Outdoor brooder question

[Kungfoomanda]

We just finished building this awesome outdoor brooder. My daughter raised chickens for 4h and some money on the side. We just purchased some beautiful silkie and easter egger chicks. They are about a week old. Anyways, they've been in the house but we are having an issue with our cat trying to get them so we need to get them out for safety reasons. We're in Ohio and the temp at night right now is between 28 to 37 degrees Fahrenheit. We have 2 heat lamps and a coop heater in there. Temp gun says its 90 degrees inside. We put blankets up in from where the chicken wire is to keep the wind out and stabilize the temp. They dont seem to be only staying under the heat lamp. They've been in there about 2 hours and seem okay. Thoughts? I just get nervous.

 

[featheredplanets]

I’d be concerned about having two heat lamps and a coop heater in a small wooden structure with the main ventilation covered by a blanket. Is there no way to have the hutch facing a wall to keep most of the wind out? And why two heat lamps and a coop heater? I’d have just one lamp and switch to a ceramic bulb, which is just a little safer.

 

[DobieLover]

I'd be nervous about a predator tearing through the chicken wire and killing them.

 

[CindyinSD]

The infrared panel heater is great; the heat lamp maybe not so much. I can't tell for sure, but it looks like the cord is zip-tied to the chicken wire (which is good) and there's a screw through the board it's clipped to (also good). The chicken wire part worries me, though. It looks like a kind of easily knocked down arrangement. I may be wrong about that; it's hard to tell without being there. A loose dog or raccoon would go right through that chicken wire and set the whole thing on fire in the process.

The temp doesn't seem too bad. I'd like to see a sheet of OSB or plywood instead of that curtain both for wind and predator protection. (I'm guessing, but is the curtain covering the chicken wire and the lamp?) I put my very first batch out into a coop on a fall night that was projected to be in the upper 20s/low 30s. I was nervous and kept checking on them all night, but they were fine. I used a brooder panel.

If I were in your place, I would remove the light and set the brooder panel horizontally on some bricks or wood blocks or similar, then shoo them all under it. The recommended height for this use is so that it brushes their backs. I'd drape it with a cotton rag, tea towel, etc., so it would hold in the heat and give them a cozy warm little cave to snuggle in.

Next day I would take whatever sheet goods I could lay my hands on and make a panel to cover the chicken wire. I would leave a gap of 4-5" along the top for ventilation and staple a strip of hardwire cloth over it.

 

[Kungfoomanda]

Thank you so much for your input.

It is very sturdy. My 230lbs husband shook it and shook it and it didn't budge. The chicken wire did concern me a bit. We do have some hardware cloth we can out on it tomorrow.

We live on a hill and they built a new highway by us and put in a sound barrier and I swear it's like a wind tunnel up here now. The blankets were to keep the wind out.

I'm heading down now. I'll remove one of the brooder lamps and get a ceramic bulb tomorrow.

We've already lost 2 since we got them on the 11th. I suspect because they were shipped from Missouri to Ohio. We just dont want to lose any more.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Glad to hear you can change out the chicken wire and remove some of the heat lamps... unfortunately it does look like a fire hazard, even if the lamp doesn't fall the bedding could still get kicked up and catch fire.

I would also replace the blanket with some scrap wood, set slightly away from the wire to allow for ventilation but enough to block winds from blowing right in.

What CindyinSD is suggesting is to set it up the heat panel more like a heat plate, where the chicks can walk underneath it and snuggle against it for warmth as they would with a hen. It should be a safer option than a heat lamp and also gives the chicks the ability to warm up when needed and cool off when needed. The brooder should have warmer areas as well as cooler areas for the chicks to choose from.

 

[Kris5902]

The thing that scares me the most in this original setup is the blanket and the heat lamps. Depending on the material it could be a big fire hazard or potentially melt and give off nasty fumes