First Saturday lime

[Cmp211]

How big is your brooder? I have an XL dog crate and brood my chicks in our garage with a plate. They move outside around 4 weeks old.

At 4 weeks, technically the chicks should not need heat (although your temps are very low for littles). If your brooder space is too small, could you keep the 2 week chicks in the small brooder with the plate, and expand brooder space for the 4 week olds? A cardboard watermelon bin (or other similar produce box) would provide a free & quick decent amount of space for expansion. The 4 week olds don’t need a heat plate, so you could give them a bigger area without the plate until it gets above freezing & you move them out.

Roughly 15 sq feet is the size of the brooder.

Thank you, that gives us some great ideas! ◡̈

 

[Iluveggers]

Roughly 15 sq feet is the size of the brooder.

Thank you, that gives us some great ideas! ◡̈

Yeah, 15 sq feet is going to stink up quick! I used a watermelon bin once (free from the grocery store), and threw garden netting over the top held down with clothespins. It worked great, and I could just toss it in the compost when we were done brooding!