BROODER thread! Post pics of your brooders!

[aart]

I have a 12 by 7 dog kennel that I wrapped in poultry netting. I am going to put a tarp over the top and partly over the sides and brood my chicks in it!! Anybody done this before? How does it work with heat lamp?

Could work....depends on your climate and how weather tight you can make part of it for shelter.
Top needs to be wired too, tarp won't keep out coons, and walls should aproned to deter diggers.
Chicken wire can let in weasels and snakes tho.....who love to eat chicks.

 

[Laci7210]

Could work....depends on your climate and how weather tight you can make part of it for shelter.
Top needs to be wired too, tarp won't keep out coons, and walls should aproned to deter diggers.
Chicken wire can let in weasels and snakes tho.....who love to eat chicks.

My dogs keep away most predators like that, snakes are possible though. Would they be safer if I wait until they are a week or so old to put them in there? I planned on keeping them in a watermelon box brooder for a while until they are good to go to the kennel..

 

[buffalobillh]

Here is my beginning brooder. Chicks arriving today. If they outgrow this brooder before I have the coop finished, I have two large watermelon display boxes from the grocery store that will give them plenty of room.

[/IMG]

 

[buffalobillh]

They are here!

 

[lydzchix]

They are here!

Congratulations! Yours are two days younger than mine! Enjoy.

 

[kimmerjo]

OK here is my brooder! Chicks come today or tomorrow! Waiting for DH to get home to build a cover so the cats don't get curious. Am I missing anything?

 

[samandemsmommy]

Here is our brooder we are using for our 6 chicks! We had an old aquarium and lamps already from when my son had his snake- so we are using that.
I keep puppy pads on the bottom covered with pine shavings. I use a small grill grate under the large heat lamp to help when adjusting it so it stays put better

 

[Ctptcha]

It might be a bit late but do you guys know anywhere to get heat lamp from and how do you attach it to the dog crate and how do you turn it to the left? (Sorry for all the questions!)

 

[Ctptcha]

My brooder is an under-the-bed storage container with a smaller container inset to keep their bedding from flooding everytime they decide to splash it up! I placed it inside a dog crate to keep them safe from my curious cat & built 'bumpers' out of cardboard covered in contact paper to make them more water resistant (plus the camouflage design is much more stylish than the plain old brown cardboard! ) They are quickly outgrowing their brooder at only 3 weeks old- plus I'm kind of a neat freak so I'm cleaning it out constantly- like 5-6 times a day! At least it gives my duckies plenty of 'play time' running around the kitchen (I love the pitter patter of duck feet across the tile floor!) I think the next step will be a fenced in kiddie pool out in the garage, I can't believe how fast they are growing!

Are those mallards? They are so sweet!! Love the brooders guys!

 

[KrystalRose]

I have a brooder area that is about 2' 6" by 5'. I am hoping to use this for my smaller chicks but I am hoping to do batches of 10-20 chicks at a time. I know I need to raise them to about 8 weeks old before introducing them to the rest of my flock but I know they will need more space before that time so I am thinking of making a separate run and coop that runs along my current chicken run and coop so they can get acquainted though the fence. How much space is recommended for an 8 week old chick both inside the coop and in an outside run?

My first batch of chicks I got 24 chicks and they were ok in the smaller area until about 4 weeks old and then they seemed to be getting restless and like they wanted more room. I know I spoil my girls but I would rather them be happy and not picking on each other if possible. Plus I would like to let my hens brood out some chicks and don't want my mamas to get too restless in that small area for very long. For my main coop and run I used the rule of thumb of 4 sq ft inside the coop per chicken and 10 sq ft outside per chicken. Any size suggestions for the smaller coop and run?

Here is a picture of the small brooder (the little area under the bench):