first time brooder /horse trough???

[crimsontide]

large plastic resin horse water trough , rubbermaid... i was thinking of doing a brooder out of this. what do u think?? pros , cons, or samples of others really appreciated... where is a cheap place to buy the 250 watt bulb from? the light will be perfect height, but i dont know if it should be cover for humidity. or jus make half cover with wood & other half with chicken wire i am building my very first brooder so any pointers would help ty

 

[Mahonri]

Sounds to me like you've got it figured out.. how many chicks? and how long will they be in there?

 

[Kittymomma]

Quote:
That's what I use. I just cover the top with hardware cloth and about 1/3 of it with a scrap piece of plywood. Mine is either in the garage or on my covered front porch, if it was out in the barn I'd probably put the hardware cloth on a frame that I could secure to the trough well enough to keep the raccoons out of it. As it is I just need to make sure my cats can't get in. I wouldn't use the chicken wire though unless you don't have cats around. It sags too bad when they walk on top of it to check out the little chicken nuggets.

 

[lotzahenz]

It is what I am using right now but kept in my garage so no lid. I hang the light from the ceiling on a wire which makes it adjustable. Once they out grow this, I put them in a four-sided wooden box about 4' x 8' with chicken wire on top of it and shavings on the floor of the garage. Must keep it locked up tight at night though, so many critters after the chicks. I set the waters up on a wire rack so the shavings fall thru, and would love to make me some nipple waters when I find the time.

 

[KinderKorner]

I use a 40 or 50 gallon horse trough I believe and it works great.

But 250 is way way way too hot.

I used a 150 for a couple hours and it was like 18+ inches off the ground and it melted the bottom.

I always use a plain old 40-60 watt bulb. Anything else is too hot. my birds go without a lamp as soon as they starting getting some good wing and other feathers which is in a couple weeks.

 

[KinderKorner]

Wanted to add.

In my house I don't put a top on it.

I moved some outside into a milk house. And even though it's an enclosed building I had hardware cloth over the top just to make sure my babies stay protected.

 

[crimsontide]

does the 40-60 watt produce enough heat ??? also have mine in garage so i think i will skip the framing part but the plywood sounds good on about a third 25 chicks max an all mille fleurs & maybe seabrights but have to do some more reading on sebrights dont know cold tolerance what chu guys think about their durability! anyway thanx for all the tips i am going to hang the lamp from rafter also very good tip! btw this forum is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!! i have a 150 gal. do u think the heat would still be too intense for them i will definately have it all balanced before my chicks are here...??? dont know how long i should keep them in there. thinking until they start venturing over 50 feet from me when i have them on the "range" yard... lol no cats but worried bout the raccoons out here but the coyotes arent a worry i got good security for them but the coons are sneeky

 

[Karrie13]

I used two horse troughs for brooding some meat birds and it worked perfectly. Just watch your space, those little chickes grow so fast and you want to make sure they have enough room as they grow. I have also used wire dog kennel, and rubber maid totes. Good luck!

eta... also I used one 150 watt bulb for two troughs and it worked perfectly. Both were side by side with the light in the middle, that way the chicks still had room to get away from the heat but had plenty of room under it if they wanted it. We are also talking April in MN.

 

[patman75]

Quote:
That is what I use.