Chick Brooder Setup/Suggestions

[kengboss21]

I sold the SS a few weeks later. I loved them but realized I really wanted to get into breeding fancy silkies. I have 14 silkies. They are a bantam breed but with all their feathers they sure look bigger than they are. My guess is they are around half the size of the ones yours will be. Here's a few of them.

These are so fluffy am sure my gf would love these

 

[Bananabread]

Not sure how far along the coop is but id definitely finish that as soon as possible. time will fly by and the dust will fly up. By week 2-3 I'd look to move them into a garage or a contained indoor space so the dust doesnt get all over your house and then plan to move them outside as soon as you have the coop set any time after week 5-6 depending on the weather and their feathers coming in.

 

[Sefirothe]

I used a similar tote, but a 55 gallon one.

By the time they were a couple weeks old, I started worrying about a chick getting stuck wedged between the brooder plate and the wall of the tote.

What started as cute little fluff nuggets...

Started turning into feathered escape artists. I switched to a pop up dog pen. They were much happier with more room. I was less worried about one of them doing themselves harm. They are....cunningly smart in some regards (how to escape their captivity) and really really dumb and accident prone in others (diving head first off of the lip of the tote to the concrete floor).

Then they were evicted to the outside grow up coop as soon as feathered. We were alllll happier.

 

[kengboss21]

Not sure how far along the coop is but id definitely finish that as soon as possible. time will fly by and the dust will fly up. By week 2-3 I'd look to move them into a garage or a contained indoor space so the dust doesnt get all over your house and then plan to move them outside as soon as you have the coop set any time after week 5-6 depending on the weather and their feathers coming in.

Oh yea they'll be in the garage starting off. I'm done with the coop in a couple days so they'll only be like 2 weeks old when I'm done with it so I dont think i can toss them out to the coop yet as it's been dropping to low 40 (deg) here at night and 50-60 during the day. I will put them out sooner definitely as soon as most of them are feathered out.

 

[kengboss21]

I used a similar tote, but a 55 gallon one.

View attachment 3676623

By the time they were a couple weeks old, I started worrying about a chick getting stuck wedged between the brooder plate and the wall of the tote.

What started as cute little fluff nuggets...
View attachment 3676625


Started turning into feathered escape artists. I switched to a pop up dog pen. They were much happier with more room. I was less worried about one of them doing themselves harm. They are....cunningly smart in some regards (how to escape their captivity) and really really dumb and accident prone in others (diving head first off of the lip of the tote to the concrete floor).


View attachment 3676626


Then they were evicted to the outside grow up coop as soon as feathered. We were alllll happier.

ha nice setup, looks really similar. Yea I would get one of those dog pop up pens they seem easier to setup and raise more chicks in. May I ask at around how many weeks you put them out into the coop and what temperature it was? Thank you

 

[Sefirothe]

ha nice setup, looks really similar. Yea I would get one of those dog pop up pens they seem easier to setup and raise more chicks in. May I ask at around how many weeks you put them out into the coop and what temperature it was? Thank you

They were right at 5 weeks. Fully feathered. Probably could have gone out a week earlier but I wasn’t quite ready with their grow out pen. It was late June so temps were probably somewhere in the 70’s. Pic below is of basement eviction day.

 

[Bananabread]

They were right at 5 weeks. Fully feathered. Probably could have gone out a week earlier but I wasn’t quite ready with their grow out pen. It was late June so temps were probably somewhere in the 70’s. Pic below is of basement eviction day.

View attachment 3676828

I want that bald eagle you got sneaking in with the pullets

 

[DLA]

I want that bald eagle you got sneaking in with the pullets

I thought the same thing!!

 

[Sefirothe]

I want that bald eagle you got sneaking in with the pullets

That’s Oreo. The feistiest white crested black Polish. If there’s a fight, she’s in the middle of it. She’s not afraid to face down anything.