Nevadans?

[chicharomirinda]

I am a bit stressed about having a big enough brooder for 27 chicks! The goal is to get them outside in the (not yet built coop) at 5-6 weeks. They already seem cramped in the 2 90qt rubbermaids we have. (14 and 13 in each). Do I have reason to be concerned, I seriously think I do. We bought an old kitchen cabinet at Habitat today but still thinking we are not going to have enough room. I feel so unprepared and I am too type A... Maybe some chicks need new homes!

I had two quite large rubbermaid totes (forgot the size) that i cut a doorway in the middle and connected them with pieces of wood. That was a good size for 25 for a few weeks but by weeks 5 and 6 it was pretty crowded. They grow so fast. so you might need a plan B until your coop is ready. good luck! The worst was how they kept dumping their water over and then the bedding really stinks. It was a lot of clean up with that many!

 

[SunnyDawn]

This is what I will call the Polish from now on! BTW Pam has some beautiful polish that I am doing a test hatch on right now.

Ron I posted about Stone House Ranch ages ago but found out they were way too expensive!

Ajlynco I know that the leaves of the tomato and the potato are poisonous so don't let the chickens eat them! There is a list of poisonous plants here on BYC somewhere.

Horseshowmomnv a plain box will work as others stated. Just make sure the heat lamp doesn't touch the cardboard!

Aubrey didn't you have some chicks due to hatch about now?

 

[americanvalkyrie]

Yep. That's why I'd like to share the labor. Actually you can't miss fifteen minutes without causing the cow a lot of discomfort. A cow needs to be milked every 12 hours on the dot. Not sure how it would work but maybe I could hire someone close to me for milking chores and others could chip in for the cow and labor? IDK just brainstorming at this stage and not sure what other options there are. I think no matter how I would do it it would mean a lot of labor for Steve and I since any bad weather would probably prevent help from making it over that day.

The concept sounds great and I would love to. But with all the other things I have going on, I know I would get overwhelmed and drop the ball, leaving someone else doing my work. Uncool.

 

[chicharomirinda]

This is what I will call the Polish from now on! BTW Pam has some beautiful polish that I am doing a test hatch on right now.

cool! apparently we're in the market for some polish now so it's good to know a couple of byc sources.

 

[NevadaRon]

I am a bit stressed about having a big enough brooder for 27 chicks! The goal is to get them outside in the (not yet built coop) at 5-6 weeks. They already seem cramped in the 2 90qt rubbermaids we have. (14 and 13 in each). Do I have reason to be concerned, I seriously think I do. We bought an old kitchen cabinet at Habitat today but still thinking we are not going to have enough room. I feel so unprepared and I am too type A... Maybe some chicks need new homes!

That's why I recommended the 100 gallon horse trough to Seth. I think you will need 2 of them for that many chicks. Or something similarly sized.

 

[SunnyDawn]

Love the idea of the 100 gal horse trough. That's what some of the feed stores use. They are expensive though. I was looking for containers that could be used in the meantime and office depot had this nice sized one for 20 bucks...
http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/293037/Office-Depot-Brand-68-Quart-75/
It's good sized and very easy to clean since the sides look nice and smooth.

Sounds great in theory huh Missy? lol There has got to be a way to do this. I just need to brain storm some more. The only way I can see it working now is to either hire help or to get folks that live right next to me to share the labor. I can't believe there aren't more dairy farms close that sell milk before it's processed. Oh yeah, it's illegal here!

 

[americanvalkyrie]

Quick question... I know I can answer this when I get to Lowe's, but I'm trying to price it now. For building portable greenhouses, do I have to spring for the 6mil plastic, or can I use 4mil? It's going on small sturctures, but needs to withstand the wind. I can build my greenhouses for $20 if I use 4mil, and $35 if I use 6mil.

Right now, Walmart is selling lots of storage containers for cheap. I keep drooling as I walk past, because I want to build my graywater system, and a new filter box for the pond.. I don't need it until after May, though, so I'm spending the money elsewhere.

 

[SunnyDawn]

Sorry Missy but I have no idea how well any plastic would hold up in this wind. I would use poly panels instead and build frames to hold them in place.

OK, forget the plastic tubs. I just ordered 2 kiddie pools from True Value Hardware. They are 11" h x 5' around and were $21 ea. I am going to take vegaschick's advice and use play sand for bedding and grit. Here's the link...
http://www.truevalue.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=33268 Anyway they don't charge for shipping if they ship to the store and you pick it up there.

I am excited about this because I always need them before swim season and it is impossible to find them in stores before then, as Aubrey pointed out awhile back. I can use them as raised beds for planting when I am done using them as brooders.

They are easy to clean and I think the sand will be a perfect bedding material since it doesn't get stuck in their crop and, as vegaschick pointed out, the extra grit will stop pasty butt as well. I have 16 eggs in the bator now that are due to hatch in 6 days plus 40 more that I just set yesterday. So I am gonna need a better brooder space than the huge one I set up in the garage that is proving really hard to clean. The rabbit hutch that I lined to use as a brooder is not in use but I like the idea of them having a large space to run around in.

I figure I can divide the space into two with some cardboard and have plenty of room for these new babies. The older ones are already too big for such a short brooder but they will be fully feathered in a couple more weeks and can go out in the insulated coop brooder outside then. Except for the WCB Polish the others are pretty much fully feathered but I like to wait awhile when the weather is this cold.

Sorry I haven't posted pics but I haven't been able to locate my equipment to do so. It's been so unorganized since the move.

http://www.truevalue.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=33268

 

[SunnyDawn]

I have no idea why that link appears at the bottom of my post as well. When I hit edit it disappears. Maybe it's only on my screen.

 

[americanvalkyrie]

Sorry Missy but I have no idea how well any plastic would hold up in this wind. I would use poly panels instead and build frames to hold them in place.

OK, forget the plastic tubs. I just ordered 2 kiddie pools from True Value Hardware. They are 11" h x 5' around and were $21 ea. I am going to take vegaschick's advice and use play sand for bedding and grit. Here's the link...
http://www.truevalue.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=33268 Anyway they don't charge for shipping if they ship to the store and you pick it up there.

I am excited about this because I always need them before swim season and it is impossible to find them in stores before then, as Aubrey pointed out awhile back. I can use them as raised beds for planting when I am done using them as brooders.

They are easy to clean and I think the sand will be a perfect bedding material since it doesn't get stuck in their crop and, as vegaschick pointed out, the extra grit will stop pasty butt as well. I have 16 eggs in the bator now that are due to hatch in 6 days plus 40 more that I just set yesterday. So I am gonna need a better brooder space than the huge one I set up in the garage that is proving really hard to clean. The rabbit hutch that I lined to use as a brooder is not in use but I like the idea of them having a large space to run around in.

Ooh thanks for the idea! We use kiddie pools for our retriever mix, or else she jumps in the pond and gets it all muddy. And one of my clients has brought me over buckets of sand to break up some clay in my garden, so I can use that as well. Thanks! Hmmm I wonder if there's any way I can use the sand in my daughter's bathroom brooder... I'd just have to sweep up every grain of it, I guess.

I took a look at the 4mil plastic I've been using so far and decided to spring for the 6mil. Then there's a possibility of reusing it next year.