BROODER thread! Post pics of your brooders!

[RioLindoAz]

I love your brooder, Heather. Its creative!

 

[Heather J]

Thanks, I'm lucky I have a room I can lock the cats out of--and the cats are only mildly interested in the chicks anyway (lazy little buggers), so they're safe with only minimal protection. Hopefully we'll get them moved before too much longer and I won't have to add yet another room, lol

 

[emandmikey]

Here's what I'm planning to make a brooder out of... tips? I'm planning to enclose half of it in a cardboard box, and put the heat lamp pointed downward, but on the open side? What do you guys think?

 

[emandmikey]

Crazyelk - I have that same pool - and it's got a tiny leak... I may have to convert it to a brooder! Although I don't think I have room for it in my house anywhere! Em

 

[cackle]

We built this as a large brooder. Thinking it can have many lives for brooding and maybe even raising teenage birds in. Or we can lok the dogs in the kennels to keep them away from the birds.


We did a little speed building today to get the cornish -x out of the house as they were begining to really stink.We knew we wanted to put the box in a dog pen so it had to be smaller than the 10x10 pen. We still have some work to do like adding a pop door and a stick to hold the top up. A tarp will cover the top with a PVC frame to hold it up in the middle so water can run off and there is shade. It is very light and easy to move.

Question.... with meaties can we just cut a pop door and have them go in and out or should we unscrew the front and just leave three sides? This is so they aren't confinded to a 4x8 space. The whole thing will be moved to the pasture when they are 3 or 4 weeks old and moved once or twice a week.

We build it thinking it can be convert to a pen for a broody hen or divided into two spaces for brooding chicks of different ages.

Any ideas of anything we might have missed? We are still working on it so suggestions are welcome.

 

[JudyMcKinn]

Looks like a very neat job. The only thing I can think of is that if you use it in late spring, summer, or early fall, there will need to be some ventilation in it (maybe there is and doesn't show in the picture) or else whatever is in there will probably die from heat--sort of like when shut in a car in summer. A window on each end, with screen wire over it so it can be closed or opened, would work.

 

[cackle]

Quote:
Thanks, Judy,

We are going to add a door on the front(side away from the hinge). So you are right we could put a window there. Or once a cover is over the entire we could prop the lid open. We are also going to put handle on the sides so it is easy to carry.

There is a little ventilation because of thre curve of the plastic. But it does need more.

Thank you for the great suggestions.

Susan

 

[allen wranch]

Have you checked the temperature inside the brooder ? With a heat lamp, it may get too hot in there without the sun. Combined with the sun, it could be a killer.

It definately needs more ventilation.

Great design though.

 

[cackle]

I have been keeping a watch on the temp. Yesterday I went out about 4:00 pm to check on them and they were scattered around some even in the area under the lights.

It is in the shade so it does not get direct sunlight.

 

[mjdtexan]

Thanks for all of the brooder ideas. We have decided to go with day olds.

Has anybody decided to use a reostat (SP?) on their heat lamps or is it better to just move the lamp?

Am I right, six weeks seems to be the brooding period?

I noticed that some of yall have beginner brooders and intermediate brooders, is this neccessary or just a preference?

Did the pink monkey come standard in that one poster's brooder or was that an option?

I really did like the brooder with the slim door on the bottom so that it can be swept out, good idea that.