Can Someone "Approve" My Brooder Plans?

[AmyJane725]

Hey guys,

Going to be getting baby chicks in the next few months, and I just want to be sure I'm doing everything right. I think the baby stage is the easiest, so I'll at least make sure I've got this part taken care of. I have a thread over in coop design trying to figure out what to do with them as adults, but in the meantime, here's what I've got:

A cardboard box, 29.5 inches long x 17.5 inches wide x 20.5 inches deep. This comes out to 3.59 sqft. I have read that for the first month, chicks need 0.5 sqft each, so this means I could have 7 chicks? I'm still not totally settled on a number, but would I need to get a bigger box if I wanted 10, or would they probably be ok since it's just a few weeks? I don't want them to live in unfit conditions by any means. I want to do a good job.

I have settled on the following for inside the box:

- Pine shavings for bedding (is this the best, or would paper towels or something else be better? Just let me know)
- Brooder Plate for heat & I was also considering buying the optional "comfort feathers" (10x10") https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DLFD6GY/?tag=backy-20
- Port Feeder (9x9x9") https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D5L2T84/?tag=backy-20
- Nipple Waterer though I'm undecided between these two. I'd kind of like to just buy the 5 gallon (15x12.1x12.1") because then I could continue to use it after they're adults (save some money), but it's bigger, so it would take up more space in the box. I should probably just get the 2 gallon (9x9x9"). Let me know your thoughts.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016AFYT4Q/?tag=backy-20
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016AO5GAI/?tag=backy-20
-Roost (just for entertainment/comfort. Doesn't have to be this exact one. Just something similar.) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006F8DQCK/?tag=backy-20

As for the intermediate stage between chicks and adults out living in the coop, I was trying to get a gaylord box from a local grocery store, but they only have them during summer and fall (watermelon and pumpkin time) so I found this puppy play pen that is basically the same size, and it has a net roof on it, to keep them from escaping. I'm thinking they're going to be in my garage during this stage, and there would be a lot of issues if they got loose in there, so the enclosed container is ideal.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PQ0FOAU/?tag=backy-20

Any thoughts or suggestions are helpful. And I'm sorry if something is glaringly stupid/obvious. I'm very new to this. We had chickens when I was a little kid (5-6 yo) but my parents took care of all this stuff. I just got to enjoy having pet chickens. I'm an adult now, so I'm seeing the practical side of it, and my oh my are there a lot of things to think about/consider.

 

[blackdog043]

Welcome to BYC, hopefully you can find some good information here, to help you decide what you want to use. There is no one right way of doing things, in raising chickens. There may be better ways that work for some and sometimes you have to make changes yourself, because it didn't work the way you thought it would. I like to do the DIY stuff, as you will see below.

For a bigger box, like a refrigerator or washer/dryer, try Lowes or an appliance store if you have one near you. You can start with the big box and put a divider in it to make it smaller for the first week. You could also put a couple boxes together. I'd pass on the playpen, boxes are cheap, when they are free.

I use pine shavings from day one in my brooder and haven't had any problems.

The 10 x 10 plate might be big enough, depending on how many chicks you get, but I'd go to the 12 x 12. I personally use the mama heat pad method. It's the same concept but you make it yourself. Another version is @aart 's version, Pseudo Heater Plate with a cooling rack, instead of wire, this is what I use also (12 x 24 heating pad.) This is without the towels covering the pad.


Waterer: I use a chick waterer for the first two weeks, then I introduce a horizontal nipple waterer. They are very easy to make, the nipples can be found on Amazon. Buy more than you need, so you have extras in case you need them. Here's a few that I have made.

Brooder waterer, Five gallon with stock tank de icer, 14 Gal in the run


I use a chick feeder and put a cardboard tray under it to catch billed out feed, so it doesn't end up in the bedding wasted. I will still use this for the first week, but I just made a smaller version of the DIY no waste feeder to put in my brooder at two weeks.

