Feeder and Waterers for Small Brooder

[Fancychicken10]

Hello! I recently moved into a home that came with a coop and several adult hens. In a few weeks I will be picking up 3, day old chicks of various “dream” breeds to hand raise in the house. The brooder I am building is a plastic storage container that I am fitting with hardware cloth mesh on the lid. I have a Brinsea chick heater for warmth. Being that the brooder is already a small space for very few chicks, I am looking for feeders and waters that are small enough to fit and give them walking space. The ones I got on Amazon are large and meant for a lot of chicks and don’t leave a lot of room. Does anyone know of specific products that are smaller? I haven’t seen many small ones at farm stores. I am concerned about creating my own out of cut down tupperware due to the risk of them flipping it.

Last thing! I am on the fence about medicated vs non- medicated starter. What do you recommend for a small pet brood? They won’t meet the adult hens until they are large enough but I may take them outside in the grass and am unsure about the coccidia risk. Thanks so much!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Cocidia seems to be regional. I don't worry about it here, and always use the non-medicated feed.

They have quart waterers, and feeders. Are those too big?

 

[ChickyCh00k]

If you already have older chickens, I would feed the chicks medicated starter from day 1 until about 3 weeks after you've had them outside regularly (so depending on when you get them "on the ground"). This is, of course, just my opinion, but having lost a chick to coccidiosis (despite immediately starting Corid), I will always be feeding any new chicks medicated feed for at least the first 6 weeks.

Also, do some searching about integrating chicks sooner rather than later. It can actually be easier on everyone when they're still little. Here's good article:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/bookmark

These feeders/waterers work well for small spaces (buy 2 - use one for water and one for feed). Just be sure to put marbles in the waterer and raise both the feeder and waterer out of shavings/bedding (put them on a concrete paver or something similar).

Once they are about a week old, I switch to nipple waterers (like the one below - the "L" shaped nipples will drip, so be sure to put something under them like a brick to catch the drips so it doesn't soak the bedding. I switch to the "+" style nipples around 5 weeks), and then I use both of the green feeder/waterer things for food (or I use one for feed and one for chick grit).

Best of luck on your new chick adventure! How many are you getting and what breeds?

 

[rosemarythyme]

How big is the brooder? The 1 qt feeders and waterers are about as small as they typically come, if the brooder truly doesn't have space for those plus the heat plate, it's going to be too small no matter how few chicks you're raising.

I don't do medicated feed. I DO expose chicks to the outside immediately, both to start integration immediately and to expose them to outside microbes and pathogens to strengthen their immune systems.

I don't know what your set up looks like for the adults but start thinking about how you want to handle integration. If you have ample space, there's definite advantages to integrating very early (and part of that is the early exposure mentioned above). This is how I handle it: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/short-on-time-recycle-a-prefab-brooder.73985/

 

[Fancychicken10]

If you already have older chickens, I would feed the chicks medicated starter from day 1 until about 3 weeks after you've had them outside regularly (so depending on when you get them "on the ground"). This is, of course, just my opinion, but having lost a chick to coccidiosis (despite immediately starting Corid), I will always be feeding any new chicks medicated feed for at least the first 6 weeks.

Also, do some searching about integrating chicks sooner rather than later. It can actually be easier on everyone when they're still little. Here's good article:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/bookmark

These feeders/waterers work well for small spaces (buy 2 - use one for water and one for feed). Just be sure to put marbles in the waterer and raise both the feeder and waterer out of shavings/bedding (put them on a concrete paver or something similar).

View attachment 3912902

Once they are about a week old, I switch to nipple waterers (like the one below - the "L" shaped nipples will drip, so be sure to put something under them like a brick to catch the drips so it doesn't soak the bedding. I switch to the "+" style nipples around 5 weeks), and then I use both of the green feeder/waterer things for food (or I use one for feed and one for chick grit).

View attachment 3912903

Best of luck on your new chick adventure! How many are you getting and what

If you already have older chickens, I would feed the chicks medicated starter from day 1 until about 3 weeks after you've had them outside regularly (so depending on when you get them "on the ground"). This is, of course, just my opinion, but having lost a chick to coccidiosis (despite immediately starting Corid), I will always be feeding any new chicks medicated feed for at least the first 6 weeks.

Also, do some searching about integrating chicks sooner rather than later. It can actually be easier on everyone when they're still little. Here's good article:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/bookmark

These feeders/waterers work well for small spaces (buy 2 - use one for water and one for feed). Just be sure to put marbles in the waterer and raise both the feeder and waterer out of shavings/bedding (put them on a concrete paver or something similar).

View attachment 3912902

Once they are about a week old, I switch to nipple waterers (like the one below - the "L" shaped nipples will drip, so be sure to put something under them like a brick to catch the drips so it doesn't soak the bedding. I switch to the "+" style nipples around 5 weeks), and then I use both of the green feeder/waterer things for food (or I use one for feed and one for chick grit).

View attachment 3912903

Best of luck on your new chick adventure! How many are you getting and what breeds?

Thank you, this is very helpful! I ended up buying medicated starter today just to be safe. Like I mentioned, it is a very small group, only 3 chicks, so I want to do everything to make sure there are no losses. I ordered a silkie roo (hatchery says they can sex them) as well as a Sumatra and Andalusian female. I’ve always had a thing for the flightier exhibition breeds and I am hoping that extensive daily handling in the house in such a small group will help tame them down. Ideally the roo chick will get slightly less attention to avoid aggression as an adult but thats hard to do with a cute chick lol. I figure worst case I end up with “tamer” birds, best case they end up as true pets.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

Hand raising, indoors can definitely help with having human-friendly birds. There are a lot of generalizations about different breeds, but each one will have its own personality no matter what . I think it is important that they get used to being handled - it makes health checks and treatments easier!

I brooded my first flock indoors for 5.5 weeks and most of them are VERY friendly (sometimes annoyingly so, ). This year, I brooded my chicks outdoors, and it took them much longer to warm up to me (4 weeks instead of 4 days), but at 10.5 weeks, 6/9 of them will jump on my lap if I sit with them long enough (3 of them want absolutely NOTHING to do with me).

I don't have any experience with Silkies, but I have read that (in general) even the roosters are pretty docile.

Make sure to post pics when you get them!!

 

[Finnie]

I start with vertical nipples from day one in the brooder, and then after a week or so I switch them to horizontal nipples. It keeps the water so much cleaner than open waterers.

The vertical nipples do lend themselves to extra water in the bedding underneath them because of chicks playing with them, but their plus side is that they are easier for the brand new chicks to learn on. I can put up with some wet bedding mess for the first week until I switch to horizontal nipples. But I am a staunch convert to nipples rather than open water that needs marbles and that gets full of shavings and poop. Not going back to that.

Another plus, you hang the nipple waterer on the side of the brooder and it doesn’t take up any floor space.

I make mine from any empty plastic jar or bottle that’s handy. Lately I love the Talenti gelato jars with screw on lids. Two holes in the top of the lid. Poke a largish S-hook in one hole and out the other. Then hang it on the lip of the brooder. Add extra s-hooks until the nipple is at the ideal height for the chicks to reach. (Obviously this project requires some supplies such as the nipples and various size s-hooks. And you must also eat an entire jar of ice cream )

I can post a photo once I hunt up where I’ve left that particular waterer.