Outdoor brooder ideas

[aart]

how does 20 chicks with a heating pad sound?

My 12 x 24 was barely big enough for 16 once they got to a size not yet ready for no heat.

 

[igorsMistress]

If you hatch your own all you need is a broody. She will take care of everything and the babies integrate into the flock much easier. My broodies typically have the babies out with the rest of the flock as soon as they’re capable of leaving the coop.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

If you hatch your own all you need is a broody. She will take care of everything and the babies integrate into the flock much easier. My broodies typically have the babies out with the rest of the flock as soon as they’re capable of leaving the coop.

I agree whole heartedly, but will add that quality of the mother can vary a lot. This fall I began breeding single hens and having them raise only their own bitties, while also artificially incubating chicks from some of the same mommas and toe marking the bitties so the mother of each could be identified. I found that some pairings produced genetically inferior chicks that couldn’t survive free range on their own without their mothers, while other pairings produced strong chicks that would survive on their own but not with their mothers, where my heating implements better sheltered the chicks at night than their mommas did. I have found that poor roosting choices is the number one cause of free range chick mortality on my farm. Hens that choose good roosts that the chicks can access have high chick retention, while hens that choose spots the chicks cannot easily get to may lose entire broods in a night or two.

Obviously, the best outcome is when a good momma has strong chicks and she raises them free range on her own.

 

[igorsMistress]

I agree whole heartedly, but will add that quality of the mother can vary a lot. This fall I began breeding single hens and having them raise only their own bitties, while also artificially incubating chicks from some of the same mommas and toe marking the bitties so the mother of each could be identified. I found that some pairings produced genetically inferior chicks that couldn’t survive free range on their own without their mothers, while other pairings produced strong chicks that would survive on their own but not with their mothers, where my heating implements better sheltered the chicks at night than their mommas did. I have found that poor roosting choices is the number one cause of free range chick mortality on my farm. Hens that choose good roosts that the chicks can access have high chick retention, while hens that choose spots the chicks cannot easily get to may lose entire broods in a night or two.

Obviously, the best outcome is when a good momma has strong chicks and she raises them free range on her own.

Definitely agree, and your experience is interesting. I have never had a mama leave her babies to roost, they always stay with their chicks until they’re ready to ditch them, even if that means sleeping in the straw on the floor until the babies can roost. I did have a broody who liked the sitting on eggs part, but when she had chicks she didn’t want anything to do with them I had a crazy little thing that took over raising the chicks and she was fantastic at it, not at all what I expected tbh.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Definitely agree, and your experience is interesting. I have never had a mama leave her babies to roost, they always stay with their chicks until they’re ready to ditch them, even if that means sleeping in the straw on the floor until the babies can roost. I did have a broody who liked the sitting on eggs part, but when she had chicks she didn’t want anything to do with them I had a crazy little thing that took over raising the chicks and she was fantastic at it, not at all what I expected tbh.

What breeds? Mine are gamefowl/junglefowl hybrids. Some of my hybrid mommas want to fly up to roost way to early. A very small percentage of chicks can keep up, but most cannot. Other mothers are great about staying with their chicks until their chicks can fly well. By single pair mating and rearing, I am now finally being able to zero in on which mommas are the best brooders and also make the strongest chicks.

 

[igorsMistress]

What breeds? Mine are gamefowl/junglefowl hybrids. Some of my hybrid mommas want to fly up to roost way too early. A very small percentage of chicks can keep up, but most cannot. Other mothers are great about staying with their chicks until their chicks can fly well. By single pair mating and rearing, I am now finally being able to zero in on which mommas are the best brooders and also make the strongest chicks.

I’ve had a few, Rhode Island Red, Naked Neck, Speckled Sussex, a Red Ranger and a Silver Dorking. The hen that liked to sit but didn’t like babies was an Nn. All hatchery stock or locally bred.

Maybe it’s the breeds, you’ve got a different situation there for sure. Perhaps your flock is a bit closer to wild than what a lot of us have. Interesting! Do yours sleep in a coop?

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I’ve had a few, Rhode Island Red, Naked Neck, Speckled Sussex, a Red Ranger and a Silver Dorking. The hen that liked to sit but didn’t like babies was an Nn. All hatchery stock or locally bred.

Maybe it’s the breeds, you’ve got a different situation there for sure. Perhaps your flock is a bit closer to wild than what a lot of us have. Interesting! Do yours sleep in a coop?

Most sleep in the trees. I have a particular large coop I used to keep open 24-7, and to access it the chickens had to go it through a 5 foot high side window with a steep ramp. When that coop was open, hens inevitably tried to take their bitties to it by day 2 or 3 but could not get most of them up the ramp.

I now keep that coop closed and hens will brood their chicks under farm equipment or in the bushes.

 

[igorsMistress]

Most sleep in the trees. I have a particular large coop I used to keep open 24-7, and to access it the chickens had to go it through a 5 foot high side window with a steep ramp. When that coop was open, hens inevitably tried to take their bitties to it by day 2 or 3 but could not get most of them up the ramp.

I now keep that coop closed and hens will brood their chicks under farm equipment or in the bushes.

Ok makes a ton more sense now! We don’t have trees in our yard that are suitable for roosting so my flock uses a coop. When I was a kid and lived on a farm we had a few chickens that would roost in trees but most used a coop. I don’t remember what the mamas did or if any of them were the girls who preferred the trees. The chicks were always pretty wild and there were times we weren’t sure how many we had. My chickens now are city chickens

I did have a rather steep ramp at one time and one mama had a time trying to get the babies up there. It’s no longer in the coop and the roost is lower so it’s not so much of an issue now.

 

[rosemarythyme]

My average brood is 20 but has been as high as 28 chicks. 20 may be a bit much for heat plates. Hopefully others with experience with them can speak to that. @azygous and @rosemarythyme how does 20 chicks with a heating pad sound?

You'd need 2 heating pads at least. I run a much smaller set up so it's a 12"x15" pad on a very curved frame, and that's for 3-4 chicks. More would fit if I flattened it out. An XL pad measuring 12"x24" on a flatter frame (i.e. an oven rack) can probably comfortably warm around 10 chicks, so having 2 of those should be about enough, up to around 4 weeks or so.

As far as temperatures my set up is used when temps average between mid-40s F at night and up to around 60-70F during day. Heating pads have been used down to around the 20s F however I'm a late spring brooder so I haven't tested that myself.

 

[BakersBluffFarm]

If you're still looking for brooder ideas here are some. I'm gonna be building one to hold 100 chicks this coming may, I'm just waiting on the snow to thaw before I start building.
Here's my rough idea for one:

Here's a really similar one I'll probably do instead because the roof is better:


And if you're looking to build a cheap heat source for your birds i would recommend a hover similar to this:

Mr Plamondon has a lot of information on building and using these older but efficient style heat source, and it's what the expensive brooder plates are modeled after.
His website talking about it is here