BROODER thread! Post pics of your brooders!

[Deeregirl]

Wow, so many great ideas! As a newbie this website and especially the forum has been a great resource and has offered such good advice and creative ideas! My grandfather had an old playpen stored in his garage that no one was going to use anymore, so I put it to good use! I picked up my chicks on 5/15 and introduced them to their new home. Unfortunately with 25 chicks (15 meat birds, 3 RIR, 3 Barred rock & 4 Moyer's hybrid chicks) it wasn't big enough for long. Last weekend we built a bigger brooder that should give them enough room to grow (I hope). We used an 3' X 8' pallet and some scrap wood for the frame and hardware cloth for the sides, one end is whip-stiched together and the other has a door to make cleaning easier. The bottom is not solid (1/4" spaces between the boards) so we lined it with cardboard so the shavings won't fall out and the chicks won't get their feet stuck between the boards. I think we will soon need to add a top because the chicks are trying out their wings already... Everyone is right, these things are addicting!! I just love to watch them and can't wait to see what they do next! BTW - in the last picture our black lab Molly is watching these curious little creatures along with my sweet, wonderful and oh-so-patient boyfriend (the chicks were his idea, but I was the one that got the "fever").

 

[eggsited chickens]

Nice brooders Deeregirl. like the pallet one!

 

[SimplyForties]

Great brooders! Are you having any trouble keeping heat in the pallet brooder?

 

[SunnyChic]

What a cool pallet brooder - great job!

 

[Puck-Puck]

I went to the feed store yesterday to "pick up chicks". Good thing that phrase didn't get around!

These should be thumbnails that you can click to enlarge.



This is the cola bottle waterer. A small hole is drilled through the lid and lip of the bottle. I melted the cola lid onto a mayonnaise jar lid with a soldering iron, filled the mayo lid with marbles, and put the whole thing on a yogurt tub lid to contain splashing. It is suspended from the rack ceiling by long wire twist ties looping into a large elastic band around the waist of the bottle. Cost, $0.00.



The extra waterer I threw together for them when they first came out of the shipping box. Everyone was thirsty, and there wasn't room for them all at one waterer. (My partner in this venture will be picking out her dozen/13 chicks from the brooder today, so in a few hours it won't be so crowded!)



The feeder made out of two aluminum pie plates held together with paper clips. Inside, there is a shallow tub serving as an inner wall, to keep the feed close to the edges where the chicks can reach it. Cost of used pie plates and a couple of paper clips I found in the junk drawer: $0.00.

Okay, I know there's a problem uploading, but I'll have to check into it later as I've got to go now!

Wondered why it was silent in the brooder this morning: the sun was up, but they were still snoozing! Apologies for all the poo, but that's a night's worth. Yes, I cleaned the brooder after taking this photo, but it's now four hours later and you wouldn't know that I'd cleaned it!



The box itself; BF brought it from his work; machine parts had been shipped in it. On top, two oven racks and now a clean throw rug. The lamp is a porcelain lamp base that I took from the bedroom ceiling and replaced with a plastic lamp base (I never use that light anyhow). The cord is an old extension cord that had an accident with a lawnmower: its plug plugs into the wall; its sliced end is stripped and wired to an octagon box, and the porcelain lamp base over it. The octagon box is screwed to a chunk of wood hanging on a chain--chain not long enough and extended with cord, which I can knot to raise and lower from its point of suspension above. It all hangs lower now, because that was what the chicks asked me to do. Price of brooder set-up: under $10 for the red light from the somewhat expensive building supply store.

 

[redstars]

awsome brooder Deergirl, Looks like they have a ton of room in there.

 

[Deeregirl]

Thanks everyone! I was worried about heat loss at first, but it is in the machine shop side of the garage which is insulated and heated. The heater is close to the brooder and keeps a constant temp, so that along with the lights seems to be fine. We have laser heat guns that we use to check the temp in the brooder, it's also good for playtime - they think the laser dot is a bug and chase it around.

 

[Portia]

Here's my latest brooder....I call it the Sepia Brooder. I have 3 other brooders right now that are just like it, but different colors

 

[SimplyForties]

Awww...pretty girl!

 

[Boobalu]

I made this brooder out of a BBQ Box and an old Back splash It worked Great..

Then I added a second story with a door flap so i could feed and change the water with out breaking my back