EcoGlow 20 chick brooder vs Heat Lamp

[Ridgerunner]

I don’t brood indoors so it is kind of hard for me to come up with a brooder size. And I’m usually brooding 15 to 30 chicks at a time, not just six. That makes a difference.

How do you plan to heat them? I don’t believe in square feet per chick numbers but more just having enough room. What you need room for is the heat source, food, and water. They will need a little room to play. If you use a heating pad cave or EcoGlow, the heat is pretty well contained there. If you use a heat lamp they need room to get away from it if it gets warm though putting up a barrier they can hide behind could help. A place warm enough and a place cool enough.

I do recommend a wire top so you get good ventilation. They will grow really fast and be flying before you know it. One risk to a brooder is that it gets wet, you need good ventilation to try to keep it dry. And they need fresh air to breathe. Good ventilation up high helps with both.

 

[Dinosaur Gal]

I was thinking of roping in my dad to constructing a short plywood box amd maybe use something to make the corners round so that they dont get stuck. I will use a wire top and i was thinking of useing a red heat lamp i was thinking it would be better on there eyes?

 

[Dinosaur Gal]

Wow! Thanks so much i will definitely think about this idea instead of indoor brooding ( Im sure my mother will be very appreciative ) Before i get chicks were going to renovate our coop its in desperate need of repair new boxes, roosting bars a poop board the whole nine yards hopefully it will be done in May so that i can order the babys Thanks so much the the help!

 

[lazy gardener]

If you're going to "rope your Dad into building you a brooder.... Instead, you might have him "help you" build a chicken tractor. I built a 3 x 6 tractor when I started my first flock, and used that as a brooder. Put down a tarp with a few layers of cardboard under the tarp, followed by the shavings. That first batch of chicks were brooded in my basement. Never again, will I brood chicks in the house. The dander was horrid. But, if he's going to build something, have it be something that will be useful past the brooding stage. If the tractor is light wt. enough (as mine was) it doesn't even need wheels. Be sure you use 1/2" hardware cloth for it as chicken wire is not predator proof. With guidance and the right tools, such a building project is within the capabilities of the older teen.

 

[Dinosaur Gal]

Wow ok thanks ill talk to him about that! I really Appreciate all your help Do you have a estimate on what it cost you to build a chicken tractor? Maybe it might be cheaper them renovating my old coop?

 

[lazy gardener]

IMO, a tractor is just that: a means of getting your birds out on your lawn so they can get some fresh grazing without threat of overhead predation. (most tractors are not land predator proof) It depends on the size of your build. Your most expensive material will be your hardware cloth. It can be bought on line much cheaper than it can be bought locally. Do a google search for the likely dimensions you'd like to use. 2' is an easy dimension to work with to make the walls the right height without having a lot of wasted space, while allowing them enough head room. Then you can do the roof with 2' bracing, and simply cut the HWC to fit. Hinges are an other big expense. Go to your local Habitat for Humanity store or a discount hardware store to find savings there. You could re-purpose pallets for your lumber, though I find it easier to simply do my framing from 2 x 2 or 2 x 3 lumber. Use strapping or fender washers and screws to secure your HW cloth. Screws for frame construction are much easier than using nails. I find that if I put a cat carrier in the tractor, it gives the babies a nice nest, or would even serve as a laying box if I had a laying hen or two in the tractor when egg time rolls around.

You'll be very glad you got that coop renovated.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I see by your signature that you have older chickens. I’m not sure exactly what your climate is but you imply it might be fairly cold this time of the year. I don’t know how big your coop is but since you are renovating anyway I’ll mention this. It sounds like you may need to make your coop bigger but maybe you have something else in mind.

I went a different route than LG mentioned with that tractor, I built a brooder in my coop under the main roosts. The top acts as my droppings board. If you have room and reliable electricity in your coop you can brood the chicks out there if you wish. A lot of people brood in the house but I agree with LG, because of the dust, noise, and possible smell I won’t brood in the house. As I said, a lot of people do brood inside and are quite happy. You’ll also see a lot of threads on here that ask how soon can I get then out of my house, some kind of desperately. We are all different.

My winters may not be as cold as yours, but I’m not sure how soon you will get them. It sounds like you are doing the wise thing and planning ahead. I’ve had chicks in my brooder in below freezing weather, occasionally single digits. When it’s that cold I use two heat lamps and wrap the brooder in plastic, though that “chimney” to the left that holds one heat lamp provides good ventilation up high. Sometimes there is frost on the far end of the brooder but the end the chicks are in stays toasty. When you brood outside you have to set it up so that even with some pretty big temperature swings one area is always warm enough in the coldest temperatures and another area is cool enough in the warmest temperatures. I sometimes have more trouble with that in ridiculously hot weather than in cold weather.

I use heat lamps but there are other ways to brood outside in cold weather. Blooie has a thread where she talks about using a heating pad cave outside in pretty cold weather. I don’t know if that EcoGlow would be powerful enough to work in really cold weather outside, they probably have limits on how cold it can be and it still be dependable.

As long as you have electricity out there, you could even build a second coop that acts as a brooder. I’d suggest building it so it shared a run fence and has its own run so you can let the chickens see each other before you integrate. It’s often very handy to have a place you can isolate a chicken if you need to when it’s not being used as a brooder. This is pretty much LG’s tractor idea but don’t let your imagination get stuck or limited by the word tractor.

I don’t have any idea what any of this may cost. Some people reuse, recycle, or get things really cheap off of Craigslist. Some people buy everything new and can have expensive tastes.

 

[Dinosaur Gal]

Wow thats very helpful thank you! Well my "coop" is really a sectioned off part of a big metal shed my dad build then he build the coop inside no windows no vent holes basically a box with a chicken door and a human door like 10 years ago. I recently took or the project last year of revamping it He was nice enough to help me put in a nice big window with 1/2 in hardware cloth over the screen so no animals could get in. Mice had chewed holes everywhere and i had to use foam spray on the top corners to make sure so drafts get in. So this summer is the project of new floors walls ceilings you name it it needs it also need to put a vent whole at the top. The coop dimensions are roughly 7 ft wide 16 ft long and 6 ft high. And we do live in a cold climate (Wisconsin ) i would like to recycle some stuff but the wood i would like to buy new just for the sake of it lasting longer

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I brood in a unheated garage. I've always used incandescent bulbs or 125w heat bulb and don't see any ill effect of the white light being on 24/7. By end of third week I'm turning off the light for extended periods until they are completely weaned by 4 weeks when they go outside. I've brooded in small totes, medium sized totes, large totes and now use a livestock water tank. Love the large tank as there is more than enough room for the chicks to move to cooler temps if they get hot. With far more space available you don't need to mess with raising the lamp as much or worry your using too much heat in a small space to not provide a cool area for them to go to. They will self regulate temp by moving to where they want to. Large brooders are great. That feed trough is something like 5 ft X 2 ft and I only use one 125w heat lamp on one end.

 

[Dinosaur Gal]

Wow ok ive never thought about a water tank ill look into that!