BROODER thread! Post pics of your brooders!

[iopele]

I turned my small-dog-size dog crate into a brooder. I lined the sides with 1/4" hardware cloth and also made an elevated "floor" of the same thing. The crate has a plastic tray that slides out and with the elevated floor, poop and scattered crumbles and any water spills just fall down onto the tray. It's really, really easy to clean. All I have to do is take the tray out, change the newspaper or paper towels, and slide it back in--don't even have to open the door. I also put a couple of paper towel stacks (3 or 4 towels) for them to sleep on and to give them relief from walking on the wire. Don't know if the wire's bad for them, but this just seemed like a good idea to me.

My only complaint is that my "floor" is uneven because hardware cloth isn't very sturdy, so I have to prop the waterers to make them sit straight. When I do the next brooder (am going to also modify my German Shepherd's old crate since she doesn't need it anymore and these babies will get cramped in this one pretty fast!) I'm going to figure out a way to put something under the hardware cloth to shore it up. The babies sure like this one, though!

 

[allig8r]

Glad to see this thread since I need to make a brooder for my day-olds when they arrive week after next. They just need to be there for 2-3 weeks before the coop arrives (has a brooder in the top) and I was trying to figure what I'd do! I have an extra Rubbermaid tub--never even thought about that!!


w8tn4babychicks: I see what I believe to be a sheltie in one of your pics! We are die-hard sheltie owners and petrified of mixing them with chickens!! Any thoughts or advice?

 

[schmoo]

Iopele - love the brooder -heres an idea.......

try putting a small piece of 2x4 under the feeder and waterer - that will help "stabilize" it - thats what I did in the old rabbit coop I used before. it works great

 

[iopele]

I'll do that, Schmoo! My dad and son are always building something or other, we've got to have some scrap wood blocks around here somewhere...

I was thinking of trying one of two things on the next crate/brooder--either putting some cross-wires under the hardware cloth, like a heavier-duty grating or something like that, or running a couple of dowel rods across the brooder where I can place the waterer on them. (They'll be using a gallon-sized waterer in the bigger one, rather than the little quart-size ones.) The dowels would also be something the babies could attempt to roost on, I think--they wouldn't be very far off the floor at all, half an inch or so at most, but for practice that'd be about right, I think?

Glad you like my brooder idea! I had fun making it and am so proud that it worked out so well.

 

[w8tn4fresheggs]

allig8r,

From the very start Radar has been included in our new chicken lifestyle. When they were little baby chicks, I would say gentle, babies, and he would sniff the baby chicks. Every time I would check on the baby chicks, I would say lets go check on the girls or chickens, etc. I also make sure I still pay attention to him. Poor baby! Now he has a second set of girls to watch out for that are a week old.

I am excited for him because this has given him a job to do. We use to say, go get the rabbits for fun. I have stopped that. Told my kids not to say go get the chicks, etc. Now I say watch the girls, watch them. He goes around and around and around the Henspa, watching them. If he barks, I say no bark. One time I had to catch them and he did his herding thing.

I haven't quite let the girls free range as of yet. But when I do, I hope to have Radar out there helping to keep them inline and watching for predators. In fact the other day he saw something in a tree and went nuts to make it go away. Did a great job.

When I have had them out, I let him be there and talk to him. Be gentle and such. He is. One pecked him in the nose, so he is aware that they will peck him. Yet, he desires to be there and watch them.

Just work with them, include them from the start. Let them be with you with them.

Shelties are the best for herding and protection.

I don't think Radar will let me down.


Here are some pictures of him at work.

Steph

 

[2mnypets]

These pics are in the coop design section but we added a brooder box to the chicken coop. Here are some of the pics. There is still work to be done though to it.

Before in the small brooder box.....

After in the big brooder box.....

 

[WoodlandWoman]

What a nice big space you have for them, now! That's really nice!

 

[dangerouschicken]

Saltiena,

Our Rubbermaid brooder never gets too warm because we put the lamp high enough that the warmth is just right. The plastic doesn't get too hot for our chicks. They are doing really well!

 

[Dawn419]

My indoor brooder...

It's 52" long, 27" high and 25" wide. I used a combo of clear greenhouse plastic & cardboard for the draft guard. Lamp is an 85 watt, red floodlight.

The babies, just after they arrived on 5/14/07...

Pic from today, with roost and "sandbox"...

 

[ozark hen]

Quote:
We used the RubberMaid tubs for a brooder and the heat lamp was way too much heat. We switched to a 75 wt. light bulb and it was perfect.
We also had a 125wt. on hand in case we needed it but house was warm enough with the 75wt. bulb. I used the 125wt. when they moved into the coup. I have kept the bulb on 24/7 to be sure they have enough heat. Nights here are in the 60's now but sometimes with a rain the air seems cooler so I would rather be safe than sorry. They are able to get on the other side of the room away from the heat if they need to cooler. So far all twenty chicks have made it. My next fear will be their first time at free ranging, which may be NEXT YEAR.

I am so attached that I am afraid to turn them loose too soon.

They are six weeks old today.