First Chicks - Garage Brooder

[Catastrophi]

Hello everyone! I'm getting my first chicks in two weeks and wanted to make sure I have everything in order. I'll have 8 chicks I'll be picking up on 2/17/23.

My plan is to keep the 10 chicks in my home for the first two weeks or so in a large rubbermaid container with a 12"x12" brooder plate heater.

After two weeks or so I plan to transfer them to a brooder I built in my garage which will be 4.5' L x 2.5' W x 18" Tall until they are ready for the outdoor coop. My concern is that the garage is uninsulated / unheated. Temperatures will probably drop into the 50s at night. Will the brooder plate heater be enough? or will I need to supplement with a heat lamp?

 

[Cinnamon Roll]

If your brooder is on the floor, be sure there is a lot of insulation between the chicks and the cold concrete. A brooder plate would not keep them warm enough if they were on a cold floor.

 

[Catastrophi]

In those temperatures that heat plate should work fine. I don't see any need for the heat lamp.

I don't know how any chicks the manufacturer says that heat plate will handle, but they are talking about just hatched chicks. Your chicks will be a lot bigger but whether it is 8 or 10 chicks, they should fit.

The manufacturer says 20 chicks... But I doubt that many when they get bigger

If your brooder is on the floor, be sure there is a lot of insulation between the chicks and the cold concrete. A brooder plate would not keep them warm enough if they were on a cold floor.

It'll be in an elevated wooden box essentially so they won't be on the cold floor!

 

[Shipgirl]

Yes it's the kind that has 4 adjustable feet.



do you think I'd be able to keep the chickens in the brooder until they're ready for the coop? I'm hoping not to have to get a bigger brooder! lol

This is my setup. Garage in homemade box. I have a lamp and a plate and they’ve done just fine from day 1 to day 12 so far. It’s been about 20 degrees at night in unheated garage.

I’m new to my own flock, but have had family chickens all my life. Only posting my personal setup due to it being similar to your situation- by no means am I qualified to give advice!

 

[ShaunJ421]

They are doing great! I picked them up Friday and kept them in an indoor rubbermaid as temps were in the mid 30s. Temps are back in the 70s/60s now so they are in the garage brooder! They're chirping and kicking up shavings everywhere but they seem happy!

That's awesome! Congratulations on getting your new chicks. They're a lot of fun. But they grow up so quickly. Enjoy the babies while you can. Don't blink. They'll be laying eggs before you know it. LOL

 

[ChickyCh00k]

The manufacturer says 20 chicks... But I doubt that many when they get bigger

It's usually about 1/2 the amount the manufacturer claims. So probably about 10 chicks. I'm assuming you're able to adjust the height as they grow? As they get bigger, they'll use it less, but mine slept under or on top of theirs until 5.5 weeks (when I moved them to coop).

 

[thlayli]

I brooded mine in the garage right off the bat, as soon as they were dry. We heated the garage at night to keep it in the 40s and turned it off during the day when they had sun. I will never, ever brood my birds inside again lol. They did just fine in a dog crate with wood shavings and the brooder, although I turned it into a cave with a towel. (I also skirted the crate with hardware cloth so they couldnt just....leave) They huddled under it when they were cold but were out and about most of the time. I was able to move then into the coop at about 5 weeks.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Hello everyone! I'm getting my first chicks in two weeks and wanted to make sure I have everything in order. I'll have 8 chicks I'll be picking up on 2/17/23.

My plan is to keep the 10 chicks in my home for the first two weeks or so in a large rubbermaid container with a 12"x12" brooder plate heater.

After two weeks or so I plan to transfer them to a brooder I built in my garage which will be 4.5' L x 2.5' W x 18" Tall until they are ready for the outdoor coop. My concern is that the garage is uninsulated / unheated. Temperatures will probably drop into the 50s at night. Will the brooder plate heater be enough? or will I need to supplement with a heat lamp?

It's been a crawl, walk, run for me over 20years. I started chicks in the house, then I started them in the garage, now I start them outdoors. For my garage phase, I had same as you uninsulated and night temps as low as *35. I've always used a mama hut (plate is great too,) but I will admit that I added a ceramic heat lamp over my brooder (which is a pre-fab coop, in my opinion pre-fabs are only fit for chicks, not full grown hens.) For the first few days I like the ambient temp to stay at *70. So, it's really up to you, whatever lower's your concern, stress level, do it. Just keep 2 thermometers going - one for the ambient temp, one for under the heat plate. ENJOY!!

 

[3KillerBs]

I wanted to keep then in the garage, but sometime it gets to below freezing in there. Will a chick brooder heating plate keep them warm enough? Or will I need to put them inside the house with the brooder plate? And any suggestions on the best brooder plate? The ones with legs.

Welcome to BYC. If you put your general location into your profile it will help people give you better-targeted advice.

Most brooder plates are designed to work in moderate temperatures and say what they're rated for in the sales information.

 

[Catastrophi]

Just for reassurance, I've got 5-day-old chicks outside in my outdoor brooder with expected temperatures in the 20's tonight.

They've got their plate, a generous pile of deep shavings, and the Big Red Bulb keeping the area around the plate well above freezing.



The guidelines aren't as well-agreed-upon for chicks as they are for adults, but what's usually recommended is as follows:

1/2 square foot per chick for the first couple weeks,
1 square foot up to 4-6 weeks,
2 square feet up to 8-10 weeks,
after that the full adult 4 square feet.

I have a vastly-oversized brooder -- 4x8 -- and they use the entire thing from about 2 weeks old.

Okay! I’m hoping by 6 weeks the weather here in Texas would be suitable for them to head out to the coop!

Thanks for the general rule of thumb!