Hi, I have 3 six week old black laced golden Wyandottes. They've been sharing a small brooder with 6 three week old buff Orpingtons. The larger girls are a bit aggressive toward the smaller ones so their brooder is separated by a screen. They have someone been able to knock the screen down while I'm at work and I'll find the six littles huddled in the corner and the large ones right there keeping them in line. I feel like this isn't safe for the little ones and the brooder just seems too small for the big ones. Our coop is very close to being finished, my husband works on it every night after work until dark. Does anyone have a temporary solution for the big ones until the coop is finished?
Rig up a light so hubby can work in the dark. Get a large cardboard appliance box or two from a furniture store. They make terrific over-sized brooders. You can get two, tape them together and cut a pass-through in the common wall. Tape a screen or hardware cloth over it, and you have a sturdy partition where the two age groups are separated but can still interact. It's crucial you keep them together so they don't lose flock cohesiveness, making integration later much harder. I really detest plastic totes for brooders. They're too small, too hot, and almost impossible to modify when contingencies demand it. If folks need to brood indoors, cardboard boxes are much cheaper and far more versatile. They can be lined with 6 mil plastic to make them impervious to spills, and you can add on more boxes if chicken math strikes.
I agree, cardboard boxes. You can tape two or more together and let all the chicks mingle, the littles will have plenty of space to get away from the older birds. And you can set out more than one feeder/waterer if you feel the need.
I also suggest cardboard boxes. I use them all the time but I don't use them as boxes, I open them out flat and then tape/staple several together and use them as the walls of the brooder. The flaps on the bottom I fold into the brooder space then cover the flaps and the open floor space with newspaper then pine chips and I'm good to go. Of course I'm not doing this in my bathroom or basement, it's in a garage so after I'm done I can gather up the newspaper floor covering and sweep up any spillage and compost everything.
