I’ve been driving myself nuts with this brooder thing. Put it in the coop, don’t put it in the coop. Build one, it’s to small, build a larger one, still maybe to small. Arrrggg! The incubator holds 22 eggs, I’m sure not all will hatch. But just in case - what size brooder should I have? Is a 4ft by 4ft enough? I have 14 eggs in there now but the next hatch I’ll load it up to full capacity. I need to know the size of brooder i need for potentially 22 chicks. Thanks!!
Maybe. At what age do you plan to let them out of the brooder? Really important! Full sized or bantam chicks? A strange question, what sex? Since you are hatching you won't know but I think it matters. Cockerels take up more room than pullets, even that young. My first brooder was a 3' x 5'. I kept 28 chicks in it until they were 5 weeks old with no problems. But practically all of them were female, I think 6 were male. One time I kept 22 chicks in it until they were five weeks old, but all but maybe 5 were male. In both cases that brooder was getting really really full. I don't think I could have gone any longer with either group. They were all full sized fowl. When I built my permanent brooder in the coop I made it 3' x 6' to give me a bit more flexibility. I've raised as many as 25 in it, again to 5 weeks of age.