suburbanjungle
Chirping
When I got my chicks last summer, I set up a pretty decent brooder in my garage. It was warm enough that I was able to maintain the right temperature in the unheated and uninsulated garage. (I live in California.) When I was preparing for chicks this past March, however, I found that I wasn't able to heat the brooder up enough due to the cold weather. I moved the brooder into the bathroom, but it's a small bathroom with barely enough room for me in it, usually. I decided I needed to look for something else because leaning over the brooder to brush my teeth would only last so long.
The inspiration from Pinterest.
While researching, I found a couple of Pinterest posts of people turning old furniture into brooders. I knew I had an old IKEA dresser out in the garage, so I started figuring out how I could use that as my new brooder instead.
The old dresser drawers from IKEA.
The IKEA dresser has four long drawers and two smaller drawers on top. I realized I could combine two drawers together for a height of approximately 18 inches. The drawers themselves are approximately 30 inches wide and 16 inches deep. I decided to turn the face of the upper drawer into a large window with an air vent. The window would be made of an acrylic sheet I purchased from Amazon. The air vent is just extra hardware cloth. The upper drawer face would be able to swing down for access to the brooder while the drawer is shut. The upper drawer stays closed with a hardware magnet but also with a basic hook since a flying bird could easily knock the door open.
The double brooder before bringing it inside (left). Showing the hinged front doors with drilled hole for the light in the upper left corner (right).
The beauty of the whole brooder, though, is that it is a DRAWER! It slides OUT! It is so very awesome and convenient!
I removed the floor between the sets of drawers and screwed some hardboard to the sides so the drawers would pull out together. I also reinforced the base of each double drawer with a 1x2 frame. The hardboard I used is perfect because it is very easy to wipe down and clean. For now I have placed a plastic bag on the bottom of the brooder before I put in the bedding so that any moisture doesn't seep through, but it didn't appear to be a problem after my first flock of girls was in there for about four weeks. I also placed a 2x2 roost bar a few inches above the floor in both brooders.
The heat lamp during installation (left) and in use (right).
The heat lamp is made from outdoor lighting supplies I found at the hardware store. The socket has two wires that come out the back. I screwed the socket and holders to the back of the drawers where I had cut a 3/4-inch hole. Into that hole I strung a lighting cord I also bought at the hardware store. I made sure to use a grounded thicker wire for the heat lamp side and I used a thinner lighting cord I bought on Amazon for the standard light on the other side.
The Inkbird Temperature Controller - A brooder MUST!
I do have to say that I would NOT recommend this without using a temperature controller. I use the Inkbird ITC 308 Digital Temperature Controller. This device ensures that the heat lamp is only on for about a minute as it heats the small enclosed space up to the right temperature and then turns off for about 15-30 minutes while the heat slowly dissipates through the air vent. Without the temperature controller, the heat lamp could make the environment too hot and not only kill the chickens but become a potential fire hazard in the pressboard/wooden cabinet. With the controller, though, it never gets hot enough to even heat the wood, and the chicks remain nice and comfy at the appropriate temperature. The best part of using the temperature controller is that it is always the right temperature and I don't have two potentially dangerous heat lamps running 24 hours a day.
The Smart Plug Strip. From left to right: Upper heat lamp, Upper light, Lower heat lamp, Lower light.
For the other two lights, I have them connected to an inexpensive smart plug strip that I also purchased from Amazon. There are a lot of them out there right now that connect to the generic SmartLife app. The SmartLife app allows me to set an on and off time for the lights, so I have them come on at approximately sunrise and off at approximately sunset to get them used to the idea of daylight vs. night time.
Cleaning the drawer to prepare for new guests was very simple after scooping out the bedding, just wipe everything down.
Lessons learned:
The inspiration from Pinterest.
While researching, I found a couple of Pinterest posts of people turning old furniture into brooders. I knew I had an old IKEA dresser out in the garage, so I started figuring out how I could use that as my new brooder instead.
The old dresser drawers from IKEA.
The IKEA dresser has four long drawers and two smaller drawers on top. I realized I could combine two drawers together for a height of approximately 18 inches. The drawers themselves are approximately 30 inches wide and 16 inches deep. I decided to turn the face of the upper drawer into a large window with an air vent. The window would be made of an acrylic sheet I purchased from Amazon. The air vent is just extra hardware cloth. The upper drawer face would be able to swing down for access to the brooder while the drawer is shut. The upper drawer stays closed with a hardware magnet but also with a basic hook since a flying bird could easily knock the door open.
The double brooder before bringing it inside (left). Showing the hinged front doors with drilled hole for the light in the upper left corner (right).
The beauty of the whole brooder, though, is that it is a DRAWER! It slides OUT! It is so very awesome and convenient!
I removed the floor between the sets of drawers and screwed some hardboard to the sides so the drawers would pull out together. I also reinforced the base of each double drawer with a 1x2 frame. The hardboard I used is perfect because it is very easy to wipe down and clean. For now I have placed a plastic bag on the bottom of the brooder before I put in the bedding so that any moisture doesn't seep through, but it didn't appear to be a problem after my first flock of girls was in there for about four weeks. I also placed a 2x2 roost bar a few inches above the floor in both brooders.
The heat lamp during installation (left) and in use (right).
The heat lamp is made from outdoor lighting supplies I found at the hardware store. The socket has two wires that come out the back. I screwed the socket and holders to the back of the drawers where I had cut a 3/4-inch hole. Into that hole I strung a lighting cord I also bought at the hardware store. I made sure to use a grounded thicker wire for the heat lamp side and I used a thinner lighting cord I bought on Amazon for the standard light on the other side.
The Inkbird Temperature Controller - A brooder MUST!
I do have to say that I would NOT recommend this without using a temperature controller. I use the Inkbird ITC 308 Digital Temperature Controller. This device ensures that the heat lamp is only on for about a minute as it heats the small enclosed space up to the right temperature and then turns off for about 15-30 minutes while the heat slowly dissipates through the air vent. Without the temperature controller, the heat lamp could make the environment too hot and not only kill the chickens but become a potential fire hazard in the pressboard/wooden cabinet. With the controller, though, it never gets hot enough to even heat the wood, and the chicks remain nice and comfy at the appropriate temperature. The best part of using the temperature controller is that it is always the right temperature and I don't have two potentially dangerous heat lamps running 24 hours a day.
The Smart Plug Strip. From left to right: Upper heat lamp, Upper light, Lower heat lamp, Lower light.
For the other two lights, I have them connected to an inexpensive smart plug strip that I also purchased from Amazon. There are a lot of them out there right now that connect to the generic SmartLife app. The SmartLife app allows me to set an on and off time for the lights, so I have them come on at approximately sunrise and off at approximately sunset to get them used to the idea of daylight vs. night time.
Cleaning the drawer to prepare for new guests was very simple after scooping out the bedding, just wipe everything down.
Lessons learned:
- It's a very warm environment and with the chicks spilling a lot of water, it can become damp and moldy. I will be looking at a solution for spilling water as well as a better solution to go under the bedding to keep moisture off of the hardboard sides and floor.
- I found that the hardboard works great on the sides. I didn't add any to the front because I didn't think it was necessary. The drawer fronts on the dresser are made of pressboard, though, and the moisture seeped into it. I will need to add hardboard across the lower front drawer face inside the coop.
- The chickens love to peck at the plastic window once they are tall enough to reach it. I probably need some type of toy in there for them to play with.
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