needing help!

[cajunhillbilly]

I have 25 chicks coming the first week of May! I am needing some dimensions for a nice brooder to build of wood and hardware cloth!
Can someone give me some directions?
I have searched on here and on search engines and looked at pics but that isnt helping much! I need some dimensions or plans!
Looking forward to hearing opinions.
Thank you in advance!

 

[ralleia]

Do you intend to brood them all the way to full size in the same box?

I start them off in a 30" x 18" galvanized stock trough (12" tall) in the house while they're small and the most vulnerable. I use a window screen over the top, weighted down with a brick.

Then they move to the garage into larger improvised quarters, or into a subdivided section of the main coop.

 

[cajunhillbilly]

Quote:
Yes I would like to build a brooder that they will stay in till ready for the coop. This brooder will be set up in my shed.

 

[ralleia]

Whereabouts do you live? If it's not too cold, I would be tempted to go with a smaller brooder and then improvise something for an early move into the coop.

Chicks change in size A LOT from one day old to sixteen weeks old. You don't necessarily want to put tiny chicks in a huge brooder, and have them get cold when they wander away from the heat lamp and get chilled. Baby chicks have a lot to figure out.

What's the reason that you want a one-size-fits-all brooder?

 

[noodleroo]

That depends on when you want to put them in the coop. I put mine outside in the tractor at an average of 2 wks old. I have put them out there as young as 9 days old. How old do you want them to be when you move them to the 'big girl' coop?

 

[cajunhillbilly]

Quote:
I was gonna make it full sized and have a seperator in it that i can adjust as they grow! I wasnt just gonna put chicks in a huge brooder, if i was gonna do that i would just put them in their coop!

 

[cajunhillbilly]

Quote:
I was gonna go the full feather out term .

 

[Rooster61]

Hillbilly,
I just posted some pictures of a brooder I just build today...very simple design that I hope to also use as a nesting box when I build the coop.
As for building a brooder for 25 chicks that your going to keep in there until their ready to go in the coop is going to be a monster of a brooder
Mine is 4' L X 2' W X 3' H which gives me almost 1 1/2' sq ft per chick and hope it last a couple months until I can get the coop built and ready for the chicks.

 

[tigercreek]

I designed for 1 sq ft per chick, and moved them out at 6 weeks. Seemed about right. ......stan

 

[cajunhillbilly]

I think I will make a double decker brooder! 2brooder sections one on top of the other 3'W x 5'L x 18" H each that way I have enough room for 25 chicks by spliting the group in half , say maybe 12 or 13 chicks in each section. To start I will just use one brooder till they start getting crowded then split them up! What do yall think?