BROODER thread! Post pics of your brooders!

Brand new to the brooding chicks world, but this is what I slapped together for my 11 chicks we picked up today. It's just a storage tub container (from Walmart) for the bottom, and then my (creative) hubby used the frame from under an old table we had that we were scrapping that happened to have near perfect dimensions to sit over the tub. He just covered it with hardware cloth and screwed the lamp's supports into the sides, and voila!, instant brooder... it's working well for our 11 chicks, hoping they won't get too crowded for a few weeks!






 

1 sheet of 3/4 inch plywood cut to 2-4ft sections and 2-2ft sections had to upgrade them to this one because the platic tub was too small for 30 babies...working a new outside brooder that will have 2 1/2 ft wood slats with wire mesh above and below (predator issues) but I will hang a light so they don't freeze and frame with doors. this new brooder is more ambitious on my part because I'm no carpenter..but I do love my skil saw w/wormdrive...whatever that means..lol
 
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This was the first night our girls were with us. Had to use paper because we were in a pinch but it was only for the first two days. They have Pine shavings now.

 
Using a big fish aquarium. It was free. Just built a cover out of 1"x4" lumber I had laying around and chicken wire. Had to buy the chicken wire, the heat lamp, the feeder, and waterer. Add wood shavings for bedding, 5 Rhode Island Reds from the local farm store, and voila... low cost entertainment for the cats er I mean brooder.
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Later, added a piece of wood from the wood pile to give them something to climb on and roost on.



Have since rigged the waterer to hang. This keeps the chicks from kicking as many wood shavings into it.



Also, had to add a cap to the feeder as one fool bird insisted on roosting on top of it and I didn't want her to poop in the food.
 
I spoiled my chicks and doubled the size of their brooder last week by using an extra dog kennel as soon as the chicks were to big to fit through the bars. It's also great for raising the heat lamp since I'd maxed out the pvc pipe that came with the lamp. The bathroom they're in has it's own heater too so it's easy to keep the room at 70 degrees without raising our heating bill to much.




And I thought they needed some entertainment so I gave them a roost and a "chick stick".


 
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I spoiled my chicks and doubled the size of their brooder last week by using an extra dog kennel as soon as the chicks were to big to fit through the bars. It's also great for raising the heat lamp since I'd maxed out the pvc pipe that came with the lamp. The bathroom they're in has it's own heater too so it's easy to keep the room at 70 degrees without raising our heating bill to much.




And I thought they needed some entertainment so I gave them a roost and a "chick stick".




very cute! Chick Hilton!
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I don't find it makes much of a difference. I prefer the long skinny ones because they're easy to fill. The other ones are kind of annoying, I would fill them and when I would pick them up the bottom would pop off and the food would spill everywhere.
 

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