BROODER thread! Post pics of your brooders!

[Seatrout00]

Thank you aart. I lost my first batch of chicks - I had made a little brooder type thing for them with a heating pad and a shoe box - putting the heating pad over the top of the shoe box, and the shoe box sides were cut out, so the chicks could go under it - sadly they wouldn't go under it, even though I put them under it, and most of them died. It never occurred to me that the chicks wouldn't seek out warmth if they were too cool.

This time around, I will have a heating pad under the shoe box, rather than on top of it, and will have a 150watt heat bulb on the other end.

 

[aart]

Are you implying that they died from the cold?
Too much heat can be just as bad.

Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:
They need to be pretty warm(~85-90F on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.


Or you could go with a heat plate, commercially made or DIY: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/pseudo-brooder-heater-plate

 

[lazy gardener]

Aart gives excellent advice. The other comment I'd like to add is that first time chick brooders tend to choose a brooder box that is too small. Those chicks will grow fast. And, even given the size and needs of a newly hatched chick, I can't tell you how often I see chicks packed into a box with a lamp over it that is just simply absolutely too small. Folks forget that the food and water will take up room, and the sides of the box will hold the heat in. Those chicks in a natural environment would have about a square foot of warm space under the hen. The entire remainder of their environment is what ever the outdoor temperature is. And they have LOTS of room to be chicks, explore, and learn. Too small a space, too much heat, boredom... those issues add up to a clutch of chicks that may be prone to stress, disease and aggression. Once you have a batch of chicks that are beating up on each other, perhaps even cannibalizing each other, it's a difficult, and sometimes impossible habit to correct.

 

[Mrblue5150]

This is my brooder. 7 chicks. Seems to be good so far (10 days old). I'm using the Ecoglow20. They like it so far. I just raised it this morning because they have grown fast. They are active and like running and flying in the brooder.

It's a 55 gal tub

 

[Seatrout00]

Are you implying that they died from the cold?
Too much heat can be just as bad.

Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:
They need to be pretty warm(~85-90F on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.


Or you could go with a heat plate, commercially made or DIY: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/pseudo-brooder-heater-plate

I really appreciate your advice. This time around I purchased a heat bulb and a clip on heat lamp. I am also going to keep their little nest cave thing going with a heating pad just in case the heat lamp isn't warm enough - if the chicks avoid the heated cave for the first night, I'll remove it - they certainly don't have to have it. I purchased a 150 watt heat bulb - figuring that will be enough for my dog crate - I am keeping them in a dog crate with shavings on the floor and towels over the outside - to keep it warmer. My house is around 70 degrees, so I am figuring on keeping the dog crate/brooder around 95 degrees - listening for soft peeps as opposed to loud peeps. If they are peeping loudly and the thermometer says 95 degrees, I'll pull the heat lamp further back from the brooder to try to cool it a few degrees.

I think what surprised me most about losing our chicks is that they didn't seek out the warmth when I made them the heat cave, they flocked to the door where it was 70 degrees and stayed there. I never imagined that tiny chicks would CHOOSE to stay too cold. It just made no sense to me. In addition to this, I only ever saw one eat food and two drink water - most of them wouldn't do it, no matter how often I dipped their beaks in the source.

 

[kristip]

I can use some tips and tricks and advice please! So in the past we have gotten a large rubbermade tote and housed the chicks in there for first two weeks or so in the house and then moved them to garage under heat lamp in a kiddie pool with an xpen around it and chicken wire thrown over the top... functional but not beautiful. We hatch between 10-16 chicks on average. After 4 years of doing this hubby has decided to make me a brooder for when they move from plastic tote to garage.

His thought is to make it 7-8 feet long and 2-3 feet wide but 2 feet off ground so not get cold and to put woodchips and food under it. In most cases this would mean the top would open up which we have to make sure my 9 year old daughter can get in there as she helps with the chicks. I have seen some nice ones that appear to be close to this size but wall mounted...so little higher up. And when wall mounted then has front doors that can open.

I saw an example of one that was corner wall mounted that was really nice... two stories so could be seperated. Also hoping this could be a breeding pen for my OEGB trio... when not hatching chicks.

thoughts and opinions. There are over 300 pages here so so much to see...trust me I have been perusing but only 50 pages in before my eyes started to cross...

 

[kristip]

Quote: Yeah, would have to be low table...after cobbling several brooders, I had this one built..30 x 36 tall x 72 long
Front openings can be leaned into pretty easy to reach all corners, it's sitting on veg crates about 16" high.



last cobbled refrigerator box brooder

AART... can you tell me dimesions of the wooden coop you built. It looks nice!

 

[aart]

Quote:

Front openings can be leaned into pretty easy to reach all corners, it's sitting on veg crates about 16" high.

AART... can you tell me dimesions of the wooden coop you built. It looks nice!

It's 30" deep, 72" long and 36" high.

 

[toofarout]

AART, when did you post the photos of this brooder? I can't view it any larger unless I go to the original post. Thanks, Sue

 

[aart]

AART, when did you post the photos of this brooder? I can't view it any larger unless I go to the original post. Thanks, Sue

Click on the green arrow next to my username on the quoted post with the pic to go to the original post.