Setting up the brooder

[That other guy]

Almost done setting up the brooder for my chicks on thursday . But the lamps are running a little hot around 100-105 degrees, going to have to find something to raise them properly so they don't cook my little nuggets XD, joking. But still, the two ends are heated, and the middle is not. Going to get another feeder and a smaller water bin. Going to have around 20 chicks in there. 15 delaware, and 5 black australorp.

Comments, critiques, etc would be appreciated. Bedding is pine shavings.

 

[junebuggena]

20 chicks will out grow that brooder in about a week or so. You probably only need one heat lamp, and you do need to get it much higher.

 

[That other guy]

thoughts on a second brooder? Should I put the light into the center then and allow them to go to either end? or stick with it on one end and they can run around the rest of the box?

 

[junebuggena]

You want three 'zones' in your brooder. One hot zone, one warm zone, one cool zone. You will only need one heat lamp to achieve this. They will choose where they are most comfortable. For 20 chicks, you are going to have to go a bit bigger with the brooder. Separating chicks into multiple brooders will work in the short term. But if you keep them separate, reintroducing them might not go smoothly, especially if you wait till they are over 4 weeks old. Even as chicks, they take their pecking order very seriously. Do you have a coop ready? I'd think that Missouri would plenty warm this time of year to leave them in the coop/run full time by three weeks old. The first week, they only need about 6 sq in per chick. By the second week, they need 1 sq ft per chick. By the third, they need at least 1.5 sq ft per chick. They basically double in size every week for the first 6 weeks. What seems like tons of room when they are day old chicks, quickly becomes very crowded.

 

[TRMFAM]

Agree with all the other responses...you will only need one light at the end of your setup allowing them to get close or far away depending on their needs. Agree again on the size...we started with one of the plastic panel kits and by the end of the second week wow, they did not have a lot of room to run. I used some scraps leftover from building the coop and made a nice size brooder.

Regarding raising your heat lamp you can go to your local Lowe's / Home Depot and get PVC to build a stand. Make H for the bottom with and upright in the middle of the cross section then attach a 45* fitting and more straight until it ends approximately in line with your H legs. Then cap the top piece and put in a cup hook on the bottom of the cap (I suppose you could put it in the end too) and connect the heater to a chain allowing you to raise and lower it.

You would need:
3 T fittings (not sure actual plumbing part name but looks like a T and lets you put in 3 pieces of PVC)
1 45* angle
1 Cap (5 if you want to cap the H piece too)
1 cup hook
10' of PVC should be fine...I used 1" diameter.
Glue or screws (I glued mine together and also installed metal screw in the upright and 45* piece to be doubly sure it would not come apart. Just play with the lengths before you glue it and ensure it is super stable.

Here is a pic of the one I copied:
http://www.cacklehatchery.com/images/brooder pak11.jpg