Coop? Not Yet, but a brooder that our chicks LOVE! (Pics Included)

[WagarFamilyFarm]

Hey all,

My sons and I just completed the new brooder house for our girls (27 of them). The old one (5' round kiddie pool) just wasn't doing the trick, especially now that the girls are getting their wing feathers and testing them out (I just don't want to chase them all over the garage when one gets out. So in order to ensure that as they get bigger they still have space and since I have trouble building anything small, we decided to build a 4' x 8' x 4' (W x L x H) Chick Condo.

The floor is constructed of Vinyl covered 5/8" OSB, the walls are 2' tall 3/4" Ply with an additional 2' of vinyl Chicken Wire (3/4" x 3/4"). The roosts are made of 1x2x4 and as you can see the girls love them!.

I also have a video which shows the old vs the new it can be found here :

 

[momma's chickens]

Very nice, that is sort of like the one we made. It works fanatastic. I think yours is nicer than ours though. Very good job!

 

[Kathi D]

That's really nice! The only question I have is how do you get in to pick up chicks or whatever?
Mine is 2 ft. tall and 4 ft. x 4 ft. and I had a heck of a time reaching across to catch chicks as they got bigger and more active.

 

[WagarFamilyFarm]

Quote:
Kathi,

Thanks for the note. If you look at my second picture within my original post (re-attached below) you will see some of the green vinyl chicken wire rolled back.. That is the door.

All I do when I want to close it up is use a couple of Spring Clamps (It's hard to see but there is a larger spring clap on the 2x4 just to the left of the brooder's door) and clamp it shut. you can see it a little better in the below picture which shows the door closed.

Thanks again for the kind comments.

 

[SterlingAcres]

That's awesome! I want one

 

[Sandrachx]

wow - that looks great! my husband brought home a very large cardboard box from the office (i think it had a large copier in it or something) which we plan to transition our chicks to this weekend. like the idea of plastic chicken "wire" since my hands and arms are all tore up from trying to make a top from the metal wire. we have our youngsters in 1/2 of an airline crate for shipping large dogs and the kids are jumping all the time like they need to work off some energy. what is your waterer in/on? i keep having to raise mine up on bricks to keep the shavings out of the water tray.

 

[arwmommy]

Awesome brooder! Be sure to post pics in the Brooder Thread! It is a sticky under "Baby Chicks". That way it wont get lost when I am trying to look for it next year (and trying to convince DH to build me one just like it)!

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

WOW Nice brooder...I would be in love with it too!

 

[blurose]

Oh pleasse, make me one too. Oops, no chicks for me this year, better not then.

Great job by the way. Looks like a really nice play yard. Makes me remember taking me kids to Chuckee Chez when they were little.

 

[chicknhawaii]

I love it! It has inspired me in my coop planning...that's cool, that fold-back door