New Guy here!

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steveandhishens

steveandhishens

In the Brooder
5 Years
Aug 4, 2014
10
1
24
Hey guys! I'm Stephen, I'm new to the community here and new to chickens. I will post some photos of my brooder and coop and layout as soon as I'm able to do so. Here's some basic info on me:

Q1: Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?

A: New to chickens, my first chickens will arrive in less than 2 weeks.

Q2: How many chickens do you have right now?

A: I have ten little baby hens that are waiting to hatch soon and will arrive within two weeks.


Q3: What breeds do you have?

A: I have on order 4 White Plymouth Rocks, 4 Black Australorps, a Barred Plymouth Rock, and a Rhode Island Red. I did this so I can see out the window and count my birds easier from a distance (4 white, 4 black, red, and striped, etc)

Q4: How did you find out about BackYardChickens.com?

A: Lots of googling that kept leading me here.


Q5: What are some of your other hobbies?

A: I'm in school currently and work full time, so free time is hard to come by. My family is close by though. No real time for hobbies right now other than chickens.


Q6: Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.

A: I'm a paramedic. I live in a townhouse where I will be brooding the chickens until they are feathered and large enough to not fit through electric fence holes; then they will be taken to my family's horse farm about 8 minutes away where I am in the process of re-flooring a (huge!)secondhand chicken coop I acquired off craigslist this week.

more to follow!

My brooder box in my living room. ALL BUILT FROM SCRAPS! Subframe is built from 2x4s and the top and bottom are both plywood. Had plenty of spare pegboard sitting around so used that for the sides. Dimensions approx 20x40x15. Has two 12x12 holes cut into the top sealed with 1/2" hardware cloth. Entire top panel lifts out. the left one has the panel still sitting on the hardware cloth with a handle built into it. (keeps a little more warmth inside the brooder and can simply be lifted out after a week or two) holds temperature decently(88-93 degrees) using just a 100w lightbulb sitting directly on the hardware cloth. Will let you know how this works out, as its my first time building/using a brooder. Cleaning will be an issue as there is no slide-out tray or linoleum bottom in this, but i have a nice bedding of poplar shavings from the woodshop that i can use. and hit with a the shop vac when it needs cleaning.
 
Hello there and welcome to BYC!
frow.gif


You may want to make some changes to that brooder. What is going to happen is, the heat from the lamp is going to draw cool air through all those holes and create a draft on the chicks. Drafts will kill the chicks. Also, since heat rises, it will have no where to go since you have the top of the brooder covered with wood.

The preferred way to make a brooder to keep the chicks happy and healthy is to use solid walls and floors, completely open top, with nothing but a screen or wire on top to keep things out and them in, all the while the heat can escape, and good oxygen can come in. All room air will come in from the top and there will be no drafts. Drafts are killers to baby chicks. So is over heating.

So if you can solid up those walls, and take the wood off the top and use hardware cloth on top, that will be a perfect brooder!!

Here is a nice article from our learning center on raising your new babies for the first 60 days... https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...ks-the-first-60-days-of-raising-baby-chickens

Sounds like you picked out some wonderful breeds! I hope they all arrive safely. :)

Enjoy this new adventure you are on and welcome to our flock!
 
Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

Your brooder is cute but like Two Crows said, can cause some issues.

Drafts and heat are killers. Cardboard, plexi klass, wood, etc are all best. You want to air to flow in from the top and not from all sides. That's where there heat should come from too.

Also, when the chicks arrive make sure to check for pasty butt. Dip their beaks in warm water and place them under the heat. Try not to bond with them much on the first day. They need this time to get acquainted with their surroundings and siblings. If they do have pasty butt then wash it off, apply some coconut oil and make sure they are warm and have lots of water.

Good luck with them!
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! If you close up the bottom foot or so of holes it will also help with shavings and dust, they are going to be kicking a lot of it out those holes. Newspapers under the shavings work for cleanup also if you only use an inch or so of shavings, just roll up the papers and shavings and change everything.
 
Thanks for the welcome everyone. I will staple some cardboard to the sides to cut out most of the drafts. Newspaper may be a good thought, I'll look into that. Still have 10 days to get it straight.
 
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. You have a very good and thorough introduction. You've also ordered some good, dependable, dual-purpose breeds. I've had all of those breeds at one time or another and still have Black Australorps in my flock. I've raised BAs for years and they are my favorite standard breed. They are extremely hardy, calm and gentle (my children, and now my granddaughter, made lap pets of ours), and they are the best layers of the standard, brown egg laying breeds. I think you will love them. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck in getting a healthy shipment of chicks.
 
Michael OShay said:
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. You have a very good and thorough introduction. You've also ordered some good, dependable, dual-purpose breeds.  I've had all of those breeds at one time or another and still have Black Australorps in my flock. I've raised BAs for years and they are my favorite standard breed. They are extremely hardy, calm and gentle (my children, and now my granddaughter, made lap pets of ours), and they are the best layers of the standard, brown egg laying breeds. I think you will love them. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck in getting a healthy shipment of chicks.
Click to expand...


Thank you so much! I've heard a variety of opinions on the BAs, mostly positive ones which lead me to believe my first instinct here- that it's all in how well you raise/socialize your birds when they are young that will determine their behaviors as adults. Will keep you and the forum posted as this process continues.
 

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