Brooder advice

[popsicle]

Hello All!
My husband and I are going to start building a bigger brooder than our large plastic tub. I'd like any suggestions before we begin.

We currently have six ~2 week old chicks. I also hope to get a couple each of goslings, duckling and turkey poults within the month. I'm think a two compartment brooder would be best. I'm hoping that by the time I need to separate the waterfowl from the turkeys, the chickens would be ready to move out into the proper coop--am I too optimistic?

What would be the minimum size you would recommend for each compartment considering the number/species of birds? Should we build two separate brooders, or is the two compartment brooder fine?

As far as future use, I don't imagine we would end up with more than a dozen chicks at any time (I suck at chicken math--I can keep my chicken collecting under control).

Since we haven't started construction, and we haven't gotten the other birds, I'm open to any and all suggestions!
Thanks!

 

[CupOJoe42]

This is an example of my 2-compartment brooder. It has a divider in the middle with a door in between. If we have one flock, we can open the door and let them use both sides. If we have 2 groups, the door has hardware cloth so they can see and smell each other but not fight.

The issue I am thinking of in your case is that if you get different species from different locations, they are not quarantined from each other if you use a common brooder. This means that if one flock gets sick, they can pass it on to the other.

 

[popsicle]

Thanks for the info and picture of your brooder!

For now, all our birds are coming from the local feed store--which come from the same hatchery (though not sure if they come from the same facility).

 

[mdfaz26]

I am using a play pool in a corner with cardboard draft stop.