BROODER thread! Post pics of your brooders!

[2mnypets]

If you can't get the troughs in the house then you could just go find a really big box. Like a fridge box or something around that size. Better to keep them all together since introductions will be a lot harder later. That would just make more work for you. We all have improvised when we had too. I've got to get my brooder box cleaned today and set back up because tomorrow or Friday my new set of 25 chicks should arrive. It's kinda like parenthood. Half the time you're winging it...no punn intended. All you can do is the best that you can do. Best of luck to you.

 

[siouxbee]

I've got 3 sets of chicks -- our first six girls came in at the beginning of may. We picked up the Auracanas (not sure if they're EE's or Ameracaunas) last week, and this Tuesday we got 4 Blue Laced Red Wyandottes. So I've had to keep the younger girls separate.

The BLRWs are really small compared to the bigger girls, so they're separate during the day too when they're all outside on the lawn. The auras are big enough to hold their own during the day, but do tend to get pecked if I put them in the other part of the brooder at night, so I keep them in the other section with the babies.

So, here's a sideways shot of the brooder, before I bring the big girls in. This only shows their section.

Next is a shot of the whole thing, with everyone back in, and eating.

Refreshment time is over, and now everyone is milling about to find a comfy spot to snooze.

And the big girls can fly out of the brooder now, plus I still don't trust my cat, despite her apparent lack of interest, so here's the girls all closed up for the night.

The big girls were clustered around their treat for the day -- yogurt. They LOVE it!

 

[domromer]

here is the latest brooder. I had them in a rubbermaid container but they seemed cramped. This will do them for another week then I'm going to set up the large dog crate fro them.

 

[iopele]

Well, my 9 Araucanas have moved outside to the intermediate brooder! They'll probably be in there for a month or so while I finish up their brand new chicken house and coop. They had a BLAST scratching and pecking in the grass! I made sure and put some grit in their feeder since they were eating the grass. Pics!

 

[MissPrissy]

I picked up this older model playpen at a thrift store for $10.

When I have chicks it is set up in my kitchen where it is warm and draft free.

It works great for me.

When the chicks move out to the barn the pen can be washed down and sanitized and then packed away in the storage bag for use at another time.

 

[redneck]

Here are a few pictures of my brooder. It was built in about 1hr. I use a 85 watt heat lamp.

 

[Judymae]

Here's our brooder. Works just fine for us.

We have 13 babies that are now 7 days old. Starting to try to fly so I'm picking up a screen today to cover the brooder with. Here is a cute on of my cat, Baxter. He thinks I don't realize what he is up to.

 

[Bantymama]

Here is one brooder i use untill they out grow it.

They they go to the little house i built. It also has a small run so they can go out side. When they get big enough they will go to the coop.

 

[GoodEgg]

I just wanted to say that I had to go *really* cheap for a brooder.

I had hoped to use a fridge box, but couldn't even find one of those.

I had two boxes that were for filing cabinets. I just figured out how much I had to leave to have the bottom, sides, and ends (and a bit of a "lip" of the top edge) and cut the rest of it away. I used the cut away part to make the middle, and the solid box parts for the two ends. I did spend $4 on duct tape to hold it all together though .... LOTS of duct tape and wrapping the whole thing.

I also spent a few dollars on a heavy-duty plastic tablecloth that turned out to be the exact right size to line the inside. I duct-taped it along the top, and it lines the inside walls and floor to make it waterproof and easy to clean (if necessary).

I used an old broken half-cinderblock to raise the waterer (had to hammer the rough pointy spots smooth), and filled it with aspen. (The shavings have been the most expensive part. I heat it with a heating pad under one end, and a craft lamp that I already had over the middle.

Now it has a piece of leftover hardware cloth over the top to prevent flyers.

I will post pics when I can get some developed. It's pretty big though, and only cost about $6 for the tape and tablecloth, and I had all the rest on hand.

In case it helps someone.

trish

 

[allen wranch]

judymae,
Did you get that screen to cover your brooder ?

I have the same TV snack tables that your brooder light is clamped to, and they are not real steady. Also, the clamps on the light are not always reliable. If someone (or your cat or dog) hits the table or the light, it could easily fall into the brooder and catch the bedding on fire if it is not covered.

A cover would not only keep the chicks from flying out of the brooder, it could also prevent a disaster.