Run brooder with pallets and hw cloth

[jreardon1918]

I am starting to build an outdoor brooder. It will be in our covered run. Will use halved pallets for three walls with HW cloth. the 4th wall will be a plastic covered existing wall. The roof will be ply wood sloped to keep any drips of the chicks. Will be using MHP.

My question. Should i put in a floor. Or just let them stay on the existing deep beding?

 

[ColoradoPip]

Everything will try to eat your chicks. I would do an hw cloth apron to prevent digging under and ensure it cannot be lifted as well.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Where is the brooder going to be placed? Where you currently have it in the photo? Or are you moving it inside the run?

If it's inside the run and you feel it's predator proofed to your liking, then I'd leave the floor completely open. Safer for little chick feet that way. If you have the space for it, you can "clean" the brooder the way I do it (super lazy) and simply move the brooder every week or so to a cleaner spot.

 

[jreardon1918]

It is in the run. The HW cloth is on. I dug it down 6" and extended boards. I suppose the big girls could dig in but it would take a while. Tomorrow I will create the integration doors. Put on the roof. That will be just a lift off/on piece of plywood. Here are a couple pictures.

No floor has been my plan.

 

[jreardon1918]

An update. We got the 6 new chicks two weeks ago (5/29). Moved them to the outdoor brooder 3 days later. We have had terrific weather, nights no lower than 50F. We got one day high of 80+. The chicks are doing well. The MHP is set to medium heat. Later today we will raise the MHP up a couple inches to account for the two weeks of growth. There is still winter plastic wrap on the run walls which has kept most of the wet weather from the chicks.

Where we think the run is close to predator proof, we did not do a floor for the brooder. The chicks scratch just like the big girls. And their poops just get scratched in, just like happens with the big girls.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Where we think the run is close to predator proof, we did not do a floor for the brooder. The chicks scratch just like the big girls. And their poops just get scratched in, just like happens with the big girls.

Best way of managing chick poop isn't it? If you need a deeper clean (especially with spilled feed) just add hens, they'll scratch it all up and within a day or two, you won't see any evidence that there were chicks living there at all.

 

[jreardon1918]

An update. We got the chicks three weeks ago. This brooding experience has been a joy. Outside there is no smell, no changing of bedding. The MHP worked as advertised. It is still on, but on the LOW setting. Just fill feed daily, add water. Next step is to open the little chick doors and allow the chicks to mingle as they like. There are chick doors on three sides of the brooder. Here is a pic showing one of the chick doors. And another of a few of the chicks.

 

[jreardon1918]

Another update. The chicks are almost 6 weeks old. They have been mingling with the big girls for two weeks. They mix in a little more each day. No serious pecking. Last night they sort of moved into the coop. 4 slept on a log stump in the coop. 2 in an outside window sill. My phone did not have enough juice to do flash.

Brooding outdoors with the big girls with MHP. Success.