First Chicks - Garage Brooder

[ShaunJ421]

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?

How are the new baby chicks? I was so excited when I got mine last year. Mine just started laying about 3 weeks ago. Now I'm getting more eggs than I know what to do with. And they all haven't even started laying yet. LOL

 

[Catastrophi]

How are the new baby chicks? I was so excited when I got mine last year. Mine just started laying about 3 weeks ago. Now I'm getting more eggs than I know what to do with. And they all haven't even started laying yet. LOL

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!

 

[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

 

[kbroom]

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?

You might want to invest in a heater lamp anyway. What if the temperatures outside aren't quite warm enough yet?

 

[Catastrophi]

You might want to invest in a heater lamp anyway. What if the temperatures outside aren't quite warm enough yet?

Brooder plate heater has been working great.

 

[aynesidea]

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).

Ours 4 are 3 wks now, still sleeping on top of heat plate. Finally getting mini coop put together, then partial plastic. Then they can be out in sun for a while once these 33 mph winds settle down and temp gets up to 57. Can we put heatplate outside on ground or cardboard?

 

[ChickyCh00k]

Ours 4 are 3 wks now, still sleeping on top of heat plate. Finally getting mini coop put together, then partial plastic. Then they can be out in sun for a while once these 33 mph winds settle down and temp gets up to 57. Can we put heatplate outside on ground or cardboard?

I think there are others who have used their brooder plates in outdoor brooders/coops. I opted to get a Sweeter Heater for our coop, which is a radiant heater (no lights and very little risk of fire) that hangs above the roost. I have it plugged into a thermocube so it turns off when the temp gets above 45F and turns on when it goes below 35F.

 

[3KillerBs]

Ours 4 are 3 wks now, still sleeping on top of heat plate. Finally getting mini coop put together, then partial plastic. Then they can be out in sun for a while once these 33 mph winds settle down and temp gets up to 57. Can we put heatplate outside on ground or cardboard?

I brood outdoors in this brooder: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/run-to-outdoor-brooder-conversion.76634/

I run dual heat with a Producer's Pride brooder plate and a Big Red Bulb in the heatlamp when it's going to be below 50F and have been OK all the way down into the 20's. They weren't *happy*, but they were OK.

My theory here is that by running dual heat the lamp raises the temperature around the brooder plate to the level where the brooder plate can function effectively and keeps the water thawed without a separate heated waterer.

You can see the setup in this photo:

I take down the yellow walls after about 3 days -- when I take up the paper towels.

After a week or 10 days -- when I'm afraid they'll fly over the barrier and get stuck there -- I give them the entire 4x8 space.

 

[aynesidea]

I brood outdoors in this brooder: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/run-to-outdoor-brooder-conversion.76634/

I run dual heat with a Producer's Pride brooder plate and a Big Red Bulb in the heatlamp when it's going to be below 50F and have been OK all the way down into the 20's. They weren't *happy*, but they were OK.

My theory here is that by running dual heat the lamp raises the temperature around the brooder plate to the level where the brooder plate can function effectively and keeps the water thawed without a separate heated waterer.

You can see the setup in this photo:

I take down the yellow walls after about 3 days -- when I take up the paper towels.

After a week or 10 days -- when I'm afraid they'll fly over the barrier and get stuck there -- I give them the entire 4x8 space.

This coop is not predator proof so they will only be outside when we can be out with them. Will not be protected from burrowing critters, but it will give them fresh air and an opportunity to take a dust bath.