When to cover brooder??

[spryng]

Hello All! I have been a lurker for over 2 years now, just waiting for the time in my life when I could be a proud chicken lady too! Well, I finally bought the perfect property, country, with 10 acres and I'm so ready for my first chickens! I thought I was ready, I'm picking them up tomorrow (5 chicks and 3 keets) but I keep reading about how they will jump or fly out of the brooder. I was going to use one of those small plastic kiddie pools as the brooder, but now I think that may be too short so I'm going to use my round dog kennel (it's like a cage dog playpen but no top) and then put cardboard up the sides so they can't squeeze between the bars. It's about 2 ft tall, at how many weeks will I need something to enclose the top? right away or a few weeks in? Thanks! Here is a link to the playpen and I can make it much smaller.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00377WL46/?tag=backy-20

 

[SueT]

Mine could hop to the top of a 2' brooder in about 3 weeks. But I had branches in there for them to roost and play on. You will probably want to have something like that for yours. Make your top right away, and you won't have to worry about it.
Welcome to BYC, I look forward to seeing pics of your chicks!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

That will probably be too short. I haven't raised keets from day olds but I imagine they will be more mobile than chicks.
I have good success with large moving boxes from Lowes and Home Depot. They are about $1.40 each and when you are finished, you can compost them, feces, box, bedding, waste feed and all.

 

[spryng]

Yeah, I thought that may be too short, I will start working on my lid then because sounds like in 2-3 weeks they are gonna be Houdinis lol I have some cardboard pieces I can piece together to make a lid and just drill holes here and there for extra ventilation.
I love the large moving box idea, do you still need to use a lid on those?

 

[HennyPenny2019]

Hello All! I have been a lurker for over 2 years now, just waiting for the time in my life when I could be a proud chicken lady too! Well, I finally bought the perfect property, country, with 10 acres and I'm so ready for my first chickens! I thought I was ready, I'm picking them up tomorrow (5 chicks and 3 keets) but I keep reading about how they will jump or fly out of the brooder. I was going to use one of those small plastic kiddie pools as the brooder, but now I think that may be too short so I'm going to use my round dog kennel (it's like a cage dog playpen but no top) and then put cardboard up the sides so they can't squeeze between the bars. It's about 2 ft tall, at how many weeks will I need something to enclose the top? right away or a few weeks in? Thanks! Here is a link to the playpen and I can make it much smaller.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00377WL46/?tag=backy-20

Welcome to the flock and congratulations on finding your farm! I’ve been searching for a couple months for a place to buy or land to build on so I too could finally be a proud chicken woman ... no lunch so far.

 

[spryng]

Welcome to the flock and congratulations on finding your farm! I’ve been searching for a couple months for a place to buy or land to build on so I too could finally be a proud chicken woman ... no lunch so far.

Thank you! and yeah, took me two years to find the perfect place, so don't give up! you'll find that dream location and start your flock too!!

 

[HennyPenny2019]

Welcome to the flock and congratulations on finding your farm! I’ve been searching for a couple months for a place to buy or land to build on so I too could finally be a proud chicken woman ... no lunch so far.

I hate auto correct ... that’s luck .. not lunch

 

[Tooshay89]

I also use a kiddie pool for a brooder. Usually by 2 weeks old, I wrap a piece of welded wire around the pool so they can't fly out. It's super simple to remove when I need to get to the chicks or clean the brooder.

 

[spryng]

I also use a kiddie pool for a brooder. Usually by 2 weeks old, I wrap a piece of welded wire around the pool so they can't fly out. It's super simple to remove when I need to get to the chicks or clean the brooder.

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I love that!! yes, that was the same sized pool I have so good to know it's definitely gonna be too short really quickly. I will look into that wire and then you didn't need a lid? what is the height of the wire?

 

[Tooshay89]

I love that!! yes, that was the same sized pool I have so good to know it's definitely gonna be too short really quickly. I will look into that wire and then you didn't need a lid? what is the height of the wire?

I love the kiddie pool brooder method! I've tried a few different things but I love being able to dump out the shavings and clean out the plastic really easily.

I've raised large fowl chicks and I've never had any escapees and I don't use lid of any kind. I have the 36" tall welded wire (1 inch x 1 inch) but I'm sure you could even go to 48" if you were planning to brood them in there for an extended amount of time. I live in Florida so my chicks go out to the coop sooner than some of those brooding in colder temps.