Is a brooder ever big enough?

[MagistraTn]

Ours is 30”x70” and is filling up quickly! We have 14 chicks, now 10 days old I just added the dust bath Today, maybe I can pare them down to one food and water instead of two. and next week, I think we will add some elevated roosting along the back wall.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

It's really amazing how fast they go from teenie tiny little fluff balls to making you consider space. This is why I just can't do a indoor brooder for more than the first few days to just make sure they're all thriving. When I saw this pic I thought it was my own brooder for a sec, mine looks very much the same right now with 3 week olds. So this weekend the weather is finally improving here and I'm moving them to the coop. That said, I have them sectioned off from the bigs in my coop and they still have the MHP or plate heat... It's a small room with a ladder going outside to a really small run with a roof. So my opinion is that you have plenty of space right now. But in 2 weeks you're really going to want to give them a way to run around more, build up muscle, not pick on each other, etc. Not sure what your coop setup is.

 

[LTAY1946]

The bigger the incubator the bigger the brooder(s).... If all goes as planned I'll use 5 4'x8' brooders setting 60 eggs a week and hoping for 50-55 hatch.

 

[3KillerBs]

My brooder is 4'x8' and it's going to look crowded with 22 chicks by the time I'm ready to wean them off heat.

Run to Outdoor Brooder Conversion

 

[rosemarythyme]

Short answer: no. My brooder is just under 9 sq ft and I generally do 4 chicks at a time. By the time they're 2 weeks old and ready to release into general pop they're ping ponging off the walls, even with 2 sq ft of space per chick.