- Jul 15, 2010
- 27
- 0
- 22
My baby chicks are supposed to be here next Wednesday, so I thought I better drop the excavating ground for my soon-be-started Hen House, and dig out the brooder and clean it up.
This will be the 3rd batch of chicks I've raised in it. It's 3' x 8" and will accomadate at least 25 chicks. I made the frame out of 2"x2"s and used scrap, thin paneling for the sides. I put a divider board in the middle to keep the chicks at one end, and then remove it later when they need more space....
I designed the bottom with hardware cloth and made L-shaped brackets underneath out of metal, drywall corner, strips. Then I cut 3 thin paneling boards to slide in/out to remove the poop that falls through the wire. (I'll put down newspaper for the first fews days.)
(In the last pic, there's a can of hornet spray holding the sliding panel part way up to better show how it works...)
The top doors are old, wooden screen doors, with one cut down to match the top of the box. I put some old lawn-mower wheels on one end so I can roll the whole thing around. (I plan on raising the chicks in the garage, and on nice, sunny days I can roll them outside to get some fresh air.)
Whatta Ya think?
This will be the 3rd batch of chicks I've raised in it. It's 3' x 8" and will accomadate at least 25 chicks. I made the frame out of 2"x2"s and used scrap, thin paneling for the sides. I put a divider board in the middle to keep the chicks at one end, and then remove it later when they need more space....
I designed the bottom with hardware cloth and made L-shaped brackets underneath out of metal, drywall corner, strips. Then I cut 3 thin paneling boards to slide in/out to remove the poop that falls through the wire. (I'll put down newspaper for the first fews days.)
(In the last pic, there's a can of hornet spray holding the sliding panel part way up to better show how it works...)
The top doors are old, wooden screen doors, with one cut down to match the top of the box. I put some old lawn-mower wheels on one end so I can roll the whole thing around. (I plan on raising the chicks in the garage, and on nice, sunny days I can roll them outside to get some fresh air.)
Whatta Ya think?
