brooder size

[jim001]

How big of a brooder should I build for 25 chics, these will be McMurrays layers assortment. Also this will be kept in my unheated garage in the month of FEb. in northwest indiana. So I have no idea how many watts or amount of lites I would need. Any help in a design ideas for me would be appreciated.

 

[crazyhen]

build a big brooder and put a devider in it. Heat the new chicks with a 250 watt brooder red bulb. Set it up and get the temp at 98 degrees steady. Allow enough room for a feeder and waterer. Then enough room to move around in and room to get from under the light if needed. Keep the light away from the waterer and feeder. the temp should be taken under the light.
By having a devider you can make it bigger after the first 2 weeks. They grow rapidly and get quite smelly. also if they do not have enough room they will start pecking each other and have other problems. Start with puppy pee pads on the bottom to prevent spraddle legs. It also makes clean up much easier. After a week you can switch to soft wood shavings in the bottom on top of the puppy pads. If you like you can put a little diamotous earth on the pads to keep down the odor. You will need to clean it at least twice a day with that many birds in one place. If I were making a brooder I would allow more room than I had in mine. I had only six chicks but went from a chest from walmart to a refrigerator box and still moved them by week 6 due to the dust and chicks needing more space.Always go bigger than you think and block off part at the beginning so it will be easy to heat. I hope this helps . Oh check each chicks bottom to see if the vent is open when you get them. I'd check as I put them in the brooder. If they have pasty butt now is the time to get it cleaned up quick before it kills the chick. Jean

 

[Scratchn By]

Success With Baby Chicks by Robert Plamondon has a good section on building an affordable, easy to build, proven design brooder. Check it out. If you want the highlights, let me know. My chicks are coming from Ideal and my chick cage has chicks already. Time to expand...

Anyway, tell me more about this Pasty Butt. I have a full grown NHR that keeps pasting up. What's her problem? She's the only one.

Thanks!

 

[crazyhen]

sorry I have been off the line for a bit. Pasty butt is usually a chick problem. Not a grown hen one. Usually it accures after shipment or within a week of birth. You would notice the butt vent is closed with poop. This can reaccure so you can wash with warm water and remove it. Just watch that chick. It usually is not as healthy as the others. Jean

 

[Snakeoil]

Here is what I use.

If I had chicks I would have a red light.

 

[Scratchn By]

I bought a plastic tub, but realized I'm growing out of it really quick. So, I built another coop and use one of Robert Plamondon's brooders on the floor. This way the chicks can stretch their legs and run about. I worry with the tub and them not being able to get cool in the warmer months or if in the house/garage.

 

[swoop]

i am reading so many posts about chicks outgrowing brooders that i am starting to feel normal now - my laundry room/basement has begun to look like a place where vampires go to sleep - i started out with this giant tupperware tub big enough for me to sleep in and now i am going on a fourth one - the chicks are 5wks old and are growing faster than i can cut and screen tub tops. i am proud to say i have learned how to use some of my dh's power tools and havent broken any of them yet. and i still have all my fingers! where the heck is spring!

 

[Scratchn By]

We've had some cold here, but I'm sure nothing like you guys. I'm in the process of building different runs for different breeds. As I build their coops (predator proof, warm, yet ventilated...) they first act as their chick house. I fill the floor with litter and set a brooder in the middle. I place their waterer/s and feeders just outside of it and they have the freedom to go under the brooder for warmth or out to cool down. As explained in the book, which now I see, the chicks will hove r differently depending on how they feel. If they're cold, under the brooder. If they're hot, out and about. They will sleep in their comfort zone. I think my brooder cost me less than $20. I went to a junk store and bought some scrap plywood (thin stuff). I had some scrap 2X2. Found old light fixtures and cords from the junk store, as well.

I just make sure my coop is big enough to section a little area off from the other birds, if they're sharing and you've only a few peeps. I save my scrap cardboard. Comes in handy...

My first plastic tub cost me $25, if I remember correctly.

 

[Sissy]

yes chicks grow fast I connected 2 large cardboardboxes together .and it did fine for 2-3 months for 6 chicks
and had them in the laundry room.
had paper towelsdown the first week them shavings but not Pine.

 

[Scratchn By]

Why not pine?