Brooding CC chicks outside

[Alarry31]

Ok so we are getting 25 meat birds. We plan to put them in this chicken tractor. We built. We plan to place a half barrel with the heat lamp above the half barrel. I’m looking for thoughts. We have never lost any animal to predator other than. A hawk one time which was our fault as we left the baby chicks in a play pen unsupervised with not top. Please let me know if any advice you have.

 

[NatJ]

Ok so we are getting 25 meat birds. We plan to put them in this chicken tractor. We built. We plan to place a half barrel with the heat lamp above the half barrel. I’m looking for thoughts.

What is the purpose of the barrel?

I've brooded chicks in a similar pen outdoors. What I did: put the heat lamp in one corner of the pen, and cover most sides of the pen with tarps to block wind/rain/etc. I left some space for ventilation from the very first, but increased the open area as the chicks grew. I think I had 3 sides covered for quite a while, because that was enough to block all the main wind directions, but leaving one entire side open provided plenty of ventilation (and easy access to the door.)

Some people raise the heat lamp as the chicks grow, to lower the temperature where the chicks are. With a big brooder space (like an entire chicken tractor), I just put the heat lamp near one corner and let the chicks move closer to it or farther away as they please. The chicks will naturally spend more time away from the heat as they get bigger. If I think they are in danger of bumping the heat lamp as they get taller, I might raise it once, but that's about it. I think the idea of reducing temperature by a certain number of degrees per week is not needed when the chicks have access to a large unheated space as well as the heated area.

 

[Alarry31]

What is the purpose of the barrel?

I've brooded chicks in a similar pen outdoors. What I did: put the heat lamp in one corner of the pen, and cover most sides of the pen with tarps to block wind/rain/etc. I left some space for ventilation from the very first, but increased the open area as the chicks grew. I think I had 3 sides covered for quite a while, because that was enough to block all the main wind directions, but leaving one entire side open provided plenty of ventilation (and easy access to the door.)

Some people raise the heat lamp as the chicks grow, to lower the temperature where the chicks are. With a big brooder space (like an entire chicken tractor), I just put the heat lamp near one corner and let the chicks move closer to it or farther away as they please. The chicks will naturally spend more time away from the heat as they get bigger. If I think they are in danger of bumping the heat lamp as they get taller, I might raise it once, but that's about it. I think the idea of reducing temperature by a certain number of degrees per week is not needed when the chicks have access to a large unheated space as well as the heated area.

the barrel was my idea as how to provide a consolidated area for heat as the temps here have been as low as 54 to forty degrees and to give them a little shelter area. From wind and elements.

 

[NatJ]

the barrel was my idea as how to provide a consolidated area for heat as the temps here have been as low as 54 to forty degrees and to give them a little shelter area. From wind and elements.

That makes sense.
I've seen plans for an "Ohio brooder" that is a heat lamp mounted in a wooden box-- probably a very similar idea.

As long as the chicks are free to run in and out of the barrel, it would probably work fine.

While they are young and the weather is chilly, I would make sure the wind does not blow hard through the rest of the pen either. The wire mesh will slow the wind some, but it would probably be good to provide a windbreak of some sort as well. That could be a bale of hay inside so they can go behind it, or tarp on part of the outside, or whatever else works. I've read of people using empty feed bags, and I've even used pieces of cardboard sometimes (if I secure it right, cardboard will often last for at least a few weeks, even if it gets rained on. And by then, the chicks are enough bigger that it isn't needed.)

 

[Alarry31]

That makes sense.
I've seen plans for an "Ohio brooder" that is a heat lamp mounted in a wooden box-- probably a very similar idea.

As long as the chicks are free to run in and out of the barrel, it would probably work fine.

While they are young and the weather is chilly, I would make sure the wind does not blow hard through the rest of the pen either. The wire mesh will slow the wind some, but it would probably be good to provide a windbreak of some sort as well. That could be a bale of hay inside so they can go behind it, or tarp on part of the outside, or whatever else works. I've read of people using empty feed bags, and I've even used pieces of cardboard sometimes (if I secure it right, cardboard will often last for at least a few weeks, even if it gets rained on. And by then, the chicks are enough bigger that it isn't needed.)

We are actually using the netting from a trampoline that is used to keep kids from falling out. So it blocks the wind and keeps it nice and draft free in there.

 

[NatJ]

We are actually using the netting from a trampoline that is used to keep kids from falling out. So it blocks the wind and keeps it nice and draft free in there.

Do you have a layer of something different to keep out predators? Or are you expecting the netting to do that too?

I don't know enough about that netting to know if it will keep out predators or not. Some of them can be pretty determined about chewing or clawing at things.

 

[Alarry31]

Do you have a layer of something different to keep out predators? Or are you expecting the netting to do that too?

I don't know enough about that netting to know if it will keep out predators or not. Some of them can be pretty determined about chewing or clawing at things.

we have two year old 75lb dogs that patrol the property at all ours of the day and night and have been raised around our animals since pups and have almost all predators at bay other than a hawk we lost a chick too due to our negligence.