height of brooder/introduction pen

[silarajc]

I am in the process of building a coop. It will be 10' X 12', and I am thinking of having the roosts on the 12' side, and the nesting boxes on the 10' side. Under the roosts I want a poop board and under that I want to put a brooder/introduction pen. I am having a hard time finding a recommended height for this...I am thinking 18-24 inches?? Will I need a ladder to the roosts at that height? I have standard-sized laying breeds, but don't know the exact breeds yet (ordered a layer combo). Thanks in advance!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Here are some shots of my brooder under the main roosts and the nests on the side wall. You can see the brooder at the right of the nest photo to see relative heights. I have a juvenile roost over the nests and use the nest tops as a droppings board for them. I’ll include two shots of the brooder, one that might help you with how it was built and the other is how I set it up when chicks are in it.

My roosts are 5 feet high, but you could make them a little lower if you wish. Some of that depends on your nest height and how you build the brooder. You want the roosts to be the highest things since that is probably where they will want to sleep. I have similar chickens to you, full sized fowl. Sometimes they fly straight up to the nests, sometimes they fly to the nest tops as an intermediate stop. They typically just fly straight down.

I made my 3’ x 6’ brooder with a floor of ½” hardware cloth and elevated so I could put plastic bins from Walmart under there to catch the poop. That keeps the brooder very dry and makes clean-up pretty darn easy. I wrap it with plastic to help with draft control plus to keep the hens from laying under there among those bins. That brooder makes a good broody buster when chicks aren’t in it since it has a wire bottom.

That brooder is 2’ tall. The chicks don’t have to have that much height but that gives me room to crawl in there if I need to. It’s still a pain. I made it 6’ long instead of the full 8’ because I want to be able to reach all parts from the one door. When you are doing this, think about your comfort as much as what the chicks need.

 

[silarajc]

Thanks of the pictures - that was really helpful!

So the plastic in the last picture - did you use that to help keep the heat in for the first couple of weeks??

 

[Ridgerunner]

I sometimes put chicks in here straight out of the incubator when the outside temperature is below freezing, mine saw single digits this past winter. When it is that cold I wrap all this in the plastic to help keep heat in. That “chimney” on the left where the heat lamp is keeps the adults away from the heat lamp and allows me to raise and lower it some. It is open on top so it provides good ventilation. When it is that cold I add a second heat lamp as insurance. Heat lamps are wired into place so they cannot fall. In winter I put something on the wire floor, I use the tray that comes with those metal dog crates. That gives them something solid to stand on that traps the heat better. To clean, I just tilt it and dump it into the bins underneath.

This photo is for warmer weather. I use the plastic to provide some draft protection and to keep the hens from laying underneath. Since hot air rises it’s not intended to keep the heat in, just draft protection. Since it is inside the coop here is not much draft anyway so in warm weather it’s probably not needed.