My New Brooder

[chickens_in_fallriver]

Hello All,

Our Family is getting ready for the arrival of our chicks this weekend. We wanted to share the brooder we made.

We decided to use a large 54 gallon tote. I cut the top off and zip tied a piece of Hardware cloth that I had hanging around. I drilled two little hole to pass the zip tie through.

I was very concerned regarding heat. I put a lamp on the inside and wired it to a dimmer switch. I tried a few types of bulbs and I'm currently using a 60 watt. It is currently 90 degrees below the lamp. The rest of the brooder is at 80 degrees. I will adjust based on the needs of the chicks.

This was really easy to make with a minimum amount of tools. I also like how easy it is to clean.

Materials List

54 Gallon Rubbermaid Tote (Home Depot)
Brooder Lamp (Home Depot)
Dimmer Switch
Hardware Cloth
Zip Ties

Total Cost - $40 to $50 estimate

 

[texasgal]

Nice ..

I know you'll enjoy your chicks!

 

[chickens_in_fallriver]

We are getting three silkie bantoms this weekend and getting five more on August 8th. Do you think this going to be a problem using this brooder for all of them. I'm concerned about the age difference.

 

[Cadjien_De_Louisiane]

Awesome, good job thanks for posting pics

 

[jmjmcelwee]

This is very similar to what we made for our 8 chicks that are just 9 days old now. Lots of room to roam! But my lamp is on the outside of the brooder...as they get older, they like to jump/fly so you may end up moving it to outside the brooder.

Good luck!

 

[chickens_in_fallriver]

Quote:
Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to place some screening over the opening.