Chick brooder ideas?

[CrazyForMyPeeps802]

Hey everyone! I'm looking for ideas for an easy indoor chick brooder. It's been a few years sense I've done an indoor brood and the last time I did I used a large rabbit cage but it was so messy.

I'm looking for ideas that will hold say 20 bantams and 12 large fowl chicks. So roughly 30 to 34 chicks for about 3 to 4 week's.

I'm planning on using a heat lamp as the heat source.

Thanks in advance for the ideas!

 

[arizona_chicken_noob]

$5 Brooder is ready to go

• arizona_chicken_noob
• Oct 12, 2023
• brooder cheap

Save up or scrounge some cardboard boxes ($0). One packet of zip ties and one roll of paper...

I use cardboard boxes ziptied together indoors.

 

[NatJ]

I'm looking for ideas that will hold say 20 bantams and 12 large fowl chicks. So roughly 30 to 34 chicks for about 3 to 4 week's.

Rough calculation: 34 chicks, 4 weeks, one square foot per chick...

I'm thinking a brooder about 5 by 7 feet (=35 square feet) for that many chicks to that age, and bigger if you go longer. 4x8 feet is 32 square feet, probably also okay.

I'm planning on using a heat lamp as the heat source.

If you use a brooder 5x7 feet (or something similar), you can put the heat lamp near one corner, and the other corner will probably stay cool enough.

If you use a heat lamp in a small brooder, it is easy to overheat the entire brooder, and hard to provide a cool space. Since you said "indoors," that makes it even easier to overheat them with a heat lamp, and harder to provide enough cool space for them to get away from the heat.

If you can manage a very large brooder (like what I just mentioned), it makes many things much easier (easy to provide a warm area and a cool area so chicks can self-regulate their temperature by moving around, easier to deal with the amount of droppings, un-crowded chicks are less likely to fight or pick each other, and so forth.)

 

[rosemarythyme]

For that many chicks, I'd look into maybe grabbing 2 grocery store produce boxes (like the ones for melons and pumpkins) as brooders. Should cost you next to nothing and you'll need the space.

 

[Major_in_MS]

In a pinch once, many years ago, I used the bathtub in the spare/guest bathroom.

 

[NatJ]

Thank you so much for the dimensions and information! I live in a very small house so figuring out this brooder has been a bit difficult. I would love to be able to just brood them outdoors with adequate heat sources. But I don't believe the weather will allow that to happen when I'm planning on hatching these guys out. And I'd feel much more comfortable having them indoors for a few weeks. I'll definitely be providing them with the largest brooder I can provide with the space I have in my home if they outgrow it to fast I'll just have to move them outside into their coop with heat sooner!
I gave very rough figures when I made this post I may only have 15 or 20 chicks maybe even less I'm quite unsure.

I'm not actually sure how many chicks I'll end up with as I haven't even started incubating the eggs yet. I'm just trying to get a brooder idea before they hatch so I'll have everything ready to go!

They'll also probably only be inside for 2 weeks but definitely no longer then 3 weeks before they'd be moved outside to the coop with heat!


Thanks again

Planning ahead is always good It means you have some uncertainty (how many actual chicks, what weather), but it avoids many kinds of problems!

Since you are still at the planning stage, maybe set up a heat lamp in the coop and measure what temperatures you actually get out there. You might be pleasantly surprised.

You might be able to keep the chicks inside the house for just a few days to reassure yourself that they can eat, drink, walk, etc, and then move them out when they are still very young. That would mean you don't need as much brooder space indoors, maybe 1/2 square foot per chick in the first week or so.

 

[CrazyForMyPeeps802]

It'd be strictly indoors, I would not suggest cardboard for an outdoor set up.

I see from further down the thread you're thinking of setting fewer eggs. If you really don't have room for the size of brooder needed for the original number of chicks, I'd definitely scale back on the hatch so you don't need as much space. Even for 2 weeks inside, you still need to calculate about 1/2 sq ft per chick, and for a batch of 20-25 or more (or with the mixed standard & bantams), a second brooder regardless of space to reduce risk of chicks crushing each other.

By outdoors I meant in a secure shed/coop. I've used cardboard to make my coop smaller before when I was brooding a small number of chicks.

Yes, I'm still in the planning stage. Though I should be getting my eggs later this week! I'm for sure getting 24 silkie eggs. And I'll be setting 6 to 12 of my own eggs. So I'll be setting roughly 36 eggs (when I provided numbers yesterday it was all rough figures) I can't predict how many of those 36 eggs will hatch.

I understand the room chicks need now. Hopefully I'll only have to have them inside for a few days to a week. When I said 3 to 4 weeks yesterday I didn't know if my smaller coop would be empty in time or if the weather would be stable enough for me to feel comfortable with them being in the coop with heat. Now I'm realizing that would be my best option for them. And I will set up and see how stable the temperature is out there in the next few weeks. I've brooded 100+ large fowl chicks at once in this coop years ago. And it holds roughly 75 adult birds comfortable so they'll have plenty of room to grow out there!

I'm sorry if my post came across as a complete beginner or someone who doesn't care about their chicks well-being. I've grown up raising chickens but this is my first time incubating eggs and having to brood a larger number of them indoors. So I was just looking for ideas and seeking advice from others!

Thank you for all your help

 

[NatJ]

If everything goes to plan I'll be hatching these chicks late April. Which would probably mean we'd still have a few nights below freezing. I've raised chicks in this coop last year and they did great but it wasn't until mid May.

The chicks do not care whether they outdoors is below freezing. They do not even care if the far end of their own brooder or coop is below freezing, as long as they can be comfortable under the heat lamp. So when you set up a heat lamp in the coop to see what temperature you can get, go read the thermometer at the coldest time (probably right around sunup), and you might be reassured by what you find

@Ridgerunner has quite a few posts about brooding chicks when temperatures can go below freezing. An example:

I have a 3' x 6' brooder in the coop. One end is heated with a heat lamp, two heat lamps in cold weather. My typical brood is around 20 chicks, I've had as many as 28 in there. In the warm weather it is pretty wide open, in winter I wrap it in clear plastic. It still has decent ventilation up high. In winter I keep one end toasty warm but on some mornings I find ice or frost in the far end. The temperature is certainly not the same all through it. I find chicks straight out of the incubator are very good about managing their heat as long as they have options.

 

[CrazyForMyPeeps802]

The chicks do not care whether they outdoors is below freezing. They do not even care if the far end of their own brooder or coop is below freezing, as long as they can be comfortable under the heat lamp. So when you set up a heat lamp in the coop to see what temperature you can get, go read the thermometer at the coldest time (probably right around sunup), and you might be reassured by what you find

@Ridgerunner has quite a few posts about brooding chicks when temperatures can go below freezing. An example:

Thank you! This is extremely reassuring. I guess I was just worried I'd watch them hatch and then move them out to the coop to soon and something would happen to them. I probably should take the advice I've given to friends when allowing broody hens to hatch eggs. Mama always knows best and as long as they have her for a heat source they should be just fine!

I'll definitely double and triple check the temperature under the heat lamp and at the other end of the coop brooder. But I'm feeling much better about having them out there!


Thanks everyone for all your help
This chicken Mama feels a whole lot better about her decisions

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

I use a 50 gal plastic tote but never brood more than 7 chicks at a time.

Ive seen a lot of people use Metal Stock Tanks.