What should be in a brooder box.

[gervais22]

I'm building my brooder box, what should be in it like food water ETC.

I have a heat lamp, Water stand but no food tray, should I just use a small tub for the food.(There's only two chicks)

 

[lockedhearts]

IN a pinch I use a plastic lid. Of course when they first go in(newborns) I have them on papertowels and the food just spronkled on the towels. I usually do this for a couple days until the get the pecking = eating thing down and then I add the food container and remove the towels.
I just made a temporary brooder for my 3 "surprise" chicks hatched yesterday, I used a cardboard box , works nicely.

 

[tiki244]

CHICKS

 

[Chick_a_dee]

I haven't built my box yet, BUT what I'm putting in mine is a layer of peatmoss, then some extra thick bounty paper towels (they hold the moisture better

), i'll also be putting one of those metal pie plate looking day-old chick feeders in, actually in reality 3 because we have 15 chicks coming, and we've given enough feeding space for each chick, plus extra space. We have two small chick waterers, the ones with the 1 quart jar on it, but we used a smaller waterer only because we're putting the brooder in our office where we usually have our whelping box for our puppies, plus we're building a small, barely off the floor roost for them.


Naturally, food in the feeder, water in the waterer... my only concern is I'm not certain what food I should buy! all I can find at my local tractor supply (TSC) is chick start n grow, but on the label it says it's for broilers, and I can't find anything else. We have a Farm Supply, County co-op store too, so I'm just going to ask the guy there what I should get, and since that's where we're getting our chicks from, he'll know

plus, he has chickens of his own.

 

[gervais22]

Ok so I haven't missed anything out

 

[kburen]

Since it's on the same topic....Is it ok to use one of those big storage container things as a brooder? The chicks at school (mine and one more teacher) are due to hatch Wednesday. I got us each one of the clear big tubs. My BF cut one side of the top out and we're putting...i think it's called carpenters colth... over that square (heat lamp will be on that side) and on the other half he drilled 16 7/8 inch holes for more circulation. I'd rather have the top on it at school so that the kids won't have their hands in there when they shouldn't. I know it's not a lot of space, but the chicks will be going to a farm for their perminent home within 2 or 3 weeks.

 

[Dawn419]

Quote:
It should be fine, depending on just how many chicks will be in each one. I use an 18 - 20 gallon Rubbermaid storage container as a beginning brooder (right after they come out of the incubator). In a couple days, they get moved to the big brooder that is just over 2' high x 2' foot wide by 4' long.

Here's a pic...

Hope this helps!

Dawn