brooding inside

[rosemarythyme]

I've brooded inside the house and out, and never want to brood inside again. So much extra cleaning, dander everywhere, and the chicks didn't grow up to be any more or less friendly than the ones I've raised outside.

 

[TheAlrightyGina]

but we got a bigger brooder this year (it's actually a "coop" we got on amazon; wouldn't use it as an actual coop but it makes a nice sturdy brooder!) so they're in our kitchen.

How big is your kitchen?! I can't imagine having a coop in my kitchen, brooder or otherwise.

 

[Coops Dad]

Three weeks inside, then into an outdoor brooder built on a 4'x4' pallet for 2 weeks, then into an 8'x16' chicken tractor with a coop until they either get sold or are selected to join our main flock.

We're up to 51 hens and 3 roosters. My wife has a PhD in chicken math.

 

[LightedPrism]

My wife has a PhD in chicken math.

I saw that at a glance and was like wait... phd for chickens? then reread it and about died laughing!!!

Ok what about with your very first group of chickens? did you have the outside brooder and coop?

 

[LightedPrism]

I've brooded inside the house and out, and never want to brood inside again.

oh yeah. i really dont want to do this again! Its a pita but i enjoyed being able to watch them grow and learn. but this is also my first batch.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

I always brood my chicks in the bathroom bathtub. We keep them there until they are old enough to go out. This is my setup

 

[LightedPrism]

I always brood my chicks in the bathroom bathtub. We keep them there until they are old enough to go out. This is my setup
View attachment 2565979

love it!!! i was about to ask how you kept the litter in but then saw the bin! Around how long are they in there?

 

[Lemon-Drop]

love it!!! i was about to ask how you kept the litter in but then saw the bin! Around how long are they in there?

They are going to stay in there until it’s warm enough to go outside, probably 7-8 weeks? It’s not very warm here in Washington, maybe as early as 6 weeks if the weathers warm

 

[Coops Dad]

I saw that at a glance and was like wait... phd for chickens? then reread it and about died laughing!!!

Ok what about with your very first group of chickens? did you have the outside brooder and coop?

My wife had the first chicks we got (bought from Orscheln) in a brooder I built that we made me put in our bonus room until they were 8 weeks old. One day, she came home and said "when did they start to stink so bad?!?" I told her it started the first week.

Now, our brooder is a heavy duty Rubbermaid livestock water trough in our mudroom with a heat lamp suspended over it on a chain so it can be moved up as the chicks grow and need less heat.

She is still addicted to chicks but is happier with them and their chick-stink out of the house proper.

 

[bobbi-j]

When I first started raising chickens, I brooded in the house. I have not brooded in the house since I started having them outside. So much dander and dust! One nice thing about brooding them outside is, I never have to worry about when they can go out to the coop. I use a heating pad brooder, and the chicks have been healthier, feathered out earlier, and off heat sooner than chicks brooded in the house under a heat lamp.