BROODER thread! Post pics of your brooders!

[henaynei]

interesting tried/true inexpensive brooder design from 1940's for 50-300 chicks for about $50
http://www.plamondon.com/wp/build-200-chick-brooder-two-hours-20/

 

[PetRock]

I'm building my first wooden brooder, and buying some new supplies. The last time I did this was ages ago, and I borrowed ever ything from a friend. I have a couple questions:
1) I'm trying to decide between the Ecoglow and Premier plate heaters. Have you tried these? What are your experiences with them?
2) What is your favorite food/water set up? I'm using fermented feed as well as grass/veggie clippings.
3) Do you have any tips/tricks on brooding that you'd like to share?

Thank you all for the help!

This is my second year using Premier 1 heat plates. I love them and so do the chicks! I'll never go back to using a dangerous heat lamp. I have several of the smaller sized ones for my indoor brooders and 1 of the larger ones in my outdoor brooder. I also purchased the covers and used them for the first few hatches last year. Now, I just let the chicks use the top of the plate for recreation. It is a pain to clean off the poo but it gives the chicks extra room for play and they love jumping up and down. It is so cute to see a 2 day old chick trying to jump up on the top of the plate.

 

[AcornAcres]

PetRock - That's encouraging! Thank you for the feedback!

 

[SnowKnitty]

I have one each of the Ecoglow and Premier plate heaters. I far prefer the Premier 1 version!
The plates on both do the same thing. The big difference is how the plates are supported. The Brinsea Ecoglow uses two supports which cannot be adjusted other than high and low. Those supports are fiddly and I frankly worry they will break every time I adjust them. The legs on the Premier 1 heat plate consist of four individual legs. The legs are tall and they have circular grooves all up and down the legs. There is a simple clip system on the underside of the plate which you press in to release the leg, move it up or down, and then click the clip back into place.
The only pro I see for the EcoGlow supports are that they are less likely to sink into the litter. The legs on the Premier 1 heat plate are narrow and can easily sink a bit into deeper litter. As the chicks scratch about, sinking into the litter could alter the height and that would be undesirable! I mitigated that potential risk by cutting two boards for each end of the legs so that two legs sit on each board. I also used a boring bit and drilled holes (stopping short of drilling all the way through) to accommodate the legs so they can't slide off the board when the chicks get energetic and bounce against the plate.
Additionally, the legs on the Premier 1 heat plate can be adjusted individually. That means I will be able to have one end of the plate a little higher than the other end. This is useful if you're brooding different breeds that grow at different rates so the little ones and the big ones can find their happy height under the plate.
I also saw a post recommending the SweeterHeater and was intrigued. I do not have one of these but would caution you to read up on it first. At a glance, I saw it is not designed especially for baby chicks. That doesn't mean you can't use it but note that the plate reaches 185F! That is too hot for direct contact with chicks. So, if you use the SweeterHeater, know that you would have to use it differently than the EcoGlow or Premier 1 chick heating plate. The latter two are designed for chicks to press their backs directly against the heat plate so they run much cooler than the SweeterHeater.
As if you needed more to consider, there's also a great thread on the Mama Heating Pad (MHP). This is a DIY chick heating system and it has received more accolades on this site than I can count.

 

[3riverschick]

Yes the sweeter heater does not sit on the ground . if you want to raise it you just go ahead and shorten the chains by which it is hanging.
yeah it works differently . I think more square inches for your money and you can adjust it without having to reach into the cage and disturb the chicks
plus, it doesn't sink down into the litter and you don't have to worry about how the legs function.

 

[AcornAcres]

This is all such great information! It's so awesome to have access to a community of people who are knowledgeable and helpful. And it beats the heck out of reading Amazon reviews

 

[JessC30]

Love some of these ideas! How big of a space should you have for 10 chicks? And how warn are they supposed to be for the first while? Its still pretty chilly here (more snow today yay) So I'm trying to decide if I should keep them inside for a bit first. Thoughts appreciated!

 

[3riverschick]

Love some of these ideas! How big of a space should you have for 10 chicks? And how warn are they supposed to be for the first while? Its still pretty chilly here (more snow today yay) So I'm trying to decide if I should keep them inside for a bit first. Thoughts appreciated!

You need one and a half sq. feet per bird to four weeks old . two sq. feet per bird to 6 weeks old . start the brooder at 90 degrees and drop it five degrees a week until you get to 70 degrees. Sq. Ft. Measurements are for large fowl chicks. 1/2 them for bantams.
Best,
Karen

 

[aart]

You can cool them off faster than 5F degrees a week.
Depending your climate and coop situation(power out there-space to separate from main flock), you might want to keep them inside for at least a week.

Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:
They need to be pretty warm(~85-90F on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.


Or you could go with a heat plate, commercially made or DIY: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/pseudo-brooder-heater-plate

 

[reneagade]

I've made little decals to decorate my brooder. They're covered with laminate so they are easy to wipe off. Every now and then the ducks peck at them, especially the tiny TV for some reason ^___^