So as I'm almost done with my coop and I realized that I will be going to get chicks on Saturday and, hhhmmmm, I have no brooder! The good news is that my dog no longer needs her old cage...so I cleaned it with my "sugarglider safe" cleaner (Scooter's Choice Cage Disinfectant & Cleaner) cut an area for the heat lamp covered the area with my turtle tank cover..and...done? lol (yes I got a small zoo) I have a heat lamp with a 40w reptile bulb, the heat can be regulated. I will be having 5 or 6 chicks in there from 1 to 3 weeks (depending on what I can find at the swap). I have a water bottle already there. I need a feeder some little roost on the ground, I have pine shavings and that's all (???) So would this work for the amount of birds (5 or 6) is 34" long x 24" wide am I missing something??? The front, you can see the water bottle....(and the door can be closed and "locked") The top opening ( you can see the lamp regulator on this pic Ventilation all around!! Thanks for your imput
I've never tried a water bottle like that for chicks, it may or may not work. If not, just get a regular one.
Looks great! will new chicks drink out of a water bottle?? I'm kinda new to all this too..but we had to dip our new chicks beaks in the water first to let them know it was there...we had a reg "feeder" type waterer with the red tray in the bottom..I hear they are attracted to red and we put marbles in so they wouldnt drown in it. A water bottle like yours wouldve kept their water much cleaner! Maybe dab red nail polish on the end? Edited to add...in any case it's up way too high Also I didnt even need a heat lamp as they were in my bathroom and it doesnt get much of the AC in there. I made a little perch out of 1x2
Quote:I'm also going to provide a regular water "plate" initially, but I was told, and I've seen from a BYC member's chicks (a few weeks old) using the bottle...so I hope mine as as smart as her's and learn how to use it. lol I plan on using a niple system on the coop...so I figured I would get them started early! lol Thermometer..HA I knew I was forgetting something!!!!
Edited to add...in any case it's up way too high Also I didnt even need a heat lamp as they were in my bathroom and it doesnt get much of the AC in there. I made a little perch out of 1x2 Quoting myself as I was editing as you were posting
The kennel looks great. You may want to have a stronger watt bulb for the first 2-3 weeks. I used 100 watt and there were 3 chicks to where I had to lower the light real low and I fully covered the wire kennel to prevent drafts.
My only concern would be having a heat lamp so close the plastic top...I've found anything that close gets very, very hot...very quickly! My lamp was just 75 watts, but it would easily melt plastic just a few inches away. My first bulb was 250 watts, it took me about 30 seconds to realize that it was a danger! I tried getting my chicks to switch to a water bottle like that, but only one of them ever used it at all. Now that they're a little older, I moved the bottle to their run where they all happily drink from it.
