BROODER thread! Post pics of your brooders!

[LindaB220]

Here is a link to my IN-HOME brooder from hatch to 3 weeks.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/6233/brooder-thread-post-pics-of-your-brooders/2560#post_13296320

And here is my just finsihed garage brooder for 3 week until they can go outside.

We finally have it done! My triple stacked brooder. The brooder is 6 foot long by 2.5 feet wide by just over 6 feet tall with the 3 inch wheels. The front two wheels have a locking clamp. I have a mirror, 2 water bottle brooder caps with bricks underneath to catch drips, homemade PVP 3 inch pipe feeder with fermented and non fermented Scratch and Peck Organic feed, a bucket with dirt and weeds, a Ecoglow 50 for heat, a roost bar for fun.
The 6 doors close like a cabinet. It is not predator proof because it is in my garage. This brooder cost me $600 to have built (not including paint, wire mesh because I had some, or the items inside.) As you can see in one of the photos, the inside inserts come out, they hold the pine shavings inside but I can remove them for easy cleaning. They are held in place by dowels.
Once I put it all together I feel like it is a little crowded for the 6 chicks 4 weeks old I have in there but there is a lot for them to do instead of a lot of empty space that does not entertain them. Besides in the daytime I will be wheeling it out onto my porch for them to enjoy the day. I can probably take the heater out since they are older and that would give them more room, but they like the shelter it provides.



What do you all think? I will read every post, and answer any questions. Thanks!

Very fine job. And the joy of it is it will last for YEARS.

 

[Ariel188]

Very fine job. And the joy of it is it will last for YEARS.

Thank you! We sure spent the HUGE bucks getting them built.

 

[hearthwench]

I got 4 Buff Orpingtons at the beginning of the month. I added 4 more last week. I had got a kiddie swimming pool and put chicken wire zip-tied to the rim, added pieces of plastic meant for a plastic tablecloth clothes-pinned around the top. I cleaned the heck out of my craft room and added old sheets to protect all my wool, beads and other junk from the increasingly dusty chicks. I also added an old clear shower curtain on a short rod in the doorway. I can see in, they can see us. They like to stare. Oh yeah, black tulle clipped over the top. One literally hovered up and over into the little chick's side to get the "better" food and water.

When I brought home the new batch of 4 Buffs, I first used a wire that did not have big enough holes. My husband added a smaller wire over. It took more room than they needed. The older girls were fine with it for 5 days. I removed the barrier to see how things would go. The older girls were okay at first, then they started pecking at the chicks if they went near the food hangers and nipple waterers, even the smaller one low for the babies. That would not do. I put back in a barrier, smaller in area than before. Until the babies are a little bigger, this will have to do. They can reach the older girl's hanging feeder if they get on their little training-roost and graze. The older girl's food, the exact same feed, is better, you know.

If I toss meal worms into the older girl's side first, the littler ones try to push their way into the other side. When they get their share, some keep trying to get on the other side, the others will see their meal worms and try to gobble them up before the others see them.

If I would let them, the new batch would live on meal worms alone.

We are building the coop right now. It has been many decades since I have done geometry and my husband could not hit a nail with a side of a barn. The A-frame is 1-1/2' wider than intended. I am glad the Buffs need roosts not as high as most chickens.

Debbi

 

[Tyaloria]

[COLOR=333333]Here is a link to my IN-HOME brooder from hatch to 3 weeks. [/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/6233/brooder-thread-post-pics-of-your-brooders/2560#post_13296320 [/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]And here is my just finsihed garage brooder for 3 week until they can go outside.[/COLOR]
We finally have it done! My triple stacked brooder. The brooder is 6 foot long by 2.5 feet wide by just over 6 feet tall with the 3 inch wheels. The front two wheels have a locking clamp. I have a mirror, 2 water bottle brooder caps with bricks underneath to catch drips, homemade PVP 3 inch pipe feeder with fermented and non fermented Scratch and Peck Organic feed, a bucket with dirt and weeds, a Ecoglow 50 for heat, a roost bar for fun.
The 6 doors close like a cabinet. It is not predator proof because it is in my garage. This brooder cost me $600 to have built (not including paint, wire mesh because I had some, or the items inside.) As you can see in one of the photos, the inside inserts come out, they hold the pine shavings inside but I can remove them for easy cleaning. They are held in place by dowels.
Once I put it all together I feel like it is a little crowded for the 6 chicks 4 weeks old I have in there but there is a lot for them to do instead of a lot of empty space that does not entertain them. Besides in the daytime I will be wheeling it out onto my porch for them to enjoy the day. I can probably take the heater out since they are older and that would give them more room, but they like the shelter it provides.



What do you all think? I will read every post, and answer any questions. Thanks!

[COLOR=333333]Here is a link to my IN-HOME brooder from hatch to 3 weeks. [/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/6233/brooder-thread-post-pics-of-your-brooders/2560#post_13296320 [/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]And here is my just finsihed garage brooder for 3 week until they can go outside.[/COLOR]
We finally have it done! My triple stacked brooder. The brooder is 6 foot long by 2.5 feet wide by just over 6 feet tall with the 3 inch wheels. The front two wheels have a locking clamp. I have a mirror, 2 water bottle brooder caps with bricks underneath to catch drips, homemade PVP 3 inch pipe feeder with fermented and non fermented Scratch and Peck Organic feed, a bucket with dirt and weeds, a Ecoglow 50 for heat, a roost bar for fun.
The 6 doors close like a cabinet. It is not predator proof because it is in my garage. This brooder cost me $600 to have built (not including paint, wire mesh because I had some, or the items inside.) As you can see in one of the photos, the inside inserts come out, they hold the pine shavings inside but I can remove them for easy cleaning. They are held in place by dowels.
Once I put it all together I feel like it is a little crowded for the 6 chicks 4 weeks old I have in there but there is a lot for them to do instead of a lot of empty space that does not entertain them. Besides in the daytime I will be wheeling it out onto my porch for them to enjoy the day. I can probably take the heater out since they are older and that would give them more room, but they like the shelter it provides.



What do you all think? I will read every post, and answer any questions. Thanks!

Wow! Wow!

 

[Odelia]

I love the baby monitor with the camera!

 

[PortlandHen]

I can't believe how much I've forgotten since we raised chicks in a brooder last year. This year we're raising them in a 2 x 4 metal trough (last year was a big big 4 x 5 box). I'm guessing with the metal brooders it makes it a bit warmer in there? Our lamp is raised a LOT higher than last year (with 3 day old chicks). They seem to be going back and forth from all laying separate under the lamp… then a little later huddled at the end away from the lamp. Does this sound right to all of you? It is a warm day (therefor warm in our house), maybe I should just raise it up higher for the day? I'll just be gone for a couple hours and I want to make sure they're ok.

 

[Ariel188]

Wow! Wow!

Thank you!!

 

[valerievr2]

I have pretty much the same set up as you (large dog crate, heat lamp). I have convinced mine to drink out of the water bottles that I use for our pet rat, so I can hang it up and I don't have to worry about them pooping/playing in the water. I keep them out in the garage to cut down on smell and dust in the house. They are about 3 1/2 weeks old now, and doing great.

 

[nelmsy]

What is the best breed for a broody hen ?

 

[JekkaLynn]

Every silky hen we owned only had to see a chick and within a week would go broody. But we got them all from one person and they were odd looking ones compared to every other silky I have seen in my area so maybe they were not typical.