The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

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cmom said:
I bought the frame at a garage sale and modified it and made it into a brooder.
Click to expand...
cmom has me looking at all kinds of things that can be converted but I can't see how the bottom is made. Are they slidable trays with wire over the top. Got me really wanting to try something.
 
desertmarcy said:
Anybody have any ideas about that big unit I posted, to convert into brooders? I know it's hard to tell from a photo. Anybody?
Click to expand...

If it were me...
I'd replace all the glass with hardware cloth. I'd probably replace the top with hardware cloth too unless you brood in below zero temps. This would allow you to vary the height of your heat lamps.
Then I'd put pieces of corrugated sheets of plastic (cut to size), on the bottom of each section (easy clean up and reusable). You can get the white corrugated sheets for cheap at the Home Depot in their plywood section.
You would have plenty of air circulation if all glass was removed, and with the right heat it would be usable outdoors in a covered area.
I'd use the premier one hot plates on the lower two levels where chicks over 7-10 days old would be old enough to not require the most heat... Then I'd use a premier one heat lamp(s) on the top level.
I brood outside in Jan so my thought process is among those lines. If you brood inside I wouldn't use heat lamp at all and only heat plates.
I think there is an old pic of my brooder on here somewhere. I will see if i can find it. We converted what we suspect was an old rabbit hutch in the barn.
 
This is the brooder we have used for several years now.
It is outside and I set my first hatch in here on Jan 20th this year (even when we got below zero at night they go outside). I don't put them outside until they are 24 hrs old., they are under a heat plate until then.
http://www.premier1supplies.com/detail.php?prod_id=120893&cat_id=173

Just out of this picture to the right is the south side door opening of the barn. I have not lost one chick out of several hundred this year after putting them outside. Just my opinion, but I think not babying them makes them hardier. When it is supposed to be high winds and/or get below 30 I do pin towels to the perimeter to cut the breeze at night. I never cover the top which is also hardware cloth lids which flip up via the back hinges.

The left side has a lower heat lamp, the right side has one hung from above.
There is plenty of room to get warm, or to move away at will.
I find that 20 chicks in each side is a good number. Because I hatch about 80 in every 3 week period, I always time my sales/shipments so that 2 out of every 4 hatchings gets shipped out every 3 weeks. I don't get over crowded that way. (I have another brooder also across the hall like this one).
They do get the afternoon sun, so the right end is plywood to permit escape from the direct sun if necessary or as a wind break when it's breezy..
Chicks are usually in the left side for the first 3 weeks, the right side for the 2nd 3 weeks, and then I move them down to the section below on the ground for a few weeks until I can get them to the outside grow out pens.
This rotation takes a little time every three weeks, but it also guarantees I handle, examine, and band. I just set aside an hour or two every three weeks to rotate and replace bedding.

The buckets you see have several chicken nipples on the bottom and the chicks learn to drink from them from day one. THE BEST invention ever imo.
yesss.gif

This cuts WAY down on mess and I never have to worry about messy water.
Because I brood in the winter these buckets also allow for enough size to drop a stock tank deicer (or bird bath deicer as some folks use), down in each bucket and I never have to worry about freezing water.
http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/farm-innovators-multi-use-utility-deicer-250-watt

When the low temps at night are above 50 I quit using heat lamps and use heat plates instead.
A LOT less electricity and zero fire hazard. Although all heat lamps except the one you see here are premier one heat lamps with the fire proof cover on them.
http://www.premier1supplies.com/detail.php?prod_id=18266&cat_id=173
I have had some of these heat lamps for more than 9 years... they are awesome.

Under the shavings is the corrugated plastic sheeting I mentioned above. It slides right out and you can hose it off.
The bottom pen is for teenagers (chickens not humans). Although...???
big_smile.png

No heat and it's right on the dirt. I like it that way because they learn to dust at a young age and they are introduced to the things in the dirt to encourage healthy immune systems.
In this pic I had a couple of hens in the lower section so I added a milk crate for a nesting box. But normally there are 6-9 week old chicks in this pen... I simply wasn't using it yet when this pic was taken.

 
cmom said:
I put wire in the bottom just over 2" up off the bottom and use 3 of these trays with wood litter/shavings in the trays for the poop in each brooder compartment. I used 1/2 x 1/2 wire.


This was when I was wiring it for the lights.
Click to expand...

Got me looking in people's backyards to see if they have some "junk" they want to get rid of. One man's junk is another man's treasure
big_smile.png
 
My Reese chicks are due to hatch on Tuesday. I candled them before I put them in the hatcher and there are 2 that are possible quitters. I marked them.
 

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