Brooding outside in March

[HeyHey]

I am wanting to start meat birds in March but don't want to brood inside. I'm in Indiana, does anyone have experience doing this? Advice and pictures would be appreciated.

 

[Molpet]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/mhp-in-march-outdoors.77419/

 

[Tonyroo]

You can brood in a coop with heat during winter and early spring. There should be no issues.

 

[HeyHey]

You can brood in a coop with heat during winter and early spring. There should be no issues.

Does the co-op have to be weatherproof? I have an open air coop

 

[HeyHey]

Does the co-op have to be weatherproof? I have an open air coop

Coop

 

[FunClucks]

Yes, the coop needs to not be open air. I brood in my garage because it's a large closed space, unheated, but no drafts. I use heat lamps, and have to really watch that they don't get too cold at night due to the weather. Even in the garage, I need to make sure I use a large storage bin so the heat reflects off the sides, or add cardboard to the wire dog crate sides and part of the lid (away from the lamp) so it contains the heat more. Just a heat lamp in a large open space is often not enough, especially if you have a number of chickens. And always be aware of fire risk and have a plan to prevent that.

 

[Morrigan]

How many meat birds? What is your available space like? I've brooded meat birds in a converted shed (for 25+ chicks) and in a converted rabbit hutch (10 or less) chicks, in the winter with night-time lows in the 30s. It can be done, but you need a space you can safely heat with a brooding plate or heat lamp. And it must be out of the wind.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

I've brooded on my screened in porch (no heat or insulation - so same temp as outside) in December with just a heat lamp. I also think I started last spring's meat birds out there in March. As long as you can adjust the heat lamp easily, it's fine. The other factors are wind and snow. I think a garage is a good spot for brooding. It's secure and most have electricity. Or, you can run an extension cord out. The only difference between raising chicks outdoors now and in warmer weather is that you just need to check the lamp more frequently to adjust for temp. I would often set it at one height when I'd go to bed (early), and then have my husband who goes to bed around midnight check it and adjust it again before bed. Besides that, just raise them like normal.

 

[Major_in_MS]

I built an 'Ohio Brooder' from information from this website. It is a design from an 'Ohio Experiment Station' bulletin from 1942. This guy does a really good job on his site explaining the brooder and showing how to build it so I won't go into that here.

I put day old chicks in this outdoor pen with the Ohio brooder in the middle of December. The pen is under a covered carport and I wrapped plastic sheeting around the bottom 7 feet of the carport posts to block wind. I also covered the top of the pen with a tarp to keep blowing rain out. As the chicks grow, you raise the brooder by placing bricks under the legs. It worked so well that I will never brood chicks inside the house again.

 

[KS_Chicken_Wrangler]

I built an 'Ohio Brooder' from information from this website. It is a design from an 'Ohio Experiment Station' bulletin from 1942. This guy does a really good job on his site explaining the brooder and showing how to build it so I won't go into that here.

I put day old chicks in this outdoor pen with the Ohio brooder in the middle of December. The pen is under a covered carport and I wrapped plastic sheeting around the bottom 7 feet of the carport posts to block wind. I also covered the top of the pen with a tarp to keep blowing rain out. As the chicks grow, you raise the brooder by placing bricks under the legs. It worked so well that I will never brood chicks inside the house again.

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Wow! I'm glad you posted this. That website is invaluable. I need to get some chicks here pretty soon and my unheated garage, while insulated, is very cold right now. My brooder set up won't allow me to get past 70 degrees (I've run multiple multi-hour tests to try and get to "warm enough"), even with three heat lamps. I was just looking at it today and thinking "how can I condense and hold that heat?" Ask and ye shall receive! Gonna get one of these built and that will leave me with an additional heat lamp for some external water/feed coverage to boot!