DellaMyDarling
Songster
I've got a technical problem here!
I was thinking of ordering about 15 chicks each per 3 breeds of bird, so roughly 45 little chiclets at once.
I was going to buy larger plastic tote bins, make a cut out on the lid and apply chicken wire to that opening, then add the accessories needed. Three bins, one for each breed.
Sounded GREAT until I started reading about the length of time the chiclets require heat lamps. There's no way I'll fit 15 birds happily in even the largest totes I can buy after a few weeks of growth. I also happen to be buying larger sized birds, so...
Do I seriously upscale the number of brooder totes? How many totes are we really talking? Sounds...expensive. And a lot of space. Three totes already would have been crazy to fit in the house. I assumed they had to go in the house. Basement has mold issues, so I worried about their lungs down there. Front porch isn't insulated or heated, it'd be close to the temp outside. Our barn is not insulated or continuously heated, concrete floor makes downstairs colder than outside. Upstairs of barn is akin to our front porch.
This is the coop we will model our coop after:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...icken-coop-plans-and-progress-pictures.47946/
This design should allow for a decent amount of "open space." Could I brood the chicks in this coop safely? Could that eliminate the need for tote brooders entirely?
What would you do to make this much larger area appropriate for all the chicks?
Floor covering? I plan to do linoleum or tile like the plan shows. Aspen shavings are accessible everywhere, but what do you know about using horse stall pellets?
I was thinking of ordering about 15 chicks each per 3 breeds of bird, so roughly 45 little chiclets at once.
I was going to buy larger plastic tote bins, make a cut out on the lid and apply chicken wire to that opening, then add the accessories needed. Three bins, one for each breed.
Sounded GREAT until I started reading about the length of time the chiclets require heat lamps. There's no way I'll fit 15 birds happily in even the largest totes I can buy after a few weeks of growth. I also happen to be buying larger sized birds, so...
Do I seriously upscale the number of brooder totes? How many totes are we really talking? Sounds...expensive. And a lot of space. Three totes already would have been crazy to fit in the house. I assumed they had to go in the house. Basement has mold issues, so I worried about their lungs down there. Front porch isn't insulated or heated, it'd be close to the temp outside. Our barn is not insulated or continuously heated, concrete floor makes downstairs colder than outside. Upstairs of barn is akin to our front porch.
This is the coop we will model our coop after:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...icken-coop-plans-and-progress-pictures.47946/
This design should allow for a decent amount of "open space." Could I brood the chicks in this coop safely? Could that eliminate the need for tote brooders entirely?
What would you do to make this much larger area appropriate for all the chicks?
Floor covering? I plan to do linoleum or tile like the plan shows. Aspen shavings are accessible everywhere, but what do you know about using horse stall pellets?