Too big for brooder?

[montana girl]

I just wanted to say that I too have 14 chicks inside. What my husband did was to go out behind Sears and get two large appliance boxes. He did some cutting, used some duct tape and the reslut was a brooder that is about 4 1/2 feet long by 3 1/2 feet wide. He had a piece of plexiglass that he cut a hole for in the side and used duct tape as well to put that on. All 14 are happy, although the (who are almost 6 weeks) are going to be going out to the coop today or tomorrow.

here is the brooder, you can't quite see all of it, but you get the idea " )

I cannot imagine the mess you have on your hands! I have to clean this brooder each morning! You must have to clean that out several times a day!

Good luck to you!

Darlene

 

[averytds]

Last year we kept ours inside for about 14 weeks. We used one of the EX large kennels too and just blocked off around the sides.

 

[Barry Natchitoches]

Quote:
Last year my 8 chicks grew out of their brooder at about 2 weeks. It was a clear rubbermaid tote about 3 feet by 2 feet by 2 feet high, with a top that I made out of wood frame with wire mesh screwed on to it.

So I quickly made a second wood frame top and bought another rubbermaid tote and separated them into groups of 4: the 4 Rhode Island Reds in one brooder, and the 4 buff orpingtons in the other brooder.

They stayed separated like that for 2 more weeks, till I got one of those dog pens with a plastic tray down bottom that was big enough for all eight.


They were separated for only two weeks.

When I brought them back together, there wasn't any fighting, but I did notice that the reds stayed to themselves in one part of the dog pen and the buffs stayed together in another part of the dog pen. This went on for several days until they began mixing it up again.

By two weeks after reunification, you would never have known they were separated for a time.


But I have to admit, I worried about it right after I brought them back together.


Interestingly, I also made a mental note NEVER to separate little chicks like that again...

 

[terri9630]

Quote:
This is what I did. We have English Mastiffs so we have large crates. My chicks are 6 weeks old and I have 5 chicks in one and 6 in the other. I used a tarp to go under both crates and up the sides/back. They do get shavings out the front but I didn't want to block the gates and by having the crates side by sides with the tarp under both the chicks can see/interact with each other.