I’ve taken a different approach to taking care of our baby chicks as I quickly realized that I didn’t like the traditional method of care. We started the first 6 chicks in a more traditional brooding box with heat lamp, but I just didn’t like the heat lamp. It was on 24/7. The chicks never really seemed to settle down. (I know I would have a hard time sleeping well if a heat light was on me 24/7.)
The following week, when we brought the next 6 chicks home, we had just finished up the coop. We decided that we were going to throw the traditional brooding box to the wind and move the chicks out to the coop. For the first couple of nights, we had the heat lamp on in the coop as I didn’t have an alternative idea in mind yet.
I started looking for alternative ideas for raising chicks when you didn’t have a broody hen. I found the EcoGlow Brooder (affiliate link) on Amazon which got me thinking that there may be a way to do this that was a little more natural feeling to the chicks. (We’re all about cozy around here.)
I stumbled across the idea of using a heating pad to keep the chicks warm. There were a variety of different ways of accomplishing the task, but the basic idea was to create a cave using some sort of metal, a heating pad, and a towel/blanket. Once again, I wanted to keep the cost down as much as possible, so I looked around to see what I had available.
I already knew that I would be purchasing a heating pad as I needed one that didn’t have the auto-off feature. It needed to stay on until I turned it off. I liked the idea of having multiple heating options, so I went with the Sunbeam Xpressheat Large 12’x15′ Heating Pad (affiliate link) which is a digital heating pad with 6 different settings. (There is also a Sunbeam Xpressheat X-Large 12’x24′ Heating Pad (affiliate link) if you need a larger space for more chicks.)
I was able to find a wire under shelf basket (affiliate link) that was the right size for my project. (You could also bend welded wire or use a cookie cooling sheet.) I then found a small fleece baby blanket that I had picked up a few years back at the dollar store for the guinea pigs. With those 2 items and the purchased heating pad, I was ready to put together my little heating pad mama hen. I bent the slides to create a higher opening in the front. The slides became the bottom of the cave while the bottom the of the basket became to top of the “cave”. I placed the heating pad on top and over the sides of the basket, and then wrapped the basket and heating pad in the blanket making sure to drape some of the blanket over the front opening.
I started the heating pad at 6 and have gradually decreased it according to the needs of the chicks. The smaller chicks like to go toward the back where it’s warmer while the larger chicks are towards the front. They tend to self regulate, and they only spend as much time in the heating cave as is necessary. They like to run around and explore a lot. They will also hop on top of the cave, so you’ll need to readjust things now and again. They can also get warmth from the top of the “cave” when they don’t need the full warmth of being in the “cave”. The first night, I placed the youngest chicks inside and within a few minutes, they were all snuggled inside. The second night, I tucked a couple of the youngest chicks in and the rest followed. By the third night, they put themselves to bed for the night.
I’ve noticed that the chicks that were pretty much started with this method have feathered out much quicker than our first batch of chicks that spent a week+ under the heat lamp. They are all happy and healthy. I like that we don’t have to use the heat lamp. The chicks put themselves to bed at night and sleep soundly at night. They get up with the sun in the morning. In other words, they have a more normal sleep cycle with this method.
