I am so excited I get to pick up my 50 new assorted chicks Wednesday morning. We are almost done on building our 10 x 20 chicken house, it should be done by this weekend. We will then just partition part of the chicken house off for their brooder space. What size temporary brooder should I use in the meantime? It would be for the 50 chicks, and for no more than three or four days. Any thoughts? I don't want them to be too cramped!
Welcome Boosier! How exciting to be getting your babies on Wednesday! I have always heard 6 square inches per chick for the first week. Hope this helps! Edit: I think I need to correct this post! It should be 6 inches squared per bird (or 36 square inches, a 6 x 6 inch square for each bird).
You are going to have so much fun. Chicks are a blast. 50 chicks, 50 times the fun. I've known of people using a large refrigerator box to keep a large batch of chickens in - especially if you don't need a permanent brooder something simple like that should be enough to keep them in for a couple of days. Good luck, enjoy your chicks!
The refrigerator box is a fabulous idea!! Thank you so much! I hadn't even thought of that. It would only be a few days, as we are almost done building our chicken house. It is 10x20, so I just plan on partitioning off a good size section of it, and gradually increasing the size till they just fill the whole house. I am so stinkin' excited! I can't wait to become a chickie momma!!
