ok it got out of hand! Ut OH

[shadowpaints]

Ok so the plan had been to order some new chickens right? well, i ordered all right. i have 20 RIR pullets and 20 Brown leghorns comeing on the 16th !! YIKES!! i have to figure out the brooder for 40 CHICKS what have i done?? any ideas on a brooder that will house 40 chicks???? i think i over did it! lol

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

Go to your local appliance dealer & get a fridge, stove, washer,.......box & cut it down to 2' high. I just bought a stove, want the box?

 

[PAheart]

if u dont have a big bin, use like two smaller ones... maybe this will help, its cheap too. thats what i use. http://www.poultryhelp.com/brooders.html
hope this helps

 

[JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom]

I just enclose and area with 2-4 ft high cardboard, heat with brooder lamps and bed with wood shavings. The more chicks, the more area you need to enclose.

That's a lot of adult birds, and you'll be going through a lot of feed. You might want to find homes for some of them among your friends.

 

[tdgill]

i like the expanding boxes idea. adding more boxes (connected in some way either with a hole thru the side or taken apart and taped) as you need them.

 

[CrazyMomOf2]

Right now I have 48 chicks in 2 large dog crates. I have the front doors to them both open, with them facing each other. This creates extra space for them in between the two cages. Then I have cardboard duct taped around the entire outside of it. The lamps are hanging above the cages, which I like because if they ever fall, they won't hurt the chicks. The cages are also nice because I now have some thick branches in there for them to perch on, which they LOVE!!!

This is all in my basement which stays at roughly 60 degrees if I have my wood stove on. The two heat lamps I have going have kept them at the right temp, but they are suspended from the ceiling by chains (cheap at walmart) and hooks. I can easily adjust the lamps by adjusting the chain. They are 2 weeks old now and still have quite a bit of room in there. Next week I think that I will be giving them free reign of that basement room since they are growing like CRAZY!!!!

 

[CrazyMomOf2]

Oh, I go through a 50lb bag of feed per week right now for them. I have 4 feeders and 4 waterers in there and I have to fill them completely every day! The water will need to be changed a few times a day though because they like to poop in them as well as kick shavings and food in there! You'll possibly find a few of them dusting themselves with the food/shaving mixture too! Mine really like to do that a lot lately!

 

[shadowpaints]

LOL i know they will go through a lot, im sure my neighbors will want a few. but feed isnt too big of an issue. our feed is 10 bucks for100 lbs we are a bit spoiled! lol i will definatly be making a brooder in the back room! lol and then its time to start constructing the 2nd coop LOL thanks for all the suggestions!