Good to go?

Will this work for a brooder? I just got them today and want to make sure they are comfortable. Im using a heating mat specifically for chicks instead of a lamp that was suggested from a friend on here and said that it works great for them. How often should. I clean the bedding?


Answers

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Save the frogs I have heard heat mats work quite well. I have not used 5them myself. I was always a bit concerned about the safety of a heat lamp (it did slide once and was close to catching the wood chips on fire.)

    Your set up looks comfortable but I think you chickeis will need more space to roam very soon. The feeder and Waterer take up a lot of space.

    And I usually have some sort of screen over the top of a brooder. Some chicks get flightly quite fast and if they do you'll be chasing them all over.

  • JennyT Upstate South Carolina
    JennyT Upstate South Carolina Posts: 1,273 ✭✭✭✭✭

    To add to what @Monek Marie mentioned above, when you do move them to a bigger area I have seen, and used it myself, propping the food and water up over a screen to let the wood chips fall through and not get in the food and especially the water so easily.

    I used a gigantic storage tote and laid a baby gate over the top of it until they grew out of that. After that I laid down the newspaper, put up a collapsible baby pen, and added more paper to partly cover the bottom couple of inches of the gate and back over the newspaper already on the floor. Next I laid down pine shavings and placed the food and waterer on the screen. I used that because that's what I had.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    I am going to post of series of answers that I have sent @Save the frogs by pm in case it might be helpful to others who are wondering the same things. It was a series of answers, so this will be a long post.


    It is quite a small space. They will outgrow it quickly. You will need to find something with a bit more floor space. I see they are approximately a week old (they have feathered wings). Is this correct? Under a week old, you need to check their bottoms daily for pasty butt (poop stuck on the bum).

    Anyway, about the space, you will find that pretty soon, they will try to fly out of their space. That often happens between 1 & 2 weeks. A wire cover (so that heat can escape) would be good to have.

    I am concerned with the temperature of the heat mat. What brand is it? I bought hard types that were sold for chicks.

    Many pet mats are not hot enough for chicks, or are too hot or have other issues. Is yours approved for chick use?

    Are they going both on & off of the mat? If it is too hot, they will not stay on it long, too cold & they will be chilled.


    I was thinking that something at least double that floor space would be good.

    The waterer & feeder look good.

    Pine wood shavings are liked by some people. I'm allergic to the dust. You also have to be careful that it doesn't get wet & mold. Mold is bad for chickens. I found that it also didn't keep odor down for long. More frequent changes may need to happen if you find either of these issues happening.

    I line my brooder with newspaper as a base with paper towel over top (newspaper absorbs but is slippery) and change it every 1-2 days until they get a bit larger.

    I've also used hemp with good success as I made note of before.


    You don't want your chicks to get chilled. They are more likely to get chilled & get sick or die.

    My brooder isn't set up right now. I had a wooden one made, then switched to a pet cage that is easily assembled & disassembled. It is much nicer to use, I think.

    I have a couple of these:

    I have two smaller ones that have one top lid and this larger one. I don't use any of the accessories, of course. The smaller one would work for 6 chicks. I have put 20-30 in the large one, but was selling chicks from day old on, so there were less in there as they grew.

    I find that they are large enough to fit the mat, large enough for chicks to run off the mat as they wish, tall & wide enough to fit the feeder & waterer, & strong enough to hang a waterer if I want a small pail with watering nipples.

    It has a side door, which can be handy.

    I got mine used, which is nice.

    To clean, a mini hand broom & dustpan (like you might use in a tent), paper towel & nail brush are nice to have on hand.

    If the chicks throw food around & out, it's easy enough to cover the sides with something to prevent extra mess. If you need to cover it for extra warmth (I did this when the house was cold & they were newly hatched), it's easy enough to drape a small sheet over the top.

    For fun with chicks, if you can tie a red shoelace hanging from the lid (if you get a cage), they like to pull on it as if it were a worm. I even got a short video of one swinging from it once...it wanted that "worm" so badly. That was entertaining.


    For tonight, you could also leave the mat in there & cover the basket with a light blanket. It will help retain heat.

    If you use a lamp, don't do this, of course, because then you'd have a fire.

    You may also need to keep it on somewhat in the daytime if your mat isn't hot enough. Make sure that the chicks can still get off of the mat if they get too hot.

    I have used a doubled/more sheet over the cage you saw depending on the heat I needed to keep captured. When I used a sheet, I could also make a lesser covered area for in the day so that they got light. You can always peel a portion back during the day for light & still retain heat. They will not eat much if it's dark, but at night that doesn't matter.

    If the chicks are too cold, they will cheep very loudly. The next sign is that they will huddle really closely. If they huddle somewhat without making loud noise, they are usually okay.

    If they stay off the mat pretty much all the time, the mat is too hot.

    They should be pretty free with running off and on and will go back onto the mat to sleep until they are older.

    @Save the frogs Don't be shy about asking the questions publicly. I'm sure someone else will ask the same questions at some point and having the answers already accessible will help them out. 😀

  • Michelle D
    Michelle D Posts: 1,465 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Save the frogs you already have a ton of great info here. I don't have much to add. I was on a tight budget when I put my brooder together. I used a foldable kiddie pool. Cleaning it was very easy and my little ladies had plenty of space to move around. When they moved out to the coop I scrubbed it out, folded it up and stored it away for next time. It doesn't take up a ton of space.