My husband became tired of my using his extra large shower for chicks so he built me a great brooder. Also last batch we had an ammonia problem in the shower and I could not regulate the temperature well so we lost quite a few. I did the research of what did I want in a brooder and the following was planned.
We decided to go with untreated lumber as the brooder will stay in our single bay of the garage near the electrical plug so weather is not an issue, costs was. It is 6' tall overall, the box is 2.5' deep, 8' wide. The depth was decided by what my short arms can reach to the back to clean or treat an animal. The overall height was decided by my desire to be able to hold an injured bird or turkey as well. I wanted to have height adjustment for the heat lamp from the ceiling. Lastly, the bottom height is so I am not bending over constant to be able to handle the chicks.
We used chicken wire all on parts held by small fence staples. This is to protect them from any possible predator. Our garage is open so this needed to be considered. Both doors have latches.
My husband got it this far for me. You can see the added area for a dropping shelf below. I covered the drop shelf with contact paper for easy cleaning. The bottom of the pen is chicken wire. This will allow the birds to not be in their messes and me to clean it daily to help with odors (ammonia) and for composting. The entire unit is on wheels as it is a bit heavy.
Here it is completed and set up! One fab feature: it looks like the ceiling is dropping on it, nope that is a swing down wall. When let down it creates two cage compartments. The one on the right would be smaller, the width of the door. Left side would be remainder of cage.
I have been showing everyone that stops by. I cannot wait for fuzzy butts the beginning of February to arrive. I am sure it will be alot more ofa pleasure then cleaning the tile shower daily and then major bleaching at the end.
We decided to go with untreated lumber as the brooder will stay in our single bay of the garage near the electrical plug so weather is not an issue, costs was. It is 6' tall overall, the box is 2.5' deep, 8' wide. The depth was decided by what my short arms can reach to the back to clean or treat an animal. The overall height was decided by my desire to be able to hold an injured bird or turkey as well. I wanted to have height adjustment for the heat lamp from the ceiling. Lastly, the bottom height is so I am not bending over constant to be able to handle the chicks.
We used chicken wire all on parts held by small fence staples. This is to protect them from any possible predator. Our garage is open so this needed to be considered. Both doors have latches.
My husband got it this far for me. You can see the added area for a dropping shelf below. I covered the drop shelf with contact paper for easy cleaning. The bottom of the pen is chicken wire. This will allow the birds to not be in their messes and me to clean it daily to help with odors (ammonia) and for composting. The entire unit is on wheels as it is a bit heavy.
Here it is completed and set up! One fab feature: it looks like the ceiling is dropping on it, nope that is a swing down wall. When let down it creates two cage compartments. The one on the right would be smaller, the width of the door. Left side would be remainder of cage.
I have been showing everyone that stops by. I cannot wait for fuzzy butts the beginning of February to arrive. I am sure it will be alot more ofa pleasure then cleaning the tile shower daily and then major bleaching at the end.
