What’s your chick set up?

[meganmtea]

Chick season is around the corner and we’re still trying to find the best set up for new chicks. We’re usually using a tub with a screened top and a heater but we’ve never found the best way to keep things clean. What does everyone else’s set up look like? Would love to see pics!

 

[debid]

Mine is outside next to the adult run. It's just a small coop with a hardware cloth enclosure that runs alongside the adult enclosure so they will see each other for weeks before having full contact. I use a heating pad that's on a wire frame for a substitute hen inside the building portion. It puts out enough heat to keep their water from freezing, too. I have a pop door cover for the first few days of homing and then give them access to their baby run. It's full surround hardware cloth so predators are not an issue. This means they don't have soil access so I have a big rubber feed bowl that I fill with dirt and grit for them.

It needs cleaned before they arrive, it doubles as emergency housing for an adult hen and was used for a few days when there was an egg eating incident. Oh, the white floor is a washing machine drip tray. The whole floor slides out to dump shavings and be washed, the building was sized to fit that. Electric comes in at the upper left corner where there is a hole just barely big enough to shove the plug for the heating pad through.

 

[Tookie]

Last time I had chicks, I kept them inside in a dog crate. I used a brooder plate and puppy pads. It was in June so I kicked them out at a few weeks old.
Puppy pads are nice and easy to clean up, and aren't like pine shavings getting everywhere. The only thing is the chicks do get messier feet.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My 3 ft x 6 ft brooder was in the coop. It was elevated about 2 ft and had a 1/2" hardware cloth floor so poop would fall through. I had plastic bins underneath to make it easy to manage the poop. In colder weather I put a piece of plywood inside so they had a solid floor to sleep on so they would stay warmer. When poop built up a little I'd tilt it and scrape it off so the poop could fall through the floor into a bin.

The sides were also 1/2" hardware cloth. In cold weather I'd cover the sides with plastic film (3 mm thick) to block breezes. They still had good ventilation up high. In warmer weather I'd bring that plastic film up about 8" from the floor to give them some wind protection but leave it open above that for ventilation. The plastic film would reach to the ground to keep the hens from laying under there and block wind from underneath.

The top was a flat piece of plywood that acted as a droppings board as the roosts were above the brooder. When poop built up on it I'd scrape it off and dump it in the compost pile.

In cold weather I'd use a 250 watt heat lamp in one end for warmth. In hot weather I'd use a 150 or 75 watt bulb. The far end would be at ambient temperature. In winter it might have ice on it but the heated area stayed toasty. In winter I'd have the waterer near the heat lamp so it would not freeze.

When the chicks were about 5 weeks old I'd open the door to the brooder. They had grown up with the flock so that was all it took for integration. The chicks generally did not sleep on the roosts with the adults until the pullets started laying. They would usually sleep on the coop floor until they were ready to sleep on the juvenile roost I provided, lower than the main roosts and separated a few feet horizontally from the main roosts. When I was slow getting down there in the morning to let them out the chicks would be up on the main roosts while the adults were on the coop floor.

 

[thecatumbrella]

I use stock tanks for basement brooding. We have a 2'x6' and an upgraded 3'x8'. Filled with hemp. I hand-pick poops from the high volume areas (like under the heat plate each morning or around the feeder), but other than that, the bedding lasts until they're ready to move out. Anti-roost cone on the heat plate to prevent them from pooping on it, vertical water nipple to keep the water clean, and this cool chick stand from Premier 1 to keep them from knocking bedding into the feeder. The feeder can also be suspended from the wire lid to prevent beaking.

My setup certainly won't work for everybody, but I've got it close to perfect for us.

 

[BoundlessLove]

I use stock tanks for basement brooding. We have a 2'x6' and an upgraded 3'x8'. Filled with hemp. I hand-pick poops from the high volume areas (like under the heat plate each morning or around the feeder), but other than that, the bedding lasts until they're ready to move out. Anti-roost cone on the heat plate to prevent them from pooping on it, vertical water nipple to keep the water clean, and this cool chick stand from Premier 1 to keep them from knocking bedding into the feeder. The feeder can also be suspended from the wire lid to prevent beaking.

My setup certainly won't work for everybody, but I've got it close to perfect for us.

Oh, Yay! You have chicks again.

 

[thecatumbrella]

Oh, Yay! You have chicks again.

Sadly, no. Those are the lunatic bantams.
Decided to take a year off and dote on everyone else's baby chicks!

 

[BoundlessLove]

Sadly, no. Those are the lunatic bantams.
Decided to take a year off and dote on everyone else's baby chicks!

Oh, yes, That is understandable.

 

[rosemarythyme]

My outdoor set up requires no cleaning. I simply move the brooder as needed to a cleaner area. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/short-on-time-recycle-a-prefab-brooder.73985/