BROODER thread! Post pics of your brooders!

[Bill1st]

how many chicks will you put in there and at what age do you talk them out?

 

[Happy Dad]

I have one in there right now and 7 eggs ready to hatch on the 29th. All bantams.
I'll take them out when all of the newly hatched chicks are fully feathered and ready to join "the gang" Probably near the end of March or beginning of April.

 

[AKfishchic]

Has anyone ever used the Brinsea Eco Glow model of brooder heater? My cabin is off-grid and we run on a battery bank & generator so a high wattage heat lamp will just suck up our battery life. This is supposed to be low energy and really great for the little chicks, they can even sleep right under it and it isn't too hot for them. Since my girls will be in the house when in the brooder I'm also slightly concerned about fires with the heat lamp. Thanks!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=1970559082&pf_rd_i=desktop

 

[chicken farmer]

Here's my brooder me and my dad built about a year ago this will be for about the first week or two than were gonna have to build another bigger one for when the chicks grow. I have 26 chicks plus the free mystery chick coming from Murray Mcmurray probably will be Tuesday. So I'm gonna need more room for them to grow,we have a baby crib someone gave to us with some other stuff when they were cleaning out a house so I think were gonna turn that into a brooder,it'll be nice and big!!

 

[betchern0t]

This is based on info from here. The green plastic bag contains insulation for a heater cable, controlled by a dimmer, on a cake rack for their cozy area. The whole is made of two boxes with a doorway between. This gives a warm box and a food, water box. I think my food dish is too big and the waterer is temporary while waiting for some nipples.

 

[Bill1st]

Upgraded the brooder this morning:

 

[KrystalRose]

Does anyone worry about the chicks eating the pine chips? The last time I had chicks and pine chips they kept eating them, it worried me so much that I switched to straw. I am about to have chicks for the second time and am thinking of trying pine chips again. I still have the bag of chips from the feed store, it looks like the same size chips that everyone else uses. Has anyone had problems with the chicks eating enough pine chips that it did damage? I am thinking that maybe since I have a mama to help teach them this time it will be less of a problem?

 

[KrystalRose]

I saw a cute idea online, hang a feather duster feathers down an inch off the floor for chicks to get the secure mama feeling. If I didn't have a mama to hopefully do mama duties, I would totally be looking for the fluffiest feather duster.

 

[betchern0t]

My chicks are upper crust. They only drink bottled water

Seriously I want to use nipples in the coop and am starting them off in the brooder. To get them trained step one was to establish a location for the water. Next is to remove the water and let them get thirsty. Third step is to supply the bottle and flick the nipple until it is wet. They then come running and find the water. Three of four know how now. I then replaced the water because they were thirsty and I didn't want them dehydrated.

These nipples are the go anywhere nipples from Hatchers n catchers on eBay that are designed for open systems like buckets. My first attempt at placing one in a bottle failed. It was crooked and kept on going dry. The second attempt worked well. 8.5 mm hole and a 9mm tap resulted in a tight seal even in the thin bottle.

Cheers paul

 

[CliffB]