Show me your brooders in your coop!

[KnightsMist]

So I'm planning to convert storage space in my barn (horse barn, a stall sized area) into a coop and build a brooder within this space so that I can raise chicks outside (with a heat plate) instead of in my house. For those who brood chicks in your coops, can you show me pix of your setups?

Note I do not currently have any chickens, and only plan on getting roughly 4-8 at a time, and probably not even every year, for a max of about 25 chickens over time. So I'm trying to come up with a design that may be removable so as to not waste the space when I'm not currently raising chicks.

 

[blackdog043]

I use a dog X pen for the long part and a dog crate attached for a little more room. The small cardboard doors are for integrating.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Probably not what you are looking for but I'll post it anyway. This is my permanent 3' x 6' brooder that I've raised as many as 25 in at a time. The floor is 1/2" hardware cloth so the poop can fall into bins underneath. This means it can be used as a broody buster if it is available. I've also used it to isolate a chicken when needed. The top is used as a droppings board.

I've put chicks in this straight from the incubator or post office when the outside temperature was below freezing or in the middle of a hot summer. I wrap it really well when its real cold and put a piece of plywood on the floor so my heat lamps can heat it up. In the heat of summer it is pretty open. Even in winter when it is totally wrapped that chimney off to the left where the heat lamp is allows good ventilation.

To me the biggest challenge of brooding outside are the temperature swings. You want one spot cool enough in the warmest weather and a spot warm enough in the coolest weather. I've seen temperatures go from below freeing to in the 70's F in 36 hours. By keeping one end toasty and allowing the far end to cool off as it will, chicks straight from the incubator can manage that. Some mornings I've seen frost on the far end but the chicks were fine on the warm end.

To me one big advantage to brooding outside is that I stay married. My wife would not be happy if I tried to brood inside. Another big advantage is that integration is a breeze. I have a large coop and a lot of outside area, plus weather my adults can spend practically all day every day outside. When they are outside my chicks can stay a long way away from the adults. If you don't have a lot of room this might not work for you, but since my chicks are basically raised with the flock, at five weeks I open the brooder door and walk away. That's how I handle integration.

 

[KnightsMist]

Thank you both for sharing! Ridgerunner, your reasons are the same as mine for wanting to brood in the coop. And I will have plenty of space to do it, so just seems like a no brainer.

I've been thinking of getting a large dog crate, good to know others are doing that already successfully With a more permanent structure though, I do like the idea of having existing space should I need to isolate for any reason- I had not considered that before! Thanks

 

[aart]

I have a temporary wall I install for chick brooder, isolation, and broody hens.
I think you can see most of it in this article.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/

 

[Ghosty]

4' x 5'

 

[aart]

6' x 5'

How do you get in there?
Not seeing a 'door'.

 

[Ridgerunner]

How do you get in there?
Not seeing a 'door'.

Aart enlarge the second photo down. You see that section on the right. It is attached with J-Clips as hinges. It's wired shut by wrapping wire around a screw head. I like it!

 

[aart]

Aart enlarge the second photo down. You see that section on the right. It is attached with J-Clips as hinges. It's wired shut by wrapping with around a screw head. I like it!

I wondered, but didn't look close enough...see it now.

 

[Ghosty]

The door has a droplight hanging on it., second and third pic. The whole panel hinges.