We are finally at the phase of our small farm where we are ready to add chickens. I have a small trailer that I picked up at an auction that I've been cleaning up and modifying to house a flock of layers. The long-term plan for the flock is transit the less steep areas of our farm alongside our flock of sheep.
Here's a slightly out-of-date shot of the coop. The top is covered in 1/4" hardware cloth and it has a sheet metal roof on top of that, the top 1' is entirely open (besides the hardware cloth), and the metal roofing stands off the ventilated top by 3.5", so between that and the open floor, I think we'll be fine as far as ventilation goes. The walls will be sheet metal, and we have an automatic door as well.
The plan for brooding is to park this in our unheated shop. The bottom and opening to the nest box will be covered in cardboard to prevent drafts, I have a heat lamp I can hang from the top, and I'm going to make a mama cave out of a heating pad I have, but we will be getting around 45 chicks, so I think having both sources of heat will be necessary. For water, I'll get a cheap chick waterer for them to use while they're small before transitioning to nipples and cups being fed from a 5 gallon bucket. My hope is to keep the bucket close enough to the heat lamp to prevent it from freezing, but I can pick up an aquarium heater if I need to. For food, I once again have a cheap little chick feeder and transition them to the PVC elbow type as soon as they're big enough to reach their little heads in there. For bedding, it's up in the air between pine pellets and shavings, but I think I'd prefer the pellets, all things being equal. I have a pretty large box I plan to put them in, inside the tractor for the first week or so just to make sure nobody gets lost or anything, then let them out into the whole area as they get bigger and more active. We are located in Kentucky, our chicks are arriving in late Feb, so the weather could be anything between 60F, or 10F.
It's been several years since I've had chickens (we had them in the suburbs before we moved to the country, but it's taken a minute to get our house built and be on site), and there's no way I'd be willing to brood them inside ever again. What am I missing? Is there more that I should consider?
Here's a slightly out-of-date shot of the coop. The top is covered in 1/4" hardware cloth and it has a sheet metal roof on top of that, the top 1' is entirely open (besides the hardware cloth), and the metal roofing stands off the ventilated top by 3.5", so between that and the open floor, I think we'll be fine as far as ventilation goes. The walls will be sheet metal, and we have an automatic door as well.
The plan for brooding is to park this in our unheated shop. The bottom and opening to the nest box will be covered in cardboard to prevent drafts, I have a heat lamp I can hang from the top, and I'm going to make a mama cave out of a heating pad I have, but we will be getting around 45 chicks, so I think having both sources of heat will be necessary. For water, I'll get a cheap chick waterer for them to use while they're small before transitioning to nipples and cups being fed from a 5 gallon bucket. My hope is to keep the bucket close enough to the heat lamp to prevent it from freezing, but I can pick up an aquarium heater if I need to. For food, I once again have a cheap little chick feeder and transition them to the PVC elbow type as soon as they're big enough to reach their little heads in there. For bedding, it's up in the air between pine pellets and shavings, but I think I'd prefer the pellets, all things being equal. I have a pretty large box I plan to put them in, inside the tractor for the first week or so just to make sure nobody gets lost or anything, then let them out into the whole area as they get bigger and more active. We are located in Kentucky, our chicks are arriving in late Feb, so the weather could be anything between 60F, or 10F.
It's been several years since I've had chickens (we had them in the suburbs before we moved to the country, but it's taken a minute to get our house built and be on site), and there's no way I'd be willing to brood them inside ever again. What am I missing? Is there more that I should consider?
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