Earliest time of year to brood broilers outside

[Pullety]

It is possible to brood chicks in temperatures that are lower than ideal, but beware that potential growth can be stunted by stress early on in life. They may be surviving and not look bad, but I have seen chicks brooded in cold temps not reach butchering weight in the proper amount of weeks. That situation caused me to feed out twice as much feed as I normally would to get them to the weight I wanted. Feed being 75% of my cost, it was a huge increase in cost. This year, with feed being 150% of what I paid for it last season, those prices can add up quickly and you could easily end up with $25-40 chickens.

That is such a good point. The breeder of our meat chicks has a chart of where their weights should be at which point so we will see how much we’re off by brooding them in the cold.

 

[Pullety]

That is such a good point. The breeder of our meat chicks has a chart of where their weights should be at which point so we will see how much we’re off by brooding them in the cold.

We’ve never done meat birds before so I won’t have a feed consumption comparison but given that these are the only conditions in which we can do this, we’ll have to decide if the overall cost is worth it once we see how this batch turns out.

 

[Mountain Roost]

These are all great suggestions. Some key things with broilers are DRY, warm, well lit area, warm water, air vents and poop control (ok food too! lol).
If your outdoor brooder provides all their needs you should be fine. I like to have at least two separte power sources for their heat and lights so that if one fails they aren't all dead. Also, a thermometer with a loud alarm when things are too cold.

 

[Pullety]

These are all great suggestions. Some key things with broilers are DRY, warm, well lit area, warm water, air vents and poop control (ok food too! lol).
If your outdoor brooder provides all their needs you should be fine. I like to have at least two separte power sources for their heat and lights so that if one fails they aren't all dead. Also, a thermometer with a loud alarm when things are too cold.

I have a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) that will run the heat panel for an hour while I get the generator organized but I’m worried I wouldn’t hear the alarm if I were in the house, asleep. Wonder if there’s a cheap alarm I could plug into the house to let me know if the power goes out at night…

 

[Pullety]

I have a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) that will run the heat panel for an hour while I get the generator organized but I’m worried I wouldn’t hear the alarm if I were in the house, asleep. Wonder if there’s a cheap alarm I could plug into the house to let me know if the power goes out at night…

Found one!

 

[Mountain Roost]

Also, if you run extension cords you can tie the ends together and then insert the plug to keep accidental trips from unplugging them.

 

[Captain Quark]

It is possible to brood chicks in temperatures that are lower than ideal, but beware that potential growth can be stunted by stress early on in life. They may be surviving and not look bad, but I have seen chicks brooded in cold temps not reach butchering weight in the proper amount of weeks. That situation caused me to feed out twice as much feed as I normally would to get them to the weight I wanted. Feed being 75% of my cost, it was a huge increase in cost. This year, with feed being 150% of what I paid for it last season, those prices can add up quickly and you could easily end up with $25-40 chickens.

Found one!

What one did you get?

 

[Pullety]

What one did you get?

I was going to get this one https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B07THFZQ9K/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=A2BPT6791TKBJC&psc=1