Stock tank ok for brooder?

[dnmccoy]

I picked up a metal stock tank thats 4x2x2. Would this be ok for 5-10 chicks? How long are they able to stay before going to the coop. It will be located in my barn with a hardwire lid

 

[Mace Gill]

I picked up a metal stock tank thats 4x2x2. Would this be ok for 5-10 chicks? How long are they able to stay before going to the coop. It will be located in my barn with a hardwire lid

Make sure they have enough bedding so they have good footing and don't slip and splay. It is big enough now, but as they grow it is going to get pretty small! We brooded ours in an old portable playpen ... 8 chicks ... they were ITCHING for more room at the end

How long depends on outdoor temps and the kind of chickens. They should be fully feathered, five to six weeks is good. Longer if they are mixing in with an adult flock ... they bigger the better so they can fend for themselves if the others bully them.

 

[Folly's place]

I use a stock tank with a good hardware cloth lid, and it works great. Managing it outdoors is tricky if you are using a heat lamp, because of the temperature variations. With a heating plate it should be fine. My birds go to the coop, in a separate section, by three weeks of age, with their heat source. By the time they are feathered out, they can start to integrate with the flock doing it that way. My current chicks are ten weeks old, and go outside with the big birds, but stick together in a timid group. It all works out in the end, especially when the extra cockerels go away. Mary

 

[UPSweeten]

I use a large stock tank with a cover for my chicks. Works good. They are outside so I have to watch the temps. I use a heat lamp, maybe I should look at a heating plate, are they are more efficient? Are they safe?

 

[Folly's place]

I use heat lamps too; had them way before heating plates arrived. The folks who use them like them a lot, and they certainly make sense. Mary