Best large brooder?

[Dec1an]

Have had a lot of success hatching small quantities of chicks but wanted to upscale wanted some info on a large scale brooder, something big enough for say 50 chicks. Now is it worth building it myself and if so what are the best things to use? Thanks

 

[mnferalkitty]

my favorite brooder is a modified deep book shelf type cupboard with a door, the wood in middle of door was removed and wire stapled in its place, shelves were taken out and the back was replaced with plywood (original back was cheap cardboard) and then it is laid down and can hold quite a few chicks even when they get older. price was free or the price of gas, all items found in free section of Craigslist.

 

[Judy]

Anything you can recycle or get free or cheap, I agree. Lots of people use wading pools, though it will need a top to prevent flying out. I used cardboard appliance boxes with bird netting over them. You can even use a coop or shed with heat lamps rigged up. An old fashioned brooder was a large metal dome with light under it and open edges, so they could go under or come out as they chose, in a barn or whatever.

 

[Eggcessive]

I like to use a box made out of 2Ftx4Ft plywood sheets screwed together. You can put a floor in it or put a tarp under it and cover with pine shavings. I have a frame for the top covered with hardware cloth since they will fly over at 3 weeks. I hang a heat lamp over the top that can be raised and lowered. The whole thing can be taken apart and stored for next year. That works great for 40 chicks, but you might go bigger with 50.

 

[what did I do]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/6233/brooder-thread-post-pics-of-your-brooders

Check out this thread

 

[RoostersCrow HensDeliver!]

I use an old round bale feeder. Zip tie cardboard around it as a draft block and run a 2x4 across the top to hang 2 heat lamps from. Works great and I have some fencing to lay over the top when they start to fly. I have 75 chicks in it and could definitely fit a hundred.

 

[Dec1an]

Thanks for all the info! Really helpful

 

[A.T. Hagan]

This is what I use.

It's basically just a plywood box built from a full 4x8 sheet of plywood for the bottom. A second sheet was used to make the two foot high sides. The two long sides are hinged for ease of access. The top is based on a 2x2 frame covered with half-inch hardware cloth. The box is assembled with carriage bolts so that I can take it apart to stack flat for out of the way storage.

The brooder hover (the box the light is coming from) is based on a design from the Ohio Extension Service from back in the early nineteen forties. Robert Plamondon has the plans on his site here: http://www.plamondon.com/brooder.shtml

Mine is a scaled down version sized for fifty-sixty chicks.

The whole thing is lined with builders plastic so at the end of the season I can clean out the soiled bedding then throw away the plastic.

Of course if this is only going to be one time time thing then it's way more than what you need. If you'll be brooding chicks every year like I do it works great.

I also use various sizes of round or oval stock tanks.

You have to fashion a top for them. This is the one I'm using at the moment. I have a larger one that I used this year as well, but it had a make shift top. I have an idea of how to make a round top to fit it, but haven't had the time to assemble it yet.

 

[Dec1an]

Wow looks like some setup there i do like the idea of the oval brooders, do they cost a lot or can you get them anywhere?

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Most any farm supply and many feed stores carry metal and/or plastic stock tanks. They are not cheap, but when you stop to consider you'll be able to use them for many years if you take care of them the price evens out. I keep mine on top of milk crates or buckets when in use for ease of access.