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Wanted to post an update. Sorry that I have not been posting. We have been dealing with freezing temps for a few days and I was dealing with the animals and trying new things with the broilers.
Update #1 – I have finally moved all of them out of those brooders into what I had been thinking about for a week or so. I moved around a lot of things in the garage so that I could set up this floor brooder. My idea was to set up a “pen” (wooden wire panels) on the floor with plywood flooring and shavings on top of the plywood. I went to Lowe’s and was looking for plywood and the plywood was $15.00. So, I found some particle board for $8.25 and was going to buy that but as cheap as I am, I was looking for something even cheaper. So, I asked the manager if they had any “used” materials that they wanted to sell to me and he said yes. So, he said that they had 2 slightly warped pieces of particle board that he would sell to me for $5.00 each. I told him he had a deal. So, I walked away from there with (2) sheets of particle board 8’x4’ for $10.00. I got home and begin constructing the set up. I layed the particle board down. The sheet wasn’t long enough because the length of the brooder is 12 feet long and the particle board was only 8 foot long, so I overlapped one board on top of the over to get my 12 foot floor coverage. I then connected the wooden/wire panels together in the garage around the particle board. I securely hung 3 heat lamps from the ceiling and monitored the temps. Being they are 3 weeks old, I knew that they would not require that much heat but at the same time, if it were too hot for them, they could move away from the heat. We are expecting 22 degree temps this week and I wanted to make sure they do not freeze. After connecting the heat lamps to the ceiling, I then spread out the shavings. I used ¾ of the bag of shavings. Because there is a draft in the garage, I decided to drape blankets over the panels to seal in the heat. I thought about placing insulation around the panels (have some extra from another project) but I was worried that they would eat the insulation through the wire, so I opted out of that. I will monitor the temps and if the temps are too long, I will place the insulation securely against the pen for added insulation/heat. I then put in 5 square concrete pavers at different locations in the pen and set up 5 water stations. I then put in 8 feeding stations. After getting everything together, I put the little buggers in their new pen. They seemed to enjoy their new pen with more space. From the looks of it, they will soon outgrow that pen but for now, I feel so much better that they are in a larger space. I did put them in a large dog kennel this weekend when the sun was shining. They took plenty of dirt bathes and enjoyed the day. I wish they could stay out all day but the weather is too cold and they would freeze to death.
As far as feed, they are eating a TREMENDOUS amount of feed. Friday and this weekend was a perfect time for me to monitor their feed intake. I fed them at 6:00 AM Friday morning and by noon all feeders were empty. So during the week, when I am at work, they are not eating until I come back home, so they are hungry, which may explain their weights not being where I think they should be. So, I have added more feeders to hold more food until I make it home from work after 5:00 PM.
I weighed some on Thursday and some of their weights were 1lb 14 ounces, so their weight is increasing.
I started them on a new 50 lb bag of FF on Friday morning and they were done with that batch on yesterday afternoon. They started another new batch of FF this morning. So, for now, they are eating 50 lbs of feed in 2 1/2 days. I'm thinking that is a lot and I"m thinking they are about to eat me out of a house and a home. :/ They are on their 5th - 50 lb bag of FF. :/
As far as raising the waterers and feeders, I have done that but the shavings continue to get into the water and feed but it's not as bad as before.
The person who is building the chicken plucker (for the life of me) is having problems with the motor and pulley system. I am getting VERY impatient.Instead of him taking my advice and going online or calling someone so they can help him, he is dragging his feet about it. I need this done NOW!
I am not thinking of another area to put them in a couple of weeks when they get bigger. Raising broilers in cold weather is a headache but perhaps cold weather is better than 99 degree weather in Louisiana.
It's looking good!
We had a terrible time with the motor/pulley as well. It was going too fast, and we still don't have it fixed. Hope he gets it done in time for you.
Yes, they deal much better with the cold... The heat is too much for them
Thank you. I wish we were having a terrible time with it going too fast. Mine is not going at all. :/
