has anyone had experience with:
1. Starting day old chicks in an outdoor brooder?
2. Using a pet heating pad instead of a standard heating pad?
I know I read from an article from azygous (and from Blooie) stating that you can (and azygous did? memory is fuzzy from the influx of reading on BYC) but I've only read so far here that most people have only started at day 2 or 3, or even after the first week.
Our coop set up (almost finished construction) is similar to azygous: we have 2 horse stalls in the barn that are converted to coops. We have one already set that our 14 hens and 2 roos are happily living in. The stall next will be the brooder coop- starting small and expanding as they grow to not overwhelm them with the surface area.
My concern is that with 100 chicks the standard HP's won't be adequate in size. My thoughts are instead of getting multiple small standard HP's I'd go for a larger pet HP, as well as a smaller version of the same one.
This one here has all the same settings as the Sunbeam. https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0CKDVCPTX/ref=sw_img_1?smid=A3HNQ01795LB5Z&psc=1
I didn't love our set up last year with the indoor brooder (the standard set up most of us end up with.) But it was our first time lol so we were learning on the fly as we all do.
We did end up losing 2 chicks within the first week- one during the night and have to assume she was too cold, and the other I didn't get her electrolytes in time. Both of them I chalk up to the stress of travel. We got them from a feed store about a day after they were shipped in. This time there is a local hatchery close by- so the stress right off the bat should be less than our previous.
Thank you everyone in advance for your input!
I've been loving the support and community through this thread (and BYC)
Last edited:
That is sure ambitious -100 chicks. But yes, you can do it. I brood my day-olds in my enclosed run with no issues. Reptile pads are not an adequate substitute for the heating pad, however, since they heat from the bottom up, not the top down as does MHP.
The simple principle behind the MHP brooding system is it replicates a broody hen and the babies are able to huddle under it as they would a broody hen. It's dark and the heating pad makes direct contact with the chicks backs just as they would under a hen. Just as you would take into consideration the number of chicks a broody hen is able to adequately cover, so you will need to estimate how many chicks will be able to fit under the MHP and set up that number of heating pad frames so there will be room for all 100 chicks to snuggle under without piling up, which can result in casualties.
The ages of the chicks you are getting will still permit them all to be brooded together with the chicks choosing what heating pad frame they wish to sleep under. I once brooded such disparate aged chicks before using two heating pad frames. The different aged chicks chose to mingle together under the two frames.
About the only difference you will see with two age groups is that by age three weeks, the older group will have quit using the heating pad during the day. But all will continue to sleep under the MHPs at night until around age four to five or six weeks.
The simple principle behind the MHP brooding system is it replicates a broody hen and the babies are able to huddle under it as they would a broody hen. It's dark and the heating pad makes direct contact with the chicks backs just as they would under a hen. Just as you would take into consideration the number of chicks a broody hen is able to adequately cover, so you will need to estimate how many chicks will be able to fit under the MHP and set up that number of heating pad frames so there will be room for all 100 chicks to snuggle under without piling up, which can result in casualties.
The ages of the chicks you are getting will still permit them all to be brooded together with the chicks choosing what heating pad frame they wish to sleep under. I once brooded such disparate aged chicks before using two heating pad frames. The different aged chicks chose to mingle together under the two frames.
About the only difference you will see with two age groups is that by age three weeks, the older group will have quit using the heating pad during the day. But all will continue to sleep under the MHPs at night until around age four to five or six weeks.
They won't, and setting up enough for 100 chicks would be very difficult. You're better off using heat lamps.
Why so many birds?
Meaties or layers?
What is your climate?
Doing the math... I feel like 12 is the max for a XL sunbeam. I've seen the chair heating pads which are bigger but finding NO auto shut off is the hard part. I'm curious about electric blankets. I wonder if you could find a electric blanket that gets warm enough and no auto shut off..... ? That's what I'd be doing, looking for a very large heating pad with no auto shut off. The idea of 8 standard MHP's seems like a lot of work but it's also an option. And of course you could supplement heat with a ceramic bulb lamp. Do both lamp and MHP. I like this challenge and I really hope you break new ground in MHP world and let us know what you wind up doing!! Oh no, this would then encourage me to start 100 chicks? 
My worry would be - even if you could solve the area of heated pad necessary, the chicks in the middle of the pack would get overheated and/or crushed.
I would start with a lamp and as many pads as I could make (make sure they always have a cool place to go to) and probably add MHPs as I had time and resources to do so.
I would start with a lamp and as many pads as I could make (make sure they always have a cool place to go to) and probably add MHPs as I had time and resources to do so.
That sounds sensible. The welfare of the chicks should come first.
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