- May 13, 2009
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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").