EmmaDonovan
Free Ranging
The outdoor brooder is solid wood on the top and bottom and sides. The front and back are mostly hardware cloth. It is 8' long by 3.5' wide and 3' tall.
It sits about three feet off the ground against a wall corner and partially under an overhang. The back is against the wall (a few inches away from it, for air circulation) and we have access via doors in front.
It has two 10"x10" brooder plates with feathers and pine shavings over puppy pads. We clean it daily.
Our daytime temperatures are mid 60s to mid 80s. Nighttime temps are upper 40s to upper 50s. We have had a little rain but we don't get storms or freezing rain/sleet/snow this time of year.
When it rains we put a tarp loosely over the brooder, mostly to protect the wood (it is painted on the outside). There is still plenty of ventilation, and rain cannot get inside the brooder.
We have six chicks who were two weeks old when we got them. They are almost three weeks old now. They have been doing fine outside.
We are getting nine more chicks this weekend. They will be one day old.
All of the chicks are standard sized breeds (Bielefelder, RIR, Easter egger, black austrolorp, white leghorn).
Two questions:
1. Is it warm enough to keep day-old chicks in the outdoor brooder?
2. Is it okay to add day-old chicks to the three-week-old chicks?
It sits about three feet off the ground against a wall corner and partially under an overhang. The back is against the wall (a few inches away from it, for air circulation) and we have access via doors in front.
It has two 10"x10" brooder plates with feathers and pine shavings over puppy pads. We clean it daily.
Our daytime temperatures are mid 60s to mid 80s. Nighttime temps are upper 40s to upper 50s. We have had a little rain but we don't get storms or freezing rain/sleet/snow this time of year.
When it rains we put a tarp loosely over the brooder, mostly to protect the wood (it is painted on the outside). There is still plenty of ventilation, and rain cannot get inside the brooder.
We have six chicks who were two weeks old when we got them. They are almost three weeks old now. They have been doing fine outside.
We are getting nine more chicks this weekend. They will be one day old.
All of the chicks are standard sized breeds (Bielefelder, RIR, Easter egger, black austrolorp, white leghorn).
Two questions:
1. Is it warm enough to keep day-old chicks in the outdoor brooder?
2. Is it okay to add day-old chicks to the three-week-old chicks?