BROODER thread! Post pics of your brooders!

[88oldsr]

Hi!! I'm new to the chicken keeping world and I'm gonna get probably 3 or 4 chicks. Either 2 females and a male or 3 females and a male, but they'll be chicks when i get them and I was just wondering if a 10 gallon tank with a hood and a 75 watt heat lamp would suffice until they grow up and are ready to be put outside. If not should I buy a large plastic box? I have a long hamster cage to maybe put them in. What should I do!? What about a large cardbaord box with paper towels in the bottom? In my fish tank i was gonna put down some paper towels, and a clean soft dishrag underneath the heat lamp. What should I do? Please help!

 

[concernedaboutchick]

Here's my latest brooder, set up in my spare bedroom. Ignore the mess in the rest of the room; it's used as a storage space most of the time.
I got four sheets of plywood, each 4 feet long and 2 feet wide (or 2 feet "high" in this case) and four 2x4s to put in each of the four connecting corners. I then nailed them together into a box on top of the spread-out blue tarp I had on the floor in there. After that I folded up the sides of the tarp around the outsides of the plywood walls and staple-gunned the tarp to the sides so it would serve as a tight flooring with no spillage out onto the carpet. Of course just after I finished doing this I noticed that the pointy ends of the staples were coming through the other side of the plywood walls, right where the chicks would be, so i had to hammer down the pointed ends that came through until there were no pointy edges the chicks could snag themselves on or peck at. I also have an optional screen for the top to keep them from flying out once they're big enough (which will be any day now) that consists of a screen door with a few more feet of mesh screen attached to it that can just be placed on top of the brooder to serve as a "roof" of sorts.

The chicks are: 4 Buff Brahma Bantams, 4 Quail Antwerp Belgian bantams, 2 Golden Campines and 6 Easter Eggers for a total of 16 birds. Unfortunately 2 of the Quail Antwerp Belgian bantams died soon after arriving despite all my efforts to save them but the other 14 have been healthy since then.

Pics!
Day 1, before and after arrival:

...and 2 weeks later. Replaced paper towels with aspen shavings, added 2 feed dishes and a second waterer, placed both waterers up on small platforms to be elevated a bit so as not to get as many shavings in them and moved the heat lamp further away from the brooder to lower the temperature (although the temp is still pretty much the same).

 

[CorporateGranola]

First Three Days

After Day Three

 

[Moxiechick]

Here is a picture of our new, bigger brooder. We included a roost, toys, and a tray of sod for them to pick through. They love it! In the lower right corner, out of camera view, is a little toy ferris wheel mounted to the side wall. Chaos ensues when the little cars are filled with freeze dried mealworms.

 

[Moxiechick]

Quote:
Hi.
A 10 gallon tank is too small. Not only do the chicks need more exercise room, but it will be very difficult for them to regulate their temperature in such a small space. They need to be able to move away from the heat from the heat lamp if they get too hot, and a 10 gallon won't offer enough space for this. Even if heat weren't an issue, they would surely out grow a tank that size in just a couple of weeks. I had mine in a 50 gallon tank for the first 3 weeks, and then had to build them something much bigger. Try to find something larger. I've seen many things done with cardboard. Keep reading in this, and other threads and I'm sure you'll get some ideas.

 

[Chocobroc]

My brooder--- I love it and I think my new babies do as well

 

[Tomhusker]

Here is our new/recycled Brooder. It used to be my gear box for my ice fishing trips on my ATV. A little nip here and a tuck there, and Voila!

 

[bburn]

I am going to have to tell you about my brooder because I can't seem to find where to upload a picture!

We were not prepared to bring chicks home in May when we brought them home. So after a day in a box we finally had our brooder ready. My DH used the liner from the back of a pickup truck that he had out behind the shed. He built a frame and stapled chicken wire to the frame. He attached the frame to the top of the bedliner. At the end that was open he put 2x10's that he had out in the shed, stacked one on top of the other. He was finished and I looked at it and asked how we were going to get the chicks in it.....so, we cut a square out of the chicken wire and I had a wire tray that fit on top. He suspended a warming light on a tripod and we were in business. It was large but we bought 18 chicks and the next week added 11 more. All 29 made it and are living happily in the new coop and run. The brooder can be used again and it was all recycled materials. The coop and run also were recycled. The barn fell down next door and we used the tin from the roof of the barn after DH framed it out in used 2x4's. He had a door and frame out in the shed that he used for the door, however, we used a 7' chainlink gate at the door and leave the other open for now (and after killing a copperhead a few weeks ago) I now keep a window screen in the door to keep animals from getting through the gate. Then we cut a window out on the other side for a cross breeze and covered it with chicken wire....we will hinge the piece we cut out and make a cover for the window that we can close when the time comes that we need to. This coop is attached to a huge dog pen that used to be the home of a huge dog...years ago and is chain link. Once again we solved the problem of things crawling through the chain link by pushing some of the recycled tin into the ground around the entire pen.

So far we have been successful in keeping the bad guys out! Oh, and we made a frame to support wire and put a top on the entire dog pen aka chicken yard.

I think all the ideas are great that I looked at. It helps when you can use what you have lying around. Living out in the country it seems there are many things out there that can be reused.

Now, if they would just get old enough to lay me an egg or two....and we are still trying to decide who are the girls and who are the boys. I keep reading the posts about roos and hens and looking at the pictures. The day will come when we can actually tell. Some are already obvious....others are still a question. But for now we have a coop and pen full of happy chickens!!

 

[Turkeyrun]

Hi we are just making due with what we have for our 16 chicks. But we have 15 guinea keets arriving in another week. I need to find something larger to get the chicks together. Then find a way for the guineas to join the party . . . after some introduction time. Unexpected work travel has cut down on proper brooder prep. Suggestions for raising chicks and keets together are welcome.

 

[BarefootMom]

This was ours last Spring- It is a large Wire Dog Kennel with Chicken wire wrapped around it. We used Puppy Pee pads on the floor and the Floor was a slide out tray-so very easy to clean.

A little blurry: