I just hatched 14 mutt chicks and one Midget White turkey. The chicks father is a Speckled Sussex/Delaware cross and most of the mothers are crosses from that SS rooster and Black Australorp or Buff Orpington hens. Three hatched from my green egg laying red EE.
I set this brooder up for them. The brooder is 3 x 5 x 2 tall. The sides and top are 1 hardwire cloth with a ½ hardwire cloth floor, help together with J-clips. I do not use any bedding in it. The poop falls straight through to the floor. I rake it out underneath as necessary, but that is really not very often. The draft guard around it goes to the ground and folds under and goes about a foot high around it. I built that chimney-like thing on top to protect the heat lamp from the adult chickens. I had to turn the heat lamp off to get this photo. Otherwise the glare makes it hard to see anything. The heat lamp keeps the area right under it warm, but the far corners are about the temperature in the rest of the coop, about 60 degrees today. Within an hour of putting them in the brooder, they are roaming around and exploring some.
This is for them to play on. You can imagine how long I struggled over the design, gathering just the right materials, and the pain I took to put it together just right. I did sand it to take away splinters.
I use this to water them. The wire helps prevent it from turning over, but it does not help keep it level. It is heavy wire carefully bent to fit just right around the plastic quart jar, then with a couple of lightweight wires going up to the top. I screwed a board into the supports for the waterer to set on and give it a sort of level solid base. Otherwise, the waterer will bounce around on the wire floor when they walk around when they are older and weigh more.
I use this to feed them initially, since you are supposed to sprinkle their food on the floor for the first couple of days. Since the wire floor stays extremely dry. Ill leave this in so their poop builds up a bit so they can develop their Cocci immunity. In a couple of days, Ill gather sand/dirt from the adult run and feed that to them to give them both grit and some Cocci protozoa. Theyll need access to their slightly damp poop for the following few weeks so they can develop that immunity.
And a couple of the chicks with interesting markings. Im interested in how these grow out. These have to be from the SS/Delaware rooster and the SS/BA hens. I like mutts.
I set this brooder up for them. The brooder is 3 x 5 x 2 tall. The sides and top are 1 hardwire cloth with a ½ hardwire cloth floor, help together with J-clips. I do not use any bedding in it. The poop falls straight through to the floor. I rake it out underneath as necessary, but that is really not very often. The draft guard around it goes to the ground and folds under and goes about a foot high around it. I built that chimney-like thing on top to protect the heat lamp from the adult chickens. I had to turn the heat lamp off to get this photo. Otherwise the glare makes it hard to see anything. The heat lamp keeps the area right under it warm, but the far corners are about the temperature in the rest of the coop, about 60 degrees today. Within an hour of putting them in the brooder, they are roaming around and exploring some.
This is for them to play on. You can imagine how long I struggled over the design, gathering just the right materials, and the pain I took to put it together just right. I did sand it to take away splinters.
I use this to water them. The wire helps prevent it from turning over, but it does not help keep it level. It is heavy wire carefully bent to fit just right around the plastic quart jar, then with a couple of lightweight wires going up to the top. I screwed a board into the supports for the waterer to set on and give it a sort of level solid base. Otherwise, the waterer will bounce around on the wire floor when they walk around when they are older and weigh more.
I use this to feed them initially, since you are supposed to sprinkle their food on the floor for the first couple of days. Since the wire floor stays extremely dry. Ill leave this in so their poop builds up a bit so they can develop their Cocci immunity. In a couple of days, Ill gather sand/dirt from the adult run and feed that to them to give them both grit and some Cocci protozoa. Theyll need access to their slightly damp poop for the following few weeks so they can develop that immunity.
And a couple of the chicks with interesting markings. Im interested in how these grow out. These have to be from the SS/Delaware rooster and the SS/BA hens. I like mutts.
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