Oops, Here I go ....

I have always wanted to be a farmer (called homesteader in today’s times) and wanted to live off the land for the most part. But as most of my contemporaries I followed the dollar and worked for the last 30 years for “the man”. But alas, my AMAZING wife said. Go for my dream! So here is the story.

On March 23, 2020, I went to Home Depot to purchase a bunch of stuff!! I got ¾ inch plywood, some 2x4’s (more than I needed), a big box of 3 inch screws, a medium box of 2 inch screws, A small box of 1 inch screws. I was wishing I had reversed that. But alas. This was just the first of many trips to the big box store.

So begins the build process. I have heard so many numbers about how big/small a brooder should be and how best to do it. I took all those ideas, spun a quarter and it landed on the floor and the dog took it. So here is my plan I came up with.


Don't let me fool ya. This wasn’t my first try. I built it, tore it down, built it again. Tore it down again. But this brooder is 8 feet long, 4 feet wide and has 16 inches of head room with the bottom 12 protected from drafts with ¼ inch plywood. The bottom is ¾ inch plywood with 2x4’s along the bottom for support. It's strong enough I can get up in it and walk without worry. So when I finished the base I danced a little jig in it. Oh, That’s not me. That’s my best friend and coconspirator Uncle Jim as we refer to him. So as you can see we are old and too lazy to have to squat down to pester the little ones. So we put it on a set of legs at a comfortable height for us. I do wish I had included a ladder. It would have been easier to get in and out of it to do the Jig.

So now the base is kinda done and missing the top. So i had this great idea. Make raise over here, and lower over there. And liftable this that and other. But I failed in that first attempt. It was bad. Nothing square, not straight, nothing even looking like it belonged on a brooder.






So another tear down, and another trip to the box store. Dam this thing is now costing more than I planned for. But alas I march on….


So we built the top so that it is completely removable and I can get insde and really clean the brooder between flocks. The top matches up with the 4 foot by 8 foot pattern and sits another 4 inches above the 12 inch sides giving the girls a 16 inch head room for them. The stringing ¼ inch hardware cloth all over to keep them littles in there. Here is the final brooder before cluttered with stuff and birds.




We loved it. Then we tried to move it. Now remember we are old, we are lazy. This was way too much work to move it. So…. we adapted….. After a trip to Harbor Freight the problem was solved.



Let me tell ya….. This was the best thing we did. We can move them there birds to the sun, and back under cover, and around and around if we want. Just awesome. No lifting here.


Now I gotta water em. Dam. More ingenuity. This time I had everything I thought I needed. A bucket, short hose, some PVC and NIPPLES!! Who knew chickens needed nipples.

But I got em.

So using a drain plug for a ice chest I was able to connect short hose to a PVC pipe with 12 npples on it.

Now I thought I was ready. But I forgot I need a heater, some shavings, and feed. So I move on.







So for a heater I got a commercial heater that will heat up to 50 chicks.



Haven’t tried to put 50 in yet. But I will let you know.
We also did a rendition of a heating pad. Not real thrilled with it. It seems harder to control.


Then I put allllllll the shavings in.

So 8 feet long and 4 feet wide. Let's put 2 bags in. Crap. Let's take one bag out. Smoothed out and ready to go. Now we wait for the birds.


So there. That is my brooder.

Now I gotta go get me some chicks. But don't tell my wife. ;-)

Thomas