Suggested enclosure for raising baby chicks

[bayareapilot]

Pet enclosure

Looking for alternate ways of containing new chicks while you're raising them in a brooder.

Came across this on Amazon and ordered it. Arrived yesterday and I must say that it looks pretty impressive and looks like it would be workable for managing small chicks I especially like the waterproof bottom which will help contain spills if you're doing like most of us backyard chicken people are and raising them in some room in your house.

I haven't tested this out yet but I don't see any reason it shouldn't be useful. I have it now for when I need to add to the flock as the years go by.

 

[Stipenvlerk]

Maybe other users will find it usefull if you do a review after you use it for a while.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Pet enclosure

Looking for alternate ways of containing new chicks while you're raising them in a brooder.

Came across this on Amazon and ordered it. Arrived yesterday and I must say that it looks pretty impressive and looks like it would be workable for managing small chicks I especially like the waterproof bottom which will help contain spills if you're doing like most of us backyard chicken people are and raising them in some room in your house.

I haven't tested this out yet but I don't see any reason it shouldn't be useful. I have it now for when I need to add to the flock as the years go by.

I have used something like this as a brooder with a heat plate. It works really well, just kind of a pain to clean!

 

[jreardon1918]

I have used something like this as a brooder with a heat plate. It works really well, just kind of a pain to clean!

I was thinking the same thing. Yuck to cleaning.

 

[bayareapilot]

I was thinking the same thing. Yuck to cleaning.

When I set up a chick brooder I use sand mixed with some sweet PDz

keeping it clean is pretty easy you just scoop it out with a kitty litter scoop and since the sand absorbs and dries out the droppings they smell goes way down as well in combination with a sweet PDz mixing with the sand

 

[bayareapilot]

Maybe other users will find it usefull if you do a review after you use it for a while.

All I can say is this is far more Hi-Tech than those wrap around plasticized cardboard corrals. With this I figure the only way to go is up!

 

[Weeg]

The Ultimate Guide to Setting Up a Chick Brooder

Chick Brooder Tips and Tricks Chicks! One of the most exciting parts of raising backyard chickens. The fluffy butts, tiny bodies, curious beaks, and all the antics! No one ever gets bored with chicks. As cute as they are, they’re also very fragile, and having a safe, clean, spacious, and...

• Weeg
• Feb 10, 2022
• 4.58 star(s) 12 ratings
• Comments: 11
• Reviews: 8
• Category: Hatching Eggs & Raising Chickens

 

[bayareapilot]

Pet enclosure

Looking for alternate ways of containing new chicks while you're raising them in a brooder.

Came across this on Amazon and ordered it. Arrived yesterday and I must say that it looks pretty impressive and looks like it would be workable for managing small chicks I especially like the waterproof bottom which will help contain spills if you're doing like most of us backyard chicken people are and raising them in some room in your house.

I haven't tested this out yet but I don't see any reason it shouldn't be useful. I have it now for when I need to add to the flock as the years go by.

Decided to go ahead and test it out and so far I absolutely love it! that circular opening on the top has a zippered mesh netting cover. I have it open right now because they can't hop fly that high right now cuz they're just a little over a day old. But when they start being able to fly a little higher I can zip up the top and they're still plenty of good ventilation off the top through the mesh.
By the way some of you may notice that I have about three bags of sand from Lowe's in about 3/4 of a bag of granular sweet PDZ (NOT the powdered version) spread along the top of the sand.

Using sand as a substrate in the brooder and then in the open run and the coop was one of the best things I ever came to learn about. In the brooder as well as in the coop the beauty of a sand substrate is that you clean simply by using on adult hens a kitty litter sifter. The one I have that I use for the open run and for the actual coop is a long long handled Kitty scoop that I found on Amazon made of metal.

It's funny after I've used sand and sweet pdz granules for Coop substrate as well as brooder substrate, I now find myself looking at people who use pine shavings like I used to use as if they're still rubbing two sticks together to create fire. . It's really wonderful. For one the sand dries out the droppings and bacteria love moisture you remove the moisture and you reduce the growth of bacteria. The sweet PDZ itself, certainly absorbs moisture but it's best quality is that it absorbs ammonia. Really all that sweet pdz is it's just zeolite, a naturally occurring mineral with some especially great properties.

As far as cleaning, when they're this age in the brooder a regular scoop won't work because their droppings are too small. For that reason I use a reptile sand sifter scoop. It has smaller shifting openings than a traditional cat scoop and it works beautifully.

Anyway though I mainly just want to show you a picture of the brooder setup in the pet enclosure that I had originally put up a picture of.

 

[Lizzy733]

Oh, I love using those for brooding and medical pen setups. Bit tricky if you're using a heat lamp but definitely doable if you build a sturdy frame for the lamp and have it caged.

 

[bayareapilot]

I wouldn't use it with a brooder lamp but in this case I'm just using a brooder plate . The only light fixture hanging over it is just holding a full daylight spectrum bulb LED which of course doesn't even get hot. I have it on a smart plug where it comes on during sunrise and off during sunset