Traditional Brooder vs. Wool Hen

[Kacey Elle]

Possibility One:

Traditional brooder, indoors, with a heat pad/plate set-up. We are brooding at a school and we'd be in a tiny janitor's closet (not ideal).

Possibility Two:

Brooding either completely outdoors or in an outdoor shed using a wool hen (no electricity for traditional heating).

Information:
22 day-old chicks have been ordered and will arrive the second week of April.
First time raising chicks.
Cost is not really an issue.
Average temperatures for April are highs of 70 and lows of 48.

The question: Is it better to brood indoors in a traditional fashion and deal with very cramped quarters and lots of dust or to brood outdoors with non-traditional means but be able to handle chicks much easier?

 

[imnukensc]

Go with option 1 until they can safely be outside with no heat. If you go with option 2 you'll almost certainly end up with 22 dead chicks.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I would worry about the fumes from the cleaning agents in the janitors closet.
I brood out in the barn with the Mama Heating Pad - so electric needed. When we moved in, the previous owner had left one of those tiny (3'x8') pre-fab chicken coop/run combo from the farm store. I placed it in a stall area that we covered with chicken wire.
The chicks go into the closed-in coop area to begin with - the MHP is in the nest box area. I tape clear plastic sheeting over the pop door to keep out the drafts. When they get big enough, I open the pop door and they get access to the ramp and all the space below where I move their food to. Once they figure out the ramp - they love to race up and down it, hopping around and flapping their wings.
About 4 weeks old and they have the entire stall area to play in and MHP is gone.

 

[Ranchwithaview]

Tough choice. I would work on making a good nest for them outside. But, it might still be good to have them inside for a week. Too bad they can't be in the classroom, or library for a week. I had to move my chicks out early. I wanted them all to be at least two weeks old. Two were 2.5 weeks, one almost 2 weeks and the other was 1.5 weeks. I have been anxious about them, but they are doing well. However, they have a wool hen and a chick heating pad. The temps are also lower than you will have when you get yours.

 

[Kacey Elle]

@imnukensc Do you think a week or two indoors is enough, with the warm temps here?

@Ranchwithaview I *might* be able to negotiate that with the principal. He was a hard no on keeping them indoors in a classroom for a month or more but I could probably wrangle a week. Do you think that would be long enough if our temps are as high as they are? Do yours seem to be okay with the wool hen or do they congregate more around the heating pad?

 

[Ranchwithaview]

@imnukensc Do you think a week or two indoors is enough, with the warm temps here?

@Ranchwithaview I *might* be able to negotiate that with the principal. He was a hard no on keeping them indoors in a classroom for a month or more but I could probably wrangle a week. Do you think that would be long enough if our temps are as high as they are? Do yours seem to be okay with the wool hen or do they congregate more around the heating pad?

The wool hen is over the heating pad. It's a low voltage one. You might be able to run one off a battery set up, since money isn't a problem. They only are on the pad and under the hen at night. First thing in the morning they are out, even though their coop is only 40 degrees. I also only have 4 chicks. Yours might keep warmer having so many.

 

[imnukensc]

@imnukensc Do you think a week or two indoors is enough, with the warm temps here?

Since you're not getting them until mid April, two weeks inside will probably be enough to put them outside.

 

[Kacey Elle]

@imnukensc and @Ranchwithaview Thanks! You've both given me a lot to consider.

 

[Ranchwithaview]

@imnukensc and @Ranchwithaview Thanks! You've both given me a lot to consider.

You're welcome. Please let us know what you go with and how it works out.

 

[Eilsel]

I’m not an expert by any means but if you start them indoors with electric heat it seems to me they may have a harder transition to outdoors with no electricity. For more experiences chicken keepers: would it be better to start inside with the wool hen (stable temp environment, probably around 68F in a school) if you were going to transfer to no heat outside at 2 wk, where the high temps are similar but it will be cooler at night?