Good info overall but could be more informative about some things. We have used PawHuts as brooders. They are spacious, easy to maintain, and fold up after the chicks are old enough to move out. There is also plenty of room for a heat lamp at one end and the chicks will place themselves where they are comfortable. We have 21 hatchlings in two PawHuts together. They love flying from one side to the other. We have seen problems with some warming plates so if you use one choose carefully. We don't use real heat lamps because they are too hot. The first week we use a 150 watt floodlight. Second week a 100 watt incandescent bulb. After that a ceramic heater works well and the chicks will sleep at night in the dark. Reduce the temperature by 5 degrees weekly until the chicks are fully fledged and no longer need a heater. Be sure to provide lots of food and water. They are voracious eaters and drinkers. I change their water several times a day and make sure they don't run out of food.
Great article for someone getting started. I use a pop up playpen as a brooder. I use clamps to keep it smaller at first. Starting with puppy pads is also useful so I donāt have to worry about shavings being eaten. Iāll add the shavings when they are about a week old! Let me know if you would like a picture of my brooder set up to add
Well done, and well explained! I deducted a star because I think that you could have added more pictures, and could have mentioned other types of brooders like a melon box brooder and a puppy playpen brooder. I also think that it would be good to discuss pet proofing- many dogs and cats have will be inclined to eat baby chicks, and therefore protection is an important part of constructing a brooder. Overall, this is very informative and well written, albeit having a few gaps. Good job!
Thank you! The reason I only mentioned a few Brooders, was because I aimed towards focusing on my top 4. Perhaps I should update with more. A lot of time went into writing about each once, so doing so many would be hard. And thank you for mentioning the picture thing! I have a crap ton of photos on my phone and it took ages to locate them all. A couple I still havenāt dug deep enough for. I never thought about mentioning pet proofing, I will certainly take that into consideration for another update of the article. Iām continuously updating with advice from readers, so thank you for your honest review
I love you article!! I think it's got some great info for people new to raising chicks, or for experienced people looking for new thoughts on brooders
Overall, great job!
Great article. Very explanatory and will surely be helpful. Though, something I would like to add. I use a heat plate when raising my chicks, I like to raise the front legs higher than the other, so if a chick gets too cold it can go father back and get closer to the heat source, or if it's to hot it can go forward farther from the heat source.