I set up a brooder in the garage yesterday. Put some 24" weld wire in an oval between a couple of saw horses. I covered the wire with a bedsheet, and stapled the whole thing to the legs of the sawhorses.
I made lamps by attaching porcelain (pullchain-type) fixtures inside 1 gallon tin cans. I put a piece of 1/2" plywood between the fixture and the can to keep the wires from touching metal. Then I affixed the lamps to a 2x4, and hung it between the sawhorses. Each lamp holds a 125 watt brooder heat lamp (I was suprised to find these at Lowes').
You can see my digital remote thermometer below on the left. This is great because I can read the temp from inside the house. I am controlling the temp by adjusting the sheet over the top of the brooder. I followed the advice of all the wonderful posts I have been reading, and put down pine shavings (huge bale from the feed store), and covered that with paper towels.
I sprinkled some feed on the paper towels. I will remove the paper towels in a few days.
We dipped the chicks' beaks in water (I added a tablespoon of turbinado sugar to a quart of lukewarm water), and they got the idea.
After they pecked at the feed on the floor for a while, they got interested in the feeder.
Some were more into it than others...
We have 25 females and 4 roos. We will try to end up with about 12 to 18 layers and a couple of roosters, once we are done putting some in the gumbo pot!
Thank you Casey, Steven and Matt for helping me get the peeps settled in!
Thank you, Angie, for putting up with ME!
...I am so excited!!!
I made lamps by attaching porcelain (pullchain-type) fixtures inside 1 gallon tin cans. I put a piece of 1/2" plywood between the fixture and the can to keep the wires from touching metal. Then I affixed the lamps to a 2x4, and hung it between the sawhorses. Each lamp holds a 125 watt brooder heat lamp (I was suprised to find these at Lowes').
You can see my digital remote thermometer below on the left. This is great because I can read the temp from inside the house. I am controlling the temp by adjusting the sheet over the top of the brooder. I followed the advice of all the wonderful posts I have been reading, and put down pine shavings (huge bale from the feed store), and covered that with paper towels.
I sprinkled some feed on the paper towels. I will remove the paper towels in a few days.
We dipped the chicks' beaks in water (I added a tablespoon of turbinado sugar to a quart of lukewarm water), and they got the idea.
After they pecked at the feed on the floor for a while, they got interested in the feeder.
Some were more into it than others...
We have 25 females and 4 roos. We will try to end up with about 12 to 18 layers and a couple of roosters, once we are done putting some in the gumbo pot!
Thank you Casey, Steven and Matt for helping me get the peeps settled in!
Thank you, Angie, for putting up with ME!
...I am so excited!!!
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