Chick brooder

[Iluveggers]

Where did you put it? I don’t think it will fit in my house, But it sound like a good idea.

My heated mud room. Entryway was tight but it worked!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Novogen Reds are red sex links. That means your white one is a boy and the red ones are girls. You may already know that.

Where do you live? I'm interested in your climate so I'd have an idea of what weather you are facing in the next few weeks. Unless you live where the weather is really severe the chicks can usually handle fairly cold weather by six weeks of age. Your weather between now and then could influence what your options are if you want to brood outside or when to move them outside.

My brooder is in my coop. I put chicks in there straight from the incubator whether the temperature is below freezing or blazing hot summer. I find the biggest problem to brooding outside are the temperature swings. I've seen it go from below freezing to the 70's F (20's C) in not much more than overnight. To me, the ideal brooder has one spot that is warm enough in the coolest temperatures and cool enough in the warmest. Inside a climate controlled building that isn't too hard to achieve but outside with those temperature swings that can be tough.

Knowing what you have to work with can help us come up with suggestions for you. What, if anything, do you have outside that has power? Could be a coop, a shed, or maybe a detached or attached garage. Inside the house a few typical out of the way spots are in a basement, spare bedroom, or spare bathroom. Mudrooms can be popular. Some people have the brooders in an office, eating rea, or living area. You are limited by what you have available and your tolerances. Some people can have issues with dust, noise, or smell from an indoor brooder but others don't.

With only three chicks you don't have to have a huge area but that may get tight before you are ready to put them outside. What age you put them outside has an effect on how much room you need. They grow really fast. The bigger the brooder is the easier it is to heat one area warm enough while keeping other areas cool enough. I use heat lamps in my outdoor brooder but make very sure I do not rely on a clamp. I wire or chain it into place so it can't fall or be knocked down. To me that removes the vast majority of fire danger.

You'll notice their wing feathers come in pretty fast. I've seen two-week-old's do some pretty serious flying. You might want to think on how to put a top on that.

They tend to scratch a lot. With your feeder and waterer sitting down on the bedding you will probably find they scratch a lot of bedding in them. If you can raise them up above the bedding, maybe set them on bricks or some type of platform they will stay cleaner longer. They will poop in the water so you need to change that pretty regularly anyway. With that type of waterer it has to stay really level or water can drain out of it. You do not want a wet brooder.

It may sound like I'm being critical, I'm really not. For three chicks that looks pretty good for now. It may get small before too long but you are OK for now. Their body language is showing that the heat is fine. Part of that may be that the front is open. That gives you better ventilation.

 

[Blix]

I live in Northern California 2 hours north of Sacramento. Weather for cast said that we might get snow today or tomorrow. But right now it’s been raining alot. The chicks are in the laundry room.

The yellow one is male! Wow did not know that it’s the nicest one always come up to my hand when I put it in there.
I think I’m gonna make a circle with and old dog fence I have, when they get bigger of course.

Thanks A lot!