Putting a chick brooder in the chicken coop?? Advice and Photos please!!

[Aphrael]

Hi, I am wanting to do the same thing - put my brooder into my coop. I can keep the layers out of the chick area, but I am wondering about an angle I haven't seen mentioned (so maybe it's not a problem)... Is the heat bad for my layers in general? I mean, obviously I don't want them close enough to get burned or anything, but what about just the heating up of the coop? I am planning to get chicks in the spring, so it won't be really hot weather yet, but I'm just wondering if I need to be concerned about this at all. Thanks!

I don't think it should pose a problem for your older chickens. You only need to provide one spot that is warm for the chicks to warm up when they get chilly. You don't have to try to heat the entire brooder to that temp. This might change during the summer. Especially if you are in a place with really high summer temps.

 

[karenspeeps]

I have a brood pen that has a 8 x 10 run beside the chicken run. Both runs share a fence. This allows them to see each other as the chicks grow. The brood pen is 3 x 3 x 8. It has a box attached that is 3 x 2 x 2 that is heated. It worked well for me with my last flock of chicks.

 

[gander007]

All you really need to do is make sure there aren't any drafts or real temp changes around the incubator

 

[grullablue]

Thanks for posting! I'd like to brood my next batch of chicks in the coop (empty) instead of the garage. My car, and everything else in there, ends up coated with dust!

 

[ChickenSkool]

OH dust, my husband wouldn't like that all over/around the car... Back to the coop idea...

 

[Ridgerunner]

That’s a good question. I did have a problem with that once. I hatched some chicks and we had a heat wave with temps over 110 Fahrenheit during the day with lows in the upper 70’s maybe low 80’s at night. I turned the daytime heat off the chicks at 2 days and the nighttime heat off at 5 days. Even with a lower wattage bulb and only heating one corner of the brooder I was cooking the babies and the adults were too hot. My roosts are right over the brooder since the top is the droppings board. The adults got as far from the heated corner as they could. The baby chicks were as far away as they could get too.

Other than that ridiculous heat wave it hasn’t been a problem. Just have as much ventilation as you can manage.

 

[ChickenSkool]

Another angle... So let's say I was fortunate enough to have a broody right when the chicks arrive, and I wanted to give her a few. She and chicks have to be separated, right? But how much room would they need? Because I don't know how many separate areas I can manage in my shed/coop. One for sure, but two might be too much. Although, with this being planned for spring, the other layers will plenty of outdoor access & probably not be inside much anyway. I'm so full of questions now that I have started...

 

[SD Bird Lady]

I used a large wire dog crate. I cut old feed sacks into strips and wove them through the slats with a heat lamp hanging in a corner. As they got older I removed the strips a row at a time. It allowed for the birds to all see each other and also for more air circulation as they needed less heat. I have Brahmas so they aren't very aggressive / bossy but by the time the chicks were feathered it was spring and I found it was easy to let the big girls free range and then let the little ones loose. The chicks stayed close to home and the bigger ladies roamed the yard. Once the little ones started to roost in the evenings. I took out the cage and now I have a whole flock. I have never tried with a rooster though. Good Luck!

 

[Ridgerunner]

How many chicks are you planning on? In warm weather I’ve seen a broody hatch and raise 18 chicks. Those chicks hatched out of eggs the size that broody normally laid.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I find that a good rooster takes care of all members of his flock. Integration usually goes a little smoother when I have a good rooster in the flock. Unfortunately not all roosters are good, but I’ve never had one attack or threaten the chicks in any way. At worst mine ignore the new chicks. But since we are dealing with living animals, I’m sure someone somewhere has had a bad experience with a rooster.