Chick feeder, 7 Gallon version, 3" elbows & 2 gallon version, 2" elbows

 

[CanadianSkeptic]

I most definitely recommend heat plates! In fact, I've never used anything else, and now I never would. I brooded my first batch of ducklings 2 years ago under heat plates and loved them. Since then I've brooded 3 batches of chickens and 2 more batches of ducklings. No problems at all and so easy to use.

The heat plates come with 4 legs that are easily adjusted. From the very first time I used a heat plate I put the legs in so that the back end was lower than the front. That way the chicks found it easier to run under, and they could adjust their own temperature by moving wherever suited them. Warmer in the back, cooler in the front. I did find that some chicks seemed to hang out in front right from day 1, where some seemed to like the extra heat in the back. Nobody got pasty butt, and nobody ever acted too hot or too cold, it was perfect. I also didn't add lighting for the chicks at night. When night time came it was dark like it would be under a hen. They all went to sleep and there wasn't a single peep. Just a warning for you...if you've never seen a baby chick really zonked out, they lie on their side and they can look like they died. The first time I saw that I was horrified! Turns out it's completely normal, LOL!

As to when to raise the heat plate, that is just something that you will know by watching your chicks. Same goes when you first start out with a heat plate. When you see the size of the actual chicks it makes it easier to judge how high to set up the plate. As the chicks got older I started to straighten out the heat plate so that it wasn't tilted towards the back so that I could put a nipple waterer on top.

One thing I will say, I didn't trust the companies claims when they referred to how many chicks the 12x12 heat plate could brood (I had 22 chicks the first time), so I also bought a larger one (16x24) from Premier 1. I start off with the small 12x12 and when I'm ready to move the chicks to a larger area, or to an area in my coop I refer to as chick jail, I use the larger one. With the larger one I feel more confident that I can move my chicks outside and they will all have room to get under the plate and stay nice and cozy. I've put 22 4 week chicks outside in my coop under a large heat plate with night time temperatures of about 10 celsius, or 50 fahrenheit, and they all did perfectly fine. In fact, some of them chose to sleep on top of the plate, even when I tried to scoot them under, lol!

When I first started out with ducklings/chicks I remember being paranoid about them getting cold. Then I had a broody hen that I let hatch out a few chicks. Let me tell you, those little babies are much tougher than I ever would have guessed. They were out running around in cool windy weather at 6 days old, and didn't seem that fazed by it. They'd run under mom when they needed to but it wasn't nearly as often as I would have guessed. I also found that they feathered out much faster than in-house brooded chicks. A proper heat source with no drafts is vitally important but I question the "Ambient Temperature" claims that I read about when I was first doing research. Seeing chicks being raised by hens a few times now has made me a lot more relaxed in regards to brooding these days.

So, to finally finish this novel of a reply, I'd recommend a medium size heat plate if you think you'll be putting your chicks out and the weather isn't completely perfect. That should give them plenty of room for when they're older. Also, the heat plates are easy to use and stress free, more natural compared to a heat lamp, and no risk of ever starting a fire.

Good luck!

Hope some of this helps

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I think this setup is expensive, but very good. I mean, you could replace the roost with a stick on a couple plastic tubs for example. I just use a random bowl for my feeder. But these are good stuff.

I agree the the size seems small and the pen would be hard to clean. But otherwise this looks great otherwise.

I wanna say I like keeping chicks in a tiny box for a few days to make sure they're well, then a 2x3 brooder for 6 or so, then as they start hitting 8-10 weeks they move outdoors. So the playpen would probably be fine for the 7-10 chicks until they're feathered out. But you will need a top for it. They will fly out at 3 weeks.

 

[Missbc]

Mine are getting their wing feathers. Here is one of my chicks at 4 or 5 days. The feathers are much longer already, only a day later. They flap their wings while running the 4’ length of their brooder.

(I have an amazon cloud cam set up over my brooder. It was a bit spendy, but....)

 

[rosemarythyme]

A cardboard box, 29.5 inches long x 17.5 inches wide x 20.5 inches deep. This comes out to 3.59 sqft. I have read that for the first month, chicks need 0.5 sqft each, so this means I could have 7 chicks?

