Brooder question

[kelidei]

Our 8x10 chicken house will be finished next week... so today I ordered some BO's BA's, GLWs, EE's and RIR's--- in total about 16 chicks. I was wondering is it a good idea to brood them in the new house? I was thinking of getting a baby pool and putting it inside for them and then adding heat lamps---yadda, yadda--- my only concern is that it can get down into the fifties at night even though it is 70-80 during the day. My thinking is that it will warm up the coop during the day and with the lamps they should do fine through the night. I will be using pine shavings too--- so they can burrow in them too for warmth--- does this sound kosher or crazy?

 

[Wynette]

You really shouldn't use shavings until they are at least 3-4 days old; they often mistake them for food, and can become impacted from them.

I think it would be okay to brood them in the coop, so long as there is sufficient air circulation (not air blowing on them) and so long as it's warm enough. They can fly in less than a week, so you'll need some sort of lid on whatever you decide to use. Some folks just use a plastic dog carrier...but that wouldn't last long for 16 chicks. You could get away with the plastic pool for a few days, but not much more. They learn to hop and fly so quickly!

 

[Judy]

That's where I would brood them. I'd be out a couple of times during the night to be sure the temp was OK for them, though, at least the first night. When they start jumping on the edge of the pool, just take it out.

You'll need to be sure there is very little air movement at floor level for the first couple of weeks or so. Two or three square bales of hay might be very handy to block off a smaller area for them, for a while, when they outgrow the pool.

 

[Mahlzeit]

As long as you have heat lamps for them brooding them outside isn't a problem. I brood all of mine outside in one of those carport tents. No matter what time of year it is. The heat from the lamp is enough if it is at the correct distance.

 

[kelidei]

Cool! thanks you all! This will make life much easier for me. I was planning on just using p-towels for the first couple of days in a little brooder I have that is made out of an enclosed litter box--- maybe a week and then move them out to the coop--- I like the idea with the straw bales.

 

[YankeeRider]

I brooded my 15 BO's in the new coop on aspen shavings. The aspen shavings were bigger than the pine shavings, and right from the start the chicks knew what was food and what wasn't. I simply used two pieces of leftover OSB cutoffs to create a 4' x 4' pen in one corner of the coop to confine them until I finished partitioning off a storage area. At 2 weeks they got the run of the 8x 10 area of the 8x12 coop.

Jerry

 

[cmom]

I do. I put my brooders in their coops. I leave the brooder door open. Works out well. For the first week I would put a heat lamp on at night to maintain about 90 degrees in the brooder. In one of the pictures the temp sensor is on top of their brooder. The receiver is in the house so I can keep track of the temp.