BROODER thread! Post pics of your brooders!

[hannalice]

My chicks are coming tomorrow!!!

The brooder is (more or less) all set up- still gotta secure the divider and find a way to put a cover on the thing. Figured I'd take some pics, my apologies for the poor quality, they're from my webcam!

(Yes, this thing is very ghetto, but it'll work!) It's 4 decent sized cardboard boxes I filched from work duct taped together on a floor of more cut up cardboard boxes w/ some heavy paper as a little extra protection. The partition is very temporary and is just hardware cloth.

I'm trying out the pine pellets for the first time, I'm curious to see how they work. Less dust would be great. Also trying the ceramic 100 watt reptile bulb idea I got from here for the first time- cost me an arm and a leg, but it'll be worth it if I don't burn the house down!

 

[BillT]

Here are my brooders. They are 4 feet wide and 8 feet long and 2 feet deep.
Right now I have 13 pulletts each in two of them.

There is a chicken top wire for each of them.

 

[LadyBeartoothMamma]

mg]

[/
those are my new ones

 

[sloallie10]

 

[Pineywoods Peepers]

I'd thought about using a rubbermaid tote for my brooder, but being the cheapskate I am, and not currently owning a rubbermaid tote, I decided to use something I did have on hand after perusing the website and deciding that it was an acceptable form of housing for chicks - a wire dog crate. I got a long piece of cardboard from Lowe's for free, and I cut it into a 11 inch strip to run around the bottom of the crate to keep the area from being too drafty and keep any bedding material from spilling out. The chicks arrived this a.m., and so far they're doing well. Since the high temps here are in the 90's I don't think I have to worry about them getting too cold, but I'll have to use the heat lamp at night. At least for the first couple of weeks.

 

[Moxiechick]

Ours is made from an old slate-bottom 50 gallon breeder aquarium. I've got a couple of layers of newspaper on the bottom for insulation, and to keep the chicks from pecking at some shiny aquarium sealant used to fix a crack long ago. Then a layer of wood shavings with toweling on top (for the first couple of days.) We've got marbles in the waterer to keep them from falling asleep in there and drowning. (They seem to fall asleep anywhere!) The wood in the corners is to prevent pile ups. A small curved piece of driftwood that I've had forever is serving as a practice perch, and the teddy bear is for comfort.

Cuddles!

 

[Iheartchicks<3:)]

~~~!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NEW POST!!!!!!!!!!! how big should i build a brooder for 7 chicks so that they WONT outgrow it until they need to be outside?

 

[Winsor Woods]

Quote:
Hey BillT,

I have one suggestion for you. Please don't rely on those clips to hold the lights in place! Last year, a neighbor of mine had his coop burn down because he used the exact same lights. The clip slipped and the light fell down onto the litter and ignited. Those lights get HOT.

I have removed the clips from all of my lights and I use stranded wire (picture hanging wire) to secure them at the proper height. I also make sure the light cord is secured in such a way that if the wire fails, the cord will prevent the light from moving further down.

Dan

 

[Cattitude]

Good tip about the clamps on those lamps... I've never felt very secure with them, now I have a good reason to hang them differently! (My partner in Chicken Math is a great believer in mechanical devices; he pooh-poohed my concerns. I have ammo to shoot at him now!)

My brooder. The chicks stay in here from Day 1, so they're a bit more "wild" than those of a lot of folks here.

 

[country freedom]

Cattitude - Really neat open air housing you have for your flock!