16 square foot brooder! Easy!

[click cluck]

Hello! This is the brooder that my mom built, its 4ft x 4ft wide and 2ft high. We built the floor with a 4ft x 4ft slab of press board. We then put a siding of 2x4s on that and added Painters drop cloth, Its a 9x12 ft sheet of thin plastic, we folded it up a few times and stapled it on. Just make sure when you staple it that you leave a little slack because when you insert the top it will pull a little on the plastic.

The top half is a 4ft x 8ft piece of press board cut into 4 slabs that are 4ft x 2ft each. They are screwed into a 2x4 that is 2ft high, thus making a big box. That then sits inside the "tray". Dont screw the box to the tray because to clean the tray you have to lift the top off.

The lids are made from some cheap 1x2 trim (like 99 Cents for 8ft). We stapled the frame together and then added the chicken wire, also stapled on. You can see we made a hole for the lamp so it can be below the leavel of the lid. The lids are seperate so we can just take one off. I really like this built because you can eather reuse the wood for the coop afterward or keep it for just raiseing more chicks. I have 12 chicks but Im sure you can fit way more in here.

I hope you all enjoyed this! If you have any questions PLease let me know and I will answer them as soon as I can! Happy raising! (the chicks are a little over 2 weeks btw lol)

-click cluck

 

[Smuvers Farm]

VERY nice!!!

 

[click cluck]

Nice brooder! (I only come up with 16 sq ft. 4X4 = 16)

Sorry I didn't see that and yes it is 16. I fixed it lol.

 

[rebrascora]

Nice job. The only thing I might have done differently would be to put the heat lamp in one corner rather than the centre, and put the water in the opposite corner, so that it keeps cooler and there is more gradient in temperature across the brooder. Actually I would not have used a heat lamp as I think a heat plate is better way to provide a heat source or better still make a heat cave to simulate a broody hen @Blooie has a great thread on the subject. Of course in my opinion, nothing beats the real thing... a good old fashioned broody hen!

 

[aart]

Nice job. The only thing I might have done differently would be to put the heat lamp in one corner rather than the centre, and put the water in the opposite corner, so that it keeps cooler and there is more gradient in temperature across the brooder.

Ditto Dat^^^

I like a heating pad too.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/pseudo-brooder-heater-plate.67729/

 

[blackdog043]

Nice brooder, I also would have the heat lamp off to one side or a corner. I used the Mama heat pad the last time, it worked great. I don't see myself using a heat lamp again. To keep the bedding out of the water and food, make a raised platform to set in on. You might want to look into making a horizontal nipple waterer. It keeps your water clean 24/7. You can make one now for the chicks, so they get used to it. Here's the one I made for my brooder, with a gallon pitcher, I have a five gallon bucket in my coop.

 

[aart]

You might want to look into making a horizontal nipple waterer.

I love HN's...but found that most tiny just hatched chicks are usually not strong enough to use them, so beware of dehydration.

 

[Lonesome Dough]

I have an old cast iron bath tub laying out in the pasture I was going to bring in and clean up for a brooder. Figured the slick sides would keep them in and would be easy to clean. Any thoughts on this? any pitfalls I might not be seeing?

 

[wyoDreamer]

Very nice brooder!

I love the simple design and how easy it is to make. It would be easy to disassemble the "box" part to store it between uses.
I use the heating pad for raising chicks. It works so well, and they seem to feather out a lot faster. I have not had any problems brooding out in the barn that way.

I have an old cast iron bath tub laying out in the pasture I was going to bring in and clean up for a brooder. Figured the slick sides would keep them in and would be easy to clean. Any thoughts on this? any pitfalls I might not be seeing?

I am pretty good at spotting the negatives, let me take a stab at this:
- A cast iron tub is going to be pretty heavy to move into/out of the house for only 6 weeks of brooding
- A metal tub may be pretty good at holding in heat, watch that the tub doesn't get too hot from the heat lamp and cook them
- On the other side, if you have bedding in the tub, the bottom of the tub will stay cold so any chicks that scratch down to the bottom of the tub and sleep there will riask being cold.
- the bottom of the tub will be pretty slippery, so either get some stick on treads or use a lot of bedding, or both.
- you will need a top

 

[Lonesome Dough]

You ain't lying when you say heavy. OK Plan B, PO of my "estate" left behind a real nice plywood crate 4'x4' and a foot deep with a lid, I think I will just extend the sides to make it two feet deep and call that my brooder. it will end up looking like that nice unit in the photos.