Fall brooder?

[Creyes95]

My fall chicks are brooding in my garage with a brooder heater. We are in Michigan so it will get pretty cold. I need to change my brooder setup before it gets too cold so I am going to ask which setup my chicks will do best in (in other's opinions). Either one can be in the garage or outside and can have the same heater or another if y'all have an idea.

 

[Debbie292d]

The homemade one, hands down. That other one is a prebuilt and won't last but for a couple of years unless you kept it under cover of your garage.

I'd drape a small blanket over the screen in front on the wood one so they'd still get ventilation but will be protected on the "cool end" from it getting too cold. Be sure to get a thermometer so you can check the temperature inside.

Can you come up with a hutch of sorts for a pen for them in the winter when they get about 6-weeks old? Like an old wooden doghouse with a foot of straw, then you can set one of those radiant Cozy Coop type heaters in there for them. We have two setups like that as no room in the present coop for them.

 

[Ridgerunner]

What type heater are you planning on using? Heat plates, heat lamps, and heating pads are fairly common. Others use different methods. What are you planning to use?

What will be the coldest conditions in that garage?

How many chicks and how big is that homemade brooder in feet? I think that prefab one is 35" x 40".

What are your expected lows before the chicks are 6 weeks old? By 6 weeks they should be feathered out enough that they can handle your colder weather as long as they can get to a dry spot that is out of the wind.

It's easier for me to respond if I know what you are working with.

 

[Creyes95]

The homemade one, hands down. That other one is a prebuilt and won't last but for a couple of years unless you kept it under cover of your garage.

I'd drape a small blanket over the screen in front on the wood one so they'd still get ventilation but will be protected on the "cool end" from it getting too cold. Be sure to get a thermometer so you can check the temperature inside.

Can you come up with a hutch of sorts for a pen for them in the winter when they get about 6-weeks old? Like an old wooden doghouse with a foot of straw, then you can set one of those radiant Cozy Coop type heaters in there for them. We have two setups like that as no room in the present coop for them.

I have them in one similar to the homemade one but It will not be big enough to hold them throughout the entire 12 weeks, so I had thought about using the prebuilt one I already have as well as a mini coop for them after the point they are too big for my normal brooder.

 

[Creyes95]

What type heater are you planning on using? Heat plates, heat lamps, and heating pads are fairly common. Others use different methods. What are you planning to use?

What will be the coldest conditions in that garage?

How many chicks and how big is that homemade brooder in feet? I think that prefab one is 35" x 40".

What are your expected lows before the chicks are 6 weeks old? By 6 weeks they should be feathered out enough that they can handle your colder weather as long as they can get to a dry spot that is out of the wind.

It's easier for me to respond if I know what you are working with.

I have both heat lights and heat plates, currently, they have been doing fine with just the heat plates. There are 15 of them and currently, they are about a month old. I would be building a bigger brooder then what they are in if I choose or using the prefab one we have already and covering it with plastic outside or bringing it into the garage. They were gotten by someone who was much more unprepared and they were starting to decline. Before the chicks hit 6 weeks we are looking at 30-20 degree weather at night. The garage is slightly warmer than the outside temperatures as part of it houses indoor plants. Hopefully, I answered all of your questions.

 

[Ridgerunner]

All except brooder size. I'm not very worried about square feet per chick. My 3' x 6' brooder is in the coop. I've had as many as 28 chicks in it until they were 5 weeks old. It was getting crowded by then with most of them females. One time I had 21 chicks in it, mostly males. It was also getting crowded by 5 weeks.

It's more do you have enough room so you can keep one portion of the brooder warm enough in your coldest conditions and have a portion of the brooder cool enough in your warmest conditions. My temperatures can swing from below freezing to in the 70's Fahrenheit in a day. In summer it can get pretty warm. I put chicks straight out of the incubator or post office into that brooder whether the temperature is below freezing or pretty hot. I can keep one end toasty warm when it is below freezing outside, the far end may have frost or ice in it. But when the weather warms up they migrate to the cooler end. I find that the chicks can manage that very well on their own as long as they have options.

I use heat lamps. In winter I set up two on one end to keep that are very warm and to provide back-up in case one goes out. I've never had one go out but you never know. In winter I use 240 watt bulbs, pretty strong. In warmer weather I use smaller wattage bulbs and usually just one lamp.

My personal preference for outside is heat lamps. Plenty of people use heat plates or heating pads. Inside I do not like heat lamps, they can get it too hot too easily, especially if the brooder is fairly small or ventilation is poor. I'd probably go with a heat plate in your garage as long as it is big enough that they all can fit.

You don't mention your coop. Do you have electricity to it so you could put the brooder in it? Or, if you don't have adults out there, can you just use your coop without a brooder? As old as they are they should be able to manage keeping warm really well in the coop as long as they are protected from wind and you can provide a warm space.

 

[Senjibleu]

I have 4 week old chicks outside. It's been in the 30's at night and 40's to 50 during the day.
I enclosed the run in clear plastic.
I have small insulated boxes in the run with chopped leaves inside.
Insuated boxes are just cardboard boxes, i taped rigid foam insulation on all sides, covered that with cardboard and then plastic and packaging tape.
Make the boxes are just big enough to fit chicks.
When they get cold they go into the boxes.
At night I have another insulated box in the coop, filled with chopped leaves. For 7 chicks (bantams) the box is approximately 10" high 14" long and
14" wide. I wait until they go in the box at night then turn the opening of the box up against the wall, leaving a small opening in case it gets too hot.
I put my hand near the opening of the box and the heat coming out was amazing.
It's important to keep them from just wandering around in the coop as they can become chilled and not get back in the box.
I made the boxes for my broody hens under the coop with small chicks.
So far so good