- Pine shavings for bedding (is this the best, or would paper towels or something else be better? Just let me know)
- Brooder Plate for heat & I was also considering buying the optional "comfort feathers" (10x10") https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DLFD6GY/?tag=backy-20
- Port Feeder (9x9x9") https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D5L2T84/?tag=backy-20
- Nipple Waterer though I'm undecided between these two. I'd kind of like to just buy the 5 gallon (15x12.1x12.1") because then I could continue to use it after they're adults (save some money), but it's bigger, so it would take up more space in the box. I should probably just get the 2 gallon (9x9x9"). Let me know your thoughts.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016AFYT4Q/?tag=backy-20
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016AO5GAI/?tag=backy-20
-Roost (just for entertainment/comfort. Doesn't have to be this exact one. Just something similar.) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006F8DQCK/?tag=backy-20

How long do you anticipate having the chicks in the box? It's pretty small for 7 and chicks get pretty active pretty fast. If you can't source a bigger box, take apart several boxes and tape them together to make a bigger one.

Bedding: I've used paper towels and pine shavings. Either are fine IMO.

Brooder plate: I'd skip the "comfort feathers" on the brooding plate, looks like a gimmick to make humans feel better and I'd worry about chicks getting tangled in the feathers.

Feeder: that port feeder is kinda cool, never seen that before for chicks. That said, it's expensive! Are you planning on raising chicks frequently to get your money's worth from it? The cheap plastic circular type is what I have (see link under waterer for what I'm talking about). I don't even put on the mason jar attachment, I just refill it as needed.

Waterer: the ones you linked are horizontal nipples. Good for older chickens but chicks don't have the strength to use those reliably. Easiest option for chicks I think is still the mason jar style, like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ETU5KJ2/?tag=backy-20 Since you're limited on space in the brooder I wouldn't get anything larger than a quart capacity.

Roost: save money, grab some branches from your yard and let them use those instead.

How often do you guys clean out your enclosures? I hear some people just keep adding shavings over the dirty ones, while others actually dump everything out and start fresh. I feel like the latter would be healthier?

Clean it when it needs it - if it's wet, if it smells, if there's too much poop build up.

I got extremely lazy with my last batch of chicks (which were brooded outside in the run... actually, have you considered that? You can just brood inside the coop if you can run electricity out there and the chicks will acclimate to outside temps and day/night cycles naturally!) and instead of cleaning I simply moved the brooder every once in a while. My hens took care of "clean up" by kicking around the bedding from the vacant spot.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

??
I'm thoroughly confused now. Please explain. I thought I needed to raise the brooder plate (the same way you'd raise a light bulb) to reduce the temp as time goes on. Do I not need to do that?

So, heatlamps warm up chicks by warming the air. So the ambient temperature matters a lot. But with brooder plates they get their warmth by coming in contact with the heat plate without raising the ambient temps very much. So you keep the heat plate around back-level for the chicks and they stay warm that way. You don't check the temperature.

 

[AmyJane725]

Any tips on how often/how much I should raise it? How much height do they gain each week? I suppose I can just look for when it seems like they're kinda having trouble getting under it...

 

[blackdog043]

Yep, just keep an eye on them. Also if you keep one side higher than the other, they can choose where they want to be. I do the same thing, using the mama heat pad method.

 

[Missbc]

I think your box is going to get pretty small pretty fast. You could just add boxes together if you stick with those. After the first week you’ll need a cover for those.

The plate heater is fine. Skip the feather option. Waterer and feeder are your choice- there’s lots of different choices out there.

I’m not fond of the play pen, only because it looks like a nightmare to clean. But people use them so they must work fine.

I’m currently using puppy pads in my brooder and love them since they are easy to change. I’ll switch to pine shavings in a couple weeks.

(I’m using an xl folding kennel with 2 doors, and will expand with a wire puppy play yard that comes with a cover and easily attached to one end of the kennel.)

Good luck! Don’t over think it. You’ve got the basics down just fine, except for the cover for the box(es).

Also, a roost can be a stick stuck thru the side of the box on each side.