Brooder Build Sanity Check

[rosemarythyme]

Also if you decide to opt for a much bigger brooder (6x6 vs 6x3 for example), for the first few days to a week or so, you might want to add an option for a temporary "wall" to reduce the size of the brooder by half, to prevent chicks from wandering off too far from heat, food and water. Something as simple as cardboard securely taped in place would do. It's unlikely that they can't manage to find their way around 36' sq ft, but newly hatched/veyr young chicks are more susceptible to getting chilled/lost/etc.

 

[3KillerBs]

This is my outdoor brooder: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/run-to-outdoor-brooder-conversion.76634/

for the first few days to a week or so, you might want to add an option for a temporary "wall" to reduce the size of the brooder by half, to prevent chicks from wandering off too far from heat, food and water.

I do this in my brooder so they don't get lost away from the food and water.

 

[JeffandLori]

Thx for the suggestion about walling it off. Add "They could get lost in a box" to the list of things that would NEVER have occurred to me.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thx for the suggestion about walling it off. Add "They could get lost in a box" to the list of things that would NEVER have occurred to me.

You will find you don't need it for long, hence using something that can easily be removed. Even very little chicks with mama hens can get lost sometimes.

By 2 weeks I expect my chicks to be able to find their way back to their brooder if given access to the whole chicken enclosure (525 sq ft), so their navigation ability progresses fast.

 

[3KillerBs]

You will find you don't need it for long, hence using something that can easily be removed. Even very little chicks with mama hens can get lost sometimes.

By 2 weeks I expect my chicks to be able to find their way back to their brooder if given access to the whole chicken enclosure (525 sq ft), so their navigation ability progresses fast.

I usually take mind down in less than a week. Definitely by the time they can fly a little because my barrier is only half-high.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You might want to ask these questions in the meat bird section of this forum. Rangers and CX are different from other chicks. I have not raised Rangers myself but plenty of people over there have.

I've had laying hens for about three years now. We've always bought them locally at about the 18 week mark. I'm now thinking to add meat birds and since I was ordering chicks, I ordered four more hens because....why not?

Right now I have a decent sized coop that will accommodate 12 fine, but have it surrounded by 164' of poultry netting so they have a very large, fenced run, half of which is under an oak tree.

I have a ton of scrap 3/4" plywood. I was going to build the brooder 3'w x 6'l x 2'h. Solid sides and bottom. Frame out a top with 1/4" hardware cloth. Half fixed, half on hinges for access to food/water.

I've kept 28 chicks in a 3' x 5' brooder in my coop until they were 5 weeks old. But Rangers are not dual purpose chicks. They grow a lot faster so I'd also suggest the 6' x 6' brooder just on growth alone. To grow fast they need to eat a lot. If they eat a lot they will poop a lot. One of your issues will be poop management. A larger brooder might mean you can go longer between cleanouts but in your design think about how easy it will be to clean out. Will 2' high be high enough for easy cleanout?

• I can put a heat lamp above it just fine and the hardware cloth will keep it from falling in. I can easily rig up something to control the height. I'm thinking to put a cheap thermometer inside.

Falling in maybe but how about falling off, maybe the wind, maybe something knocks it. I use a heat lamp so I'm not against them but I'd want it really secured, preferably with wire or chain. My 3' x 6' brooder is 2' high. I wire the heat lamp inside the brooder at the top. And I have a solid top on that end. which will help hold heat in. On the far end I have ventilation up high so it can cool off. One end stays toasty warm in the coldest weather but the far end may have ice in it some mornings. But when the temperature swings and the warm end gets hot they move to the cooler end. Your temperatures are not expected to fall below freezing so you can put the water anywhere.

• At some point- I'm guessing around 5-7 weeks? when they are feathered or won't fit in the brooder, the five get promoted to an old 4x8 tractor I have that will go inside the run. That will let the current hens get used to them for a couple of months.
  The 15 meat birds will go in a new tractor- likely 8x8x2 that I'll have to build and move around the yard twice a day. Free ranging birds do not do well in this neighborhood. Cars, hawks, coyotes.

I've had 5-1/2 week old DP chicks go through nights in the mid 20's Fahrenheit with no supplemental heat. By keeping one end of your brooder warm and letting the far end cool of as it will your chicks will grow up acclimated to colder temperatures. The five JG's can probably go into the tractor by 5 weeks.

Now this is why I thought of you posting on the meat bird forum. There has been recent discussion on there about the Cornish X chicks being little ovens. They can be off of heat much earlier than dual purpose chicks. The Rangers don't grow that fast but it's still a lot faster than DP birds. There should be people over there that can help you get those Rangers out of the brooder and into the tractor earlier than you plan. If poop management is moving a tractor instead of shoveling or raking out a brooder, well I'd like that.

Having never gone from chick to essentially full grown- will the above plan work or do I need an intermediate step between the brooder and the tractors?

No intermediate steps needed.

I don't wall mine off to keep them near the heat, I find they are really good at managing the heat even straight from the incubator. My main concern with that wall idea is that they can jump really well. If you build a wall make sure they cannot get under, through or over it and block themselves from being able to get back to the heat when they need it.

 

[JeffandLori]

Thanks, Ridgerunner. I'll check out the meat section. Given the screened in patio, insulated roof, etc. they should be protected against wind, etc.

As to cleaning, given the partition comment, and I am planning on making a two piece screened top for it. I can just herd them in one side, scoop out the bedding, put fresh and move them over.