questions on making a brooder inside the coop

[Auntiejessi3]

Yes I am planning on figuring out a way to do tiny doors for them. Or I may make it that the door only opens up a little bit so they can get in but the bigs can't. I may have to take out a couple of the lower bars to make the doors.

Ya I figured I would have to put something. Not sure what I want to do yet since I really don't want to deal with HWC any more than I need to. Hahaha. But not sure I want to use cardboard since I feel that kind of defeats the purpose of brooding in the coop so they can see each other.... Hmmm need to think.

That's what I did, this year and last, just cracked the single door and let them do their thing, worked really well, I used a 3inch eye hook fastened on the inside of the door for an extra inch

 

[junior67]

That's what I did, this year and last, just cracked the single door and let them do their thing, worked really well, I used a 3inch eye hook fastened on the inside of the door for an extra inch

You didn't need more than 1 door for them? That was more of what I was worried about was not having enough escape routes for them in the coop.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Ya I figured I would have to put something. Not sure what I want to do yet since I really don't want to deal with HWC any more than I need to. Hahaha. But not sure I want to use cardboard since I feel that kind of defeats the purpose of brooding in the coop so they can see each other.... Hmmm need to think.

Get bird netting, which is usually 1/2" holes, and zip tie it snugly to the fencing (attach it on the inside facing the chicks, so no risk of the chicks pushing against it somehow and getting part of their body stuck between the netting and fence). Very cheap and easy to cut to fit.

 

[aart]

You didn't need more than 1 door for them? That was more of what I was worried about was not having enough escape routes for them in the coop.

1 can work, more are better IMO.

 

[junior67]

1 can work, more are better IMO.

hard to see in the pictures but the edge next to the nesting box has HWC on it since there is a support there and I didn't want them going between that and the wall. I could probably remove that once they are big enough and then they would have a spot next to the nest boxes that they can sneak in as well (think it would be wide enough I would have to measure.

 

[rosemarythyme]

hard to see in the pictures but the edge next to the nesting box has HWC on it since there is a support there and I didn't want them going between that and the wall. I could probably remove that once they are big enough and then they would have a spot next to the nest boxes that they can sneak in as well (think it would be wide enough I would have to measure.

If you're too lazy to measure (like me) just grab a brick and if the gap is about the size of a brick, that should be about as big of a "chick door" opening as you'll need.

And I do 2 gaps on my brooder but it just happens to work out that way. Does make it easier for chicks to get in and out, especially if a hen is pestering them, as they can run in one way and slip out the other.

 

[aart]

If you're too lazy to measure (like me) just grab a brick and if the gap is about the size of a brick, that should be about as big of a "chick door" opening as you'll need.

If the brick is standard it should be about 3.5"......
......which I've found to be a good size for chick doors.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

You didn't need more than 1 door for them? That was more of what I was worried about was not having enough escape routes for them in the coop.

I leave them locked up in there for a week or so (supervised coop time with the bigs locked out after work), we planned on putting 2 more little doors, 1 on each side, but got sidetracked building our deck so I also just have 5 hens and only 4 (supposed to be 3,lol) new additions, so I'm sure that's plays a big part in things too.

 

[junior67]

I leave them locked up in there for a week or so (supervised coop time with the bigs locked out after work), we planned on putting 2 more little doors, 1 on each side, but got sidetracked building our deck so I also just have 5 hens and only 4 (supposed to be 3,lol) new additions, so I'm sure that's plays a big part in things too.

ah ok. I get it with getting sidetracked doing another project! I have 7 hens, 1 roo and will have 8-11 littles. I ordered extra in case I got some more roo's this time or if something happened to 1 like last time then I wanted at least the breeds I picked. Once I am pretty certain some aren't roo's then I am going to re-home some, so that will be a little bit.

 

[luckycluk]

Ok. So I have 8 chickens right now (7 pullets and 1 cockerel). I am getting more chicks in April. Instead of brooding them inside and trying to integrate them I would like to "build" a brooder inside my coop. I have a poop board with roost in there. It is an L shape so about 8' long on one wall and I think 3' on the other wall. it is 2' wide and 2' high (with no shavings I think is how I did it, maybe 30" with no shavings?). Can I push up some HWC blocking the space under this with a door so I can get to them, maybe make it a bit smaller to start so they don't have the whole space to run in) and use that space for a brooder so the bigger chickens can get used to them the whole time? I used a dog crate last year, but my puppy is using it this year so I can't use that even in there....... I can get some pictures if needed. I would also like to try to hatch out some chicks hopefully if I have a broody (or possibly get an incubator but think ti would be easier to integrate if I had a broody so guess we will see). And would like to use part of under the roost for her nest to raise the babies at first as well. Right now the posts holding the poop boards up go at an angle from the edge of the poop board to the wall so too hard for anything good size to walk under it so thinking I will move those going straight down so that space under is completely open.

Does anyone have something like this set up? a brooder under poop boards? I know I still have time but it is still quite cold here right now but want to plan and have it all figured out so I can build when I do my full coop clean out as soon as it warms up.

I have just about the same idea. I have a pretty big coop with two older hens already. In the house I have a metal feeding trough for a brooder pen . I also have a new lil treactor coop that is 6ft by 3 ft with a enclosed area and a coop also. My plans was to get my chick I have gotten, wean them off the heat lamp, put the lil coop into the big coop. Now I have had a glitch in my well thought out plans the Easter egger’s I ordered were DOA by the time thr got to feed store. There should of been 1-2 wks age between them. Well ordered more feed store said they were DOA AGAIN. They special ordered more n should be here in 3 days. Now after all these poor lil chicks being dead from shipping there will be 4-5 weeks age difference between chicks I have n what I’m getting .
How to integrate them since my plans are as DOA as those poor baby chicks. I’ve thought of letting my hens loose out of big coop but I have 30 feral cats so…… not sure if the cats will bother them, I have no roosters. I am also thinking about getting chicken wire and running it the length of the metal brooder trough until the new lil chicks catch up on getting there feathers then take all the chicks out to the big coop in the lil coop n wire off a section in the run for 2 weeks then make a opening big enough for an escape door. Any suggestions to my thoughts? I would be so appreciative . My chicks I have so far I’ve attached