Brooder help

[Fancypants1]

We have 7 3 week old chicks and they are outgrowing the 2 brooders I made out of tubberware totes. Can people please post some pictures or their brooders. They are currently in the garage as they are too little to be moved into the coop. Need something to hold them for the next 2-3 weeks. Pictures would be very helpful. They're getting a little feisty crammed all together.

 

[Ridgerunner]

No photos, but can you get hold of some big cardboard boxes, refrigerator, freezer, stove, something like that? If the boxes are not big enough, cut passages out and put them together with duct tape.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

They grow fast don't they?
Are there bigger birds in the coop or don't you have a means of getting electricity out there?
I recently moved 3 weeks olds outside without heat. They're really not that fragile.
My birds usually go into the coop when they come out of the hatcher unless it's below the 30s in the coop.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

No photos, but can you get hold of some big cardboard boxes, refrigerator, freezer, stove, something like that? If the boxes are not big enough, cut passages out and put them together with duct tape.

That's exactly what I did with my New Years Day hatch this winter when it hovered around zero and got down to -19F one night and I couldn't rely on the hover brooders in the brooder house.
$1.39 per 24" X 36" Lowe's moving boxes.

 

[Fancypants1]

We do not have other birds so they could go to the coop, I can run an electric cord out no problem. We are in massachusetts and the weather has been 70's durning the day and 50's still at night. They are getting feathers but by no means fully feathered. Do you think moving them out sooner than 6 weeks (feathered) would be ok? I do have boxes I could work with, it's just trying to get the top covered since one of my polish flew out durning the night.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

50s to 70s isn't a problem, especially with a heat source for at night.

The pictures I posted of the chicks and hover brooders, the next picture was outside the building the same day.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My situation is different than yours. I have a big brooder in the coop. I only heat one end and let the rest cool off as it will. While the heated end was nice and cozy, the far end had frost in it a few mornings this past February when I had chicks in it. The chicks were just a few days old. They stayed by the heat.

The point I’m trying to make is that my chicks get acclimated. They go play in the cooler end, not so much when it is below freezing, but they do play in pretty cold temperatures. They get used to cooler temperatures and it helps them feather out faster.

I have moved chicks to my unheated grow-out coop at 5 weeks of age when the overnight lows were in the mid 40’s. I’ve had chicks go through the mid 20’s in that unheated coop before they were six weeks old.

I don’t know how old yours are right now, but if you put a heat source in one corner of your coop, they should be fine even if they are just a couple of weeks old. Mine go into something like that straight from the incubator.

 

[karincs]

When my 4 chicks got too big for the large rubbermaid tote we were able to get two larger totes that were being tossed at DH's work. He cut one end off of each then duct taped them together. We used bird netting over the top which we fastened with large binder clips purchased on sale from Staples. It worked really well until we could move the girls out to their coop.

 

[gibel-girls]

I had my six in a 45 gallon tote and just moved them to the garage in a kiddie pool. I sourced that from a neighbor who was going to trash it( a Facebook post looking for one and I had three offered, free cycle would be another place). I ran leftover chicken wire around it from building our coop. I think this will work until I can get them outside, it's still a bit chilly in Maine.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

My situation is different than yours. I have a big brooder in the coop. I only heat one end and let the rest cool off as it will. While the heated end was nice and cozy, the far end had frost in it a few mornings this past February when I had chicks in it. The chicks were just a few days old. They stayed by the heat.

The point I’m trying to make is that my chicks get acclimated. They go play in the cooler end, not so much when it is below freezing, but they do play in pretty cold temperatures. They get used to cooler temperatures and it helps them feather out faster.

I have moved chicks to my unheated grow-out coop at 5 weeks of age when the overnight lows were in the mid 40’s. I’ve had chicks go through the mid 20’s in that unheated coop before they were six weeks old.

I don’t know how old yours are right now, but if you put a heat source in one corner of your coop, they should be fine even if they are just a couple of weeks old. Mine go into something like that straight from the incubator.

X2.
It's important to remember that a broody hen only warms one little spot and the rest is ambient temperature. Those chicks raised by setters do just fine regardless of the outside temps.
I actually prefer to brood chicks in cool weather.