What is my brooder missing?

[peacRN]

Your chicks are so cute! Do you have some sort of top to place on it? You will be surprised at how high these babies will be able to fly once they have a few feathers. My brooder cage is 2' tall and at about 2 weeks old they were already able to launch themselves up as high as the top! Luckily I had a window screen handy to place on top of it to prevent escapes.

Yes, we are going to use a piece of welded wire across the top, most likely. That will probably go on next week.

 

[ChickenShepherd_6116]

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Edit: I flipped the brooder plate around! I'm apparently not the brightest. Thank you to the commenter who probably saved my chicks!

Instead of going out and buying a stock tank or a prebuilt brooder, I used an old pack n play that we had laying around. I lined the bottom with puppy pads and pine shavings, put a brooding plate at one end (at a tilt), and listened to suggestions to put a few paper towels under the feed and sprinkle some around the feeder to encourage them to eat. Also dipped all of their beaks in the water upon introducing them to the brooder. I plan on adding a riser under the waterer tonight to keep the water clean, and we will get hardware cloth to put over the top to keep them from escaping.

What am I missing? What looks wrong/questionable? The last time I raised chickens was