Brooder box

[Rookiechookie]

I have a brooder box that is 1.8 metres (6 foot) long and 1.1 metres (3.5 foot) wide, is this enough room to fit 14 chicks?

And Also what wattage heat lamp should I use?

 

[Ridgerunner]

How long do you plan on keeping them in there? I’ve kept 28 chicks in a 3’ x 5’ brooder until they were 5 weeks old. Most of them were pullets, which helps. I also kept 21 mostly male chicks in there until they were 5 weeks and it was getting a bit crowded. These were full-sized breeds. There is no magic number for how much room you need per chick, there are several different considerations. For 14 chicks that is a very nice sized brooder but if you try to keep them in there until they start to lay, it’s too small.

Is your brooder in your house or some kind of climate controlled location? Mine is in the coop, I use it in the heat of summer and sometimes in the winter when the outside temperature is below freezing. In different conditions I use different wattage heat lamps. I control temperature in part by raising and lowering the bulb. I’m probably going to get a dimmer control on it so I can adjust heat that way. I wrap it up pretty tightly in the winter to keep heat in but it’s pretty open in the heat of summer to help cool it off.

Lots of people don’t use heat lamps. A real trendy way to do this right now is making a cave with a heating pad. Some people use emitters or something else. Various forms of hovers are used, think of an inverted box that holds heat in. Some use incandescent bulbs instead of heat lamps. There are so many ways to do this, and they can all work.

What you should be trying to achieve is to heat one area warm enough even in the coldest conditions yet have another area cool enough even in the warmest conditions. That way they can find their own comfort level. I suggest you set it up and put a thermometer on the floor under the heat. Adjust the wattage and height of the bulb until that area is warm enough. Do that in a corner or on an end. Let the rest cool off as it will. If you do it this way they will self-regulate and you don’t have to worry about keeping it at the perfect temperature. They will do all the work for you and you don’t have any stress.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[Rookiechookie]

They will be in there for about 3 weeks

The heat lamp I have is 150w

 

[NickyKnack]

There's a lot of great peeps here! Feel free to ask lots of questions. But most of all, make yourself at home. I'm so glad you decided to join the BYC family. I look forward to seeing you around the run. Good luck with your future chicks!

 

[drumstick diva]

Chicks start to fly early and like to sit on the top of the wall. They can fall out or fly and then not be able to get back inside. So you will need a wire top to keep them inside, and any house pets out.

 

[Ridgerunner]

For 14 chicks that will work great for three weeks. It’s plenty big enough.

I still have no idea of how cold an environment your heat lamp will be in, how it will be mounted, or how well your brooder is covered. A 150 watt lamp would not work that well for my brooder which is in the coop with outside temperatures below freezing. If you are brooding in your house it should be enough as long as you mount it the right distance from the floor of the brooder. How do you tell if it is the right distance? Set it up, let it stabilize, then put a thermometer on the floor.

 

[Rookiechookie]

I will be mounting the heat lamp on the wire so the heat bulb will be about 7 inches above the chicks heads

Since I breed my chooks when it's getting hotter it will only get down at minimum 4 degrees Celsius (39) degrees Fahrenheit and the maximum temperature it will get of a night is 8 degrees Celsius (47) degrees Fahrenheit but it will normally stay around 6 degrees Celsius (43) degrees Fahrenheit

Of a night we always have a thick rug on top of the cage to trap the heat in