Planning for spring chicks

[WaveyCreekChickens]

I am reading all the posts I can find about raising chicks in an outside brooder. I have a large chicken coop and plan on having the brooder in a sectioned off part, so the chicks grow up seeing the adults. (I live in a very cold climate (MB, Canada), so I am waiting for spring with this. Meanwhile I want to get everything ready.)
I will probably have more questions down the road, but today I am wondering how big the mama cave or Brooder plate needs to be for 6-8 chicks. The outdoor temps in March can still drop to -20*F. I still don’t know how warm my new big insulated chicken coop will stay at those temps.

I am looking at this
https://www.berryhill.ca/Brinsea-EcoGlow-Safety-600-Chick-Brooder-p/br00611.htm
Or this
https://www.berryhill.ca/Brinsea-EcoGlow-Safety-1200-Chick-Brooder-p/br00612.htm

Thanks for any input.

 

[aart]

The outdoor temps in March can still drop to -20*F.

That's pretty darn cold.
What are the range of temps at the time your plan on having chicks out there?
You might have to wait until later in the year.
I've had chicks with a broody down to -5°F for a night or two, but it's risky and I wouldn't recommend it.
Most plates have a CYA that say not to use them at less than 50°F.

@aart is good with how much space chicks need.

The heat plates are as bad as the tiny coops at estimating number of birds.
I made my own 12x24 and it just barely covered 16 chicks until they were fully feathered.

 

[aart]

So, there wouldn’t be anything bad or wrong about using a bought plate?

Of course not.....
...... as long as it's big enough to hold the number of chicks you want.

 

[3KillerBs]

This is my outdoor brooder: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/run-to-outdoor-brooder-conversion.76634/ It's vastly over-sized -- which turned into an advantage.

Some recommendations for brooder space are half a square foot per chick up to 4 weeks and then 1 square foot up to 8 weeks. That seems pretty tight to me -- though after 4-6 weeks my chicks have been integrating into the flock in the coop/run.

Even the dozen chicks in that brooder the first time used all the space after the first week (I blocked off half of it to keep them near the heat and food until they got used to it).

Along with that disclaimer I mentioned above about ambient temps:
"IMPORTANT: This product is for indoor use only and the room temperature should not drop below 50°F (10°C)."

And this is why I decided to use heat lamps instead of investing in a brooder plate.

It's a matter of personal opinion, but I feel that a well-secured heat lamp (hung from a chain, not the stupid clamp), in a roomy brooder is less of a fire hazard than a heating pad because a heat lamp IS designed to be on continually for a month while a heating pad is designed to be used only for an hour or less at a time even if it doesn't have an auto-shut-off.

The one disadvantage of brooding outdoors is the wide swings of ambient temperature -- in spring or fall I can have 90F one afternoon and 40F two nights later. A heat lamp can be adjusted by raising or lowering the chain, changing bulbs, or using a plug-in dimmer. A brooder plate doesn't have that problem, but might not be enough heat if temperatures drop too far.

 

[aart]

What is the advantage to make your own brooder plate or mama cave versus a bought heat plate?

It was bigger, and cheaper, plus I like to make stuff.

 

[aart]

I’m thinking if your homemade 12x24 (barely) covered 16 chicks

Just measured a pad, it's 11.5 x 23", so yeah, not quite exactly 12 x 24".

then the bigger Brinsea 1200 should cover 6-8 chicks just fine.

https://www.berryhill.ca/Brinsea-EcoGlow-Safety-1200-Chick-Brooder-p/br00612.htm
"Dimensions: 20x3x12"
Hopefully this dimension is accurate......and should be fine for 6-8 chicks.

I see they have added some qualifiers to the population description:
"The new EcoGlow Safety 1200 Chick Brooder is ideal to raise up to 35 newly hatched chicks or ducklings (20 to 25 older chicks depending on age and size)"
Still, the 'older' leaves room for 'error'...could mean 3 days old.
They get big fast, especially most ducklings.


A bit different info at the Brinsea site
https://www.brinsea.com/p-620-ecoglow-safety-1200-chick-brooder.aspx
Different dimensions:
"Dimensions: 17" long x 12" wide x 9" high"

Along with that disclaimer I mentioned above about ambient temps:
"IMPORTANT: This product is for indoor use only and the room temperature should not drop below 50°F (10°C)."

 

[WaveyCreekChickens]

That's pretty darn cold.
What are the range of temps at the time your plan on having chicks out there?
You might have to wait until later in the year.
I've had chicks with a broody down to -5°F for a night or two, but it's risky and I wouldn't recommend it.
Most plates have a CYA that say not to use them at less than 50°F.


The heat plates are as bad as the tiny coops at estimating number of birds.
I made my own 12x24 and it just barely covered 16 chicks until they were fully feathered.

Thanks for your reply.

I am monitoring this winter how warm the coop stays when it goes to those temps. The plan is to get the chicks when the coop stays above freezing most of the time.

What is the advantage to make your own brooder plate or mama cave versus a bought heat plate?

 

[springvalley123]

How much room do 6-8 chicks take up, until fully feathered?? For reference, here are 6, month-old hybrid marans/barred rock (midnight majesty maran), sitting on a 2x4 (3.5 inch by approx 18 inches). See, they're not fully feathered here, so they probably doubled in size from here before they turned 8 weeks. As pictured, they'd probably fill the space of the 1200 brooder, plus they got bigger than shown here before their necks fully feathered. (yes the far left is a barred rock female, and the far right was a cockerel). FWIW, I'm a coward--I used the brinsea when I had them in the laundry room but used a brooder bulb when I put them outside this time of year, last year, with low temps just below freezing. I'd only suggest having a backup plan and a way to monitor them so you'll know if they need additional heat, or if the heat source fails. That could be fairly inexpensive with a heating pad or hanging bulb if you so chose, or pretty expensive with a brinsea.

 

[springvalley123]

Thanks so much!
That gives me a pretty good idea of how much space is needed.

I do have heat lamps, but read the disadvantages of those vs. mama caves or heat plates.
I am having a very hard time finding a heat pad without auto shut off. I found one on amazon.ca (that can’t be shipped to my adress!) that Is $76. Which is why I am exploring the Brinsea route right now.

Maybe the model I have is available in Canada?? Here's a picture of the control. sorry I no longer have the box or paperwork showing the model number. It doesn't have auto shut-off, maybe that's the issue you're running into up there.

 

[WaveyCreekChickens]

It was bigger, and cheaper, plus I like to make stuff.

So, there wouldn’t be anything bad or wrong about using a bought plate?
This is me going through all the options before I commit to one.