DIY chick Brooder
Well, our chick brooder phase with this batch of chicks has come to an end. Our chickens stayed in their brooder for eight weeks. Basically we kept them crammed in there until our coop and run were ready. I would say the pullets were comfortable in the brooder until they reached 6.5 weeks in age. That last week and a half, it was clear they needed more space and could go without the warmer.
However, eight weeks with 15 chicks in the brooder is pretty impressive. My go-big-or-go-home philosophy came in handy.
Our DIY chick brooder included:
- metal feed trough
- nipple waterer
- 1 litre feeder
- Paper towels
- Grippy shelf liner
- A radiant heater
At three weeks we added:
- Pine shavings
- Plastic mesh for over the trough
Our metal trough was 2ft x 6ft x 2ft. So, our chicks had 12 square feet of roaming space and the sides were two feet high. This provided plenty of space for 15 chicks to get exercise and poop to their hearts’ content. The best deal on metal feed troughs I can find is to order online at Tractor Supply and select ‘pick up in store’.
For a feeder and waterer we used some cheap basic options through Amazon. For feed, I used whatever un-medicated starter crumbles the feed place had in stock. (Purina) However, I admit the kids brought the pullets plenty of dandelion greens and worms to snack on as well.
I set the waterer on a brick rather than trying to hang it from the side.
For the bottom of the trough, I first layed some newspaper, then topped it with the grip shelving liner. You don’t want young chicks trotting around on plain newspaper since it can be slick, which can lead to them developing splayed legs. I soon found that the liner was a pain to clean and dry, and switched to laying textured paper towels over the paper.
For heat, I skipped a heat lamp due to fire hazards and went with the Titan Incubators 12″ X 12″ Brooder Hen/Electric Mama Hen Low 20w Chick Heat Plate.
This heater has adjustable legs to raise it higher as the chicks grow. The only downside to it, is it gets covered in baked on poop.
For cleaning, I cleaned more often than most people normally would. It was Not because I am paranoid about bacteria. It isn’t helpful for chick immune systems to keep the brooder crazy clean. My reason for cleaning so much was simply because we had the brooder in our kitchen and it stunk. And our house was for sale at the time!
Cleaning Our brooder consisted of changing out the paper and paper towels, plus hosing off the heater, feeder, and waterer. Everything gets covered in dried poo pretty quickly, so it took a lot of hosing.
At three weeks, I replaced paper towels with pine shavings. (NOT cedar.) The pine shavings do a great job of absorbing odor and moisture, but it also creates a TON of dust. As soon as we added shavings, I was cleaning and dusting constantly. However, this is Minnesota and there is nowhere to keep a chick brooder warm enough outside the house.
By the time the pullets hit three weeks old, they were flying out of the 2ft high trough, so we added some plastic garden mesh over the top.
When the chicks were 6 weeks old, we moved house. Which meant we put the whole trough in the back of our Subaru, with all 15 chickens, and drove all over town, then 50 miles to the new home. And they stayed in the garage after this point until going into the run.
When you add this to the fact that we live in Minnesota and it was 20°F when the day old chicks were delivered, I am pretty impressed that all 15 survived. Of course, having all 15 make it all these months has us in a scramble since our original coop can really only house about 8-9 full grown hens. Luckily, there is another dilapidated coop we found on our new property that we can refurbish and attach to the chicken run.
At 11 weeks old, the chickens can all fit in our nine bird coop. Once we have the second coop attached to the run, our 15 heritage hens should have 116 square feet of secure space for their new country lifestyle!
Pingback: 15 DIY Chick Brooder Ideas For Poultry Lover - DIYS
Pingback: 15 Easy DIY Chicken Brooder Plans You Can Make