broody box in basement ok?

[21hens-incharge]

They need food and water so that takes the 4x4= 16 sq ft down a bit. I personally think they need at least a 4x8 brooder for anything from 12 to 20 chicks. I know a lot depends on how long they will be needing to stay in the brooder. If it is only for a month than less space is needed but if they are in it for 2 months or more they need more space since they are bigger.
Also a 4x4 brooder does not give much space to get out from under the heat lamp if some are getting to warm.

You say that 12 chick will quickly out grow a 4X4, what size do you recommend have seen 1 square foot per bird.........

Just my opinion.

 

[lazy gardener]

Hi, I'm just sticking my nose into your thread. Is the brooder box open on any/all sides, or are the sides closed in with plywood, cardboard, what ever? Cover over the top? When I set up my floor brooders in the garage (unheated) or cold basement, my chief concern was the cold cement floor. I dealt with this by putting a good thick layer of cardboard, and old blankets down on the floor, covered by a shower curtain, then a nice thick layer of shavings. Be sure the heat lamp has been going long enough to warm the floor and shavings under it before installing the chicks. They should be just fine. You want the heat under the lamp to be your target temp. Put their feed and water outside of the heat circle, and they'll do a good job moving back and forth between warm and cold areas. This will help them to feather out faster, and wean from the heat faster than they would if kept in a small box with a uniform temp throughout. Enjoy!

 

[Blooie]

Hi, I'm just sticking my nose into your thread. Is the brooder box open on any/all sides, or are the sides closed in with plywood, cardboard, what ever? Cover over the top? When I set up my floor brooders in the garage (unheated) or cold basement, my chief concern was the cold cement floor. I dealt with this by putting a good thick layer of cardboard, and old blankets down on the floor, covered by a shower curtain, then a nice thick layer of shavings. Be sure the heat lamp has been going long enough to warm the floor and shavings under it before installing the chicks. They should be just fine. You want the heat under the lamp to be your target temp. Put their feed and water outside of the heat circle, and they'll do a good job moving back and forth between warm and cold areas. This will help them to feather out faster, and wean from the heat faster than they would if kept in a small box with a uniform temp throughout. Enjoy!

Oooh, good point, LG! I didn't even think about the cold radiating through the floor of garage into the brooder! Youse so schmart!

 

[lazy gardener]

Not really... I just think like a chicken!!!

 

[waddles99]

Please don't put a brooder in the house, no matter how secluded the section of the house it is in. I tried doing a brooder in an upstairs wing that is empty and shut off from the rest of the house. It could be smelled from the kitchen downstairs if you didn't clean it once a week. Not the mention the feather dander in the air, always settling on tables in a thick layer and causing coughing.

 

[blueridgefarmer]

Too late and two years and 30 chicks later...... We have a 2000 square foot basement that is used from raising puppies, raising turkeys, raising chickens, to fixing cars, painting amish quilt signs, to building furniture out of mountain laurel....hahahaha I am also an OCD neat freak, so besides all that lives in there you would never know it!! My husband always teases me as where he is going to find some baby critters somewhere in the house!

 

[blueridgefarmer]

I checked and the temp in the room is about 65, the box is thick plywood on bottom and all sides with a top that has chicken wire, My husband needs to put a piece of insulation over the window (a golf ball went through it over the summer) and we have a table we can put it up on. I feel confident once we do all the proper preps tomorrow it will be ok! I have raised everybody else down there but never this early in the year (I got spring fever early this year) We are also going to set up that room as a grow room and start tomatoes and peppers in there so the added heat from the grow lights will probably warm the room up a little also! Thanks for all the comments and advice , I always believe the more minds on something the better off the outcome!

 

[donrae]

Please don't put a brooder in the house, no matter how secluded the section of the house it is in. I tried doing a brooder in an upstairs wing that is empty and shut off from the rest of the house. It could be smelled from the kitchen downstairs if you didn't clean it once a week. Not the mention the feather dander in the air, always settling on tables in a thick layer and causing coughing. 

You were keeping birds in the house and not even cleaning the brooder once a week? Heavens! If you could smell it that far away imagine how horrible it was for the poor chicks living in their own waste. I'm actually with you on the not brooding in the house, but even in the barn you still need to do basic hygiene.

 

[waddles99]

You were keeping birds in the house and not even cleaning the brooder once a week? Heavens! If you could smell it that far away imagine how horrible it was for the poor chicks living in their own waste. I'm actually with you on the not brooding in the house, but even in the barn you still need to do basic hygiene.

It wasnt necessarily a bad smell, just a musty smell. It was relatively clean in my defense. The chickens are now in an 8x 8 coop(30 of them) and have access to a small run.

 

[Abunari]

I have been debating this myself. My husband and I have allergies but I am still determined to have my chickens. I have a large detached shed I was thinking of setting the chick brooder up in but being they will be my first chicks I'm worried about it being cold . I live in central arkansas. Temps are still dropping into the 30s at night. From your experience if I have a 225 watt heat lamp and good layer of bedding under them they will do just fine?

Also I read using fresh hay in the Brooder isnt good even though I have a lot .....any opinions on this also?