How big should the brooder be?

[wildorchid053]

make it easy on your self.. mine are going in my garden tub till they look like they need more room. then they will finish out in the lower level of the house in a small coop.. then out to their own when warm enough.. just look and if they are crowded move them lol

 

[rittert3]

Oh the geometry confusion (and we all thought it was useless when we were learning it, lol)
area is length x width so 6" x 6" (1/4 sq ft) =(36 sq") x 4 =144" (1 sq ft) but the methods/ materials mentioned are very common and seem to work it all just depends on the size/type/age/number of babies you have of will have.

 

[felidaet]

Last year I raised 18 chicks in a borrowed 100 gallon steel watering tub (for large livestock) until they were 6 weeks old. This year I am getting 25 chicks. I am going to build a brooder from OSB (wafer board). It will be 8' long by 3' wide and 2' tall. I will have a lid on most of it and poultry wire on the part without a lid. I will be raising them in a heated garage. I will likely move them to their coop around 5 - 6 weeks (or sooner if they seem too crowded). I am going to put the brooder together with screws. When I am done with it for the year I will take it apart and store in in the attic of our garage.

 

[first time farmer]

Quote:
Thats exactly what i am doing lol...i am just going to make mine bigger because of the cold weather here that can last till late march early april on a fluke day so just incase mine is going to be either 8x8x2 or 8x5x2

 

[Mervin]

I just ripped apart a bathroom that had a 3' x 8' x 18" cabinet with a back on it. Laid flat, with the shelves and drawers out it looks like a brooder to me. It's a sign, the good Lord wants me to get some chicks. I'm off to the feed store...

 

[write2caroline]

I started with a smaller plastic tub and moved them after the first week into a bigger space and finally into the coop which had a separate little run from the big chicken run my big chickens do their free ranging in.
Caroline

 

[BriteChicken]

I have a 100 liter sterilite tub for my six chicks how long do you think it'll hold them?

 

[rstang88]

I just ordered 30 birds. I built a brooder in my garage. it's basically a 4X8 sheet of plywood with 3' high walls. I have a divider in the middle so that they stay in a 4x4 area with the heat lamp...they seem very happy. i'll post a pic. when they get bigger, I will just remove the divider. I also put up a big piece of cardboard as a draft guard on the chicken wire door.

edited because I can't spell on half a cup of coffee..

 

[Karen_at_LittleBrook]

Hi everyone,

For all of you experienced with chicks in tote brooders- I don't know how to judge the size of growing chicks, so I have to ask what size rubbermaid tote will be okay from start to finsih for 14 chicks? Would a 55 gallon be big enough? 90 gallon? Or do I need to plan on something else? I'm having a hard time envisioning 14 chicks in a tote, all having enough room to get under a lamp or away from a lamp, eat and move around because I'm not sure how big they will be at each weeks' stage. So, if recommended, Id like to start with whatever the final size would need to be.

Thanks so much!

Karen

 

[rstang88]

Quote:
Hi Karen! that is why I just built the 4x8 pen. I didnt want to mess with moving to different totes, containers, boxes and/or pens. It also depends on how soon you can move them out side to their coop/trackor. I planned on keeping mine inside for about 8 weeks or so minimal, weather permiting. by then I figured they would be out growing my pen anyways. good luck!