Brooder question

[DadandJB]

I'm moving the cornish X out to the coop where I am building a larger brooder for them. Will I have to put a wire cover on it? The brooder will be 24" high. They are getting so chubby now that I doubt they could fly very high, but I want to be sure. I don't want to just turn them loose in the coop because it's way to big and not worth the effort to clean that size of space for 9 birds. Thanks folks.

 

[Chick Charm]

Cornish in general cannot fly that high or are just to heavy to do so. I don't think you'll need wire on top for that reason. If you are putting them out for free range time you could put wire on top of whatever it is to keep em safe. Yes they are stinky and messy aren't they?

 

[DadandJB]

Thanks for the confirmation. They won't be free ranging because it's just too cold. The stinky aspect isn't the problem. They are in the barn. They are in a smaller (2' x 4') brooder with 15 layers. It's just way too crowded and I'm afraid someone's going to get hurt. At 12 days old they are definately a handfull of chicken already.

 

[Life is Good!]

I put a wire lid on my brooder - simply so I knew they'd all be inside it! Yes, at that age, they CAN and DO fly exceptionally well. Or at least our Houdini CX's did. Also, it helped me to know that nothing was getting IN to the barn and into the brooder. We've got mice, and I didn't wish the mice to get the feed - ! Yes, it's hard to justify the cost for something like this - but opposed to the cost of a 2wk old CX, it's worth it! (That's my dinner the barn cats were trying to get!)

 

[bowhunter862]

I'm on my first try with Cornish X so I am by no means an expert, but what I have discovered so far is that they don't jump or fly much. They'll be three weeks old Monday (513/13). I just told my wife last night, "I think you could pen these things in with a 2X6 on edge.

. As for my brooder, I build a hover brooder this year and just put it in the middle of my 12X12 chicken barn. It works GREAT! It is 3'X4'. It's what I could build from the plywood I already had. I have increased the height as the chicks have grown with bricks under the legs. I have it plugged into an outlet that is controlled by a dimmer switch so I can dial the heat to the required level regardless of outdoor temperatures. The bulbs are both 250 Watt.