Coops, Coops everywhere, not a Brooder One! Brooder Plans Anyone??

[rubysmom]

For our brooder we bought a large old dresser at Goodwill, turned it on it's back , took out all the drawers and dividers, and put a framed hardware cloth top on it. Worked great and very cheap. Might be too small for what you're talking about but a couple. Our dresser was only $5 because it was missing a drawer

Good luck.

 

[dixygirl]

For a brooder outside, remember you have to have a lamp with a reflector plugged up shining on the chicks .... outside. It would be best to just use your actual coop so you don't have electrical wiring outside in the rain. Also you don't want your chicks rained on outside.

So if you don't want them in the house, go on and put them in their permanent shed or dog house closed up with the lamp. There is no way a little plastic container of chicks with an electric lamp will be safe sitting outside by itself. Any predator will break into a plastic storage container sitting in the yard. They will even break into a box sitting on the lawn. Remember again that an electric lamp hanging outside in the rain is a no no. And a lightweight container is no match for predators.



For these reasons, I would just put them inside their permanent coop/ shed to brood or inside the house to brood. I have brooded in a kiddie pool inside the garage with the lamp hanging from the ceiling. Before that the plastic storage containers like everyone uses were on my dresser in my bedroom with the lamp when they were smaller.

Good luck keeping them brooding inside of some structure.

 

[MamaDragon]

Greetings All!

Our henhouse is a re-purposed 10x10 steel garden shed, with a 10x10 dog run attached for a small yard. The yard is covered with a plastic tarp to shade the run, and try to keep out most of the rain. Not fancy, but it works for now.....

Right now I've got them in a wooden crate with screen sides sitting in a corner where the shed meets the chain-link run. I've placed a board between to give them a sheltered corner incase the wind picks up. The light is clamped onto a fence-post about 6 inches over the top of the crate. I was afraid to drop it any closer for fear of the wood smoldering from the lamp.

If it rains, which we all hope will be soon, I'll pick it up and move it around the corner into the shed.

With 100+ degree days making temps inside the shed over 110, i'm more worried about them getting Over Heated and cooking. Night temps are in the 70's, and the really hot days of late August and Early September are yet to come.

If the night time temps actually start dropping into the 60's I'll wrap the crate with a blanket to hold in the heat, move it around the corner into the shed, and check on em a couple times thru the night.

Kathy

 

[eggturner]

here, check out my setup its cheap and quick to set up and the little fuzzy ones love it. It houses 14 banty babies as of now but this will be the last hatch till spring for me, It consists of an upside down wooden box aprox. 2ft x 4ft x1ft deep with 5" legs. It has a hole in the top for the infared broooder lamp. My lamp is the one with the switch on top that has high and low. I run it on high with a dimmer switch in the power line. The dimmer switch is @3/4 wide open and temps are staying between 90F and 95F when it is only 64F outdoor today. Keep in mind that as outdoor conditions change you have to adjust the dimmer switch to compensate for them. I'm currently using a cheap wireless thermometer from Walmart to monitor temps. My next mod to this system will be a thermostat control to prevent overheating of the unit in case of large temp swings outdoors. The best part about this brooder is it accustoms the birds to the outdoors at an early age as they can enter or leave the heated box at their own leisure. here u go check out some pics

If its really windy or cold i use old blankets to cover the enclosure at night

my babies

venturing outside the light

 

[Chicabee19]

you know, eggturner, I really like your setup - give them a place to go if they need warmth, but otherwise let them roam the run!

eggcellent.