DIY brooder for 30 chicks?

[The Long Table Farm]

this is what we've used for up to 40 chicks, it's set up to block it off in the middle while they're small and the open up the whole 5x8 brooder once they get big enough. it has a lift off lid with plastic poultry netting to keep everyone inside. we've raised 4 sets of babies in it and it's been great! we use two comfort brooder warmers when they're small, and then typically leave on in unplugged once they start to feather out so they have a place to hide if they want to. we also have only used tractor supply pine shavings for bedding with no issues whatsoever.
welcome and happy chickening!

 

[EEforMe]

We just use a cardboard box, cedar shavings, heat lamp, and food+water

 

[Iluveggers]

I had a melon box 3x4 for 15 & they were starting to get a bit cramped at 4 weeks but prob could’ve lasted another week or two if it was imperative they needed to. If you got 2boxes, you could brood two groups for at least a month. I had a heat plate for mine which I turned off the last few days as it was 85 during the day & mid 60s at night & they were feathering by 4 weeks.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I actually made brooding boxes. But if you're looking for something easier, some people use those puppy play pens

Better have a cover over it, by 2 weeks old they can fly out!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

We used puppy pee pads, I have read that newspaper can get slick and cause spraddle leg. We also used big plastic bins, cut big openings in the lids and covered the openings with plastic mesh. We put the bins in a closet we took the doors off of and hung a heat lamp from the clothes rod, perfectly secure. Pulled the bins out each week a little bit so it wouldn't be so warm. Actually had two lamps, one with a white bulb for days and the other with a red bulb for night. Worked great. Ten chicks to a tub, two tubs.

To clean each evening we removed chicks to a cardboard box, changed the pee pad, changed feed and waterer, returned chicks to tub. Took less than ten minutes per tub. Oh, change to red lamp and let chicks settle first. Easier to handle that way. Good luck!

Chicks got moved to outdoor brooder right after 3-week birthday, doing fine. We gave them probiotic water and regular water for first 8 days, not one had pasty butt and we had no losses this time. Yay!

 

[blackdog043]

A heavy duty extension cord would work. I used to do that before I moved, for brooding chicks and keeping my water from freezing in winter. The colder temperatures won't bother them as long as you have a heat source. They will feather out faster and learn day and night also.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC and the wonderful madness of chickens.

You could brood them right in the coop. For this many chicks, it would probably be easier than brooding them in your house or garage.

This.

Brooding outside and in the coop is so very much easier, especially for more than a handful of chicks.

A heavy-duty, outdoor-rated extension cord can go quite a distance safely.

This is the outdoor brooder I made this spring: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/run-to-outdoor-brooder-conversion.76634/

 

[milkbuckets]

I have the same size coop for 28 chickens. This spring I ordered 25 chicks to raise, and tried a completely different brooding setup for me which was a total success (100% survival with no illnesses). I brooded them in a 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 Foot wood box right in the coop using 2 mama heating pads on each end of the box. On their 1st night here the temp fell to 38 degrees and they were perfect under their heating pad. I will never go back to heat lamps again, because the chicks seemed so much more content and QUIET being able to sleep all night without having the heat lamp on 24 hrs a day. I ran an extension cord out to the coop for power. I used 2 heating pads because I worried they would need more room because they are all large breeds, but ending up taking out the 2nd heating pad after about a week because they all mostly used just one and some were even starting to sleep on top instead of under the pad. I made the frames for the heating pads with adjustable legs so I could raise the height every couple of days.

 

[GambaDawn]

Hi all!

We are nearly finished constructing the 12x8 coop, looking towards completing a 30x20 run, and feel like it’s a good time to think about ordering chicks! We are planning on 30 chicks (assuming some casualties will occur) and I’m trying to find DIY solutions for a brooder (or 2) that will get our chicks from day-old to coop-ready in the next several weeks.

Anyone have ideas, plans, pics for how they did it with about 20-30 chicks?

Thanks in advance!

We made our own from a few pics I found on this site! Good luck!

 

[AutumnSol]

Hi all!

We are nearly finished constructing the 12x8 coop, looking towards completing a 30x20 run, and feel like it’s a good time to think about ordering chicks! We are planning on 30 chicks (assuming some casualties will occur) and I’m trying to find DIY solutions for a brooder (or 2) that will get our chicks from day-old to coop-ready in the next several weeks.

Anyone have ideas, plans, pics for how they did it with about 20-30 chicks?

Thanks in advance!

I have seen galvanized steel stock tanks used as brooders. I have also seen the same size, like 100 gallons, plastic feeders used as brooders. I was trying to find a picture but couldn't. The heat laps are held over the Bins with a broom handle. we picked up our Chicks from a place called Garoppo's in Newfield, NJ. That is how they had their chicks. We only had 7 so we used a 50 gallon tote bin and moved them to a HUGE cardboard box when the little girls started to fly our of the bin. We had to put a screen on top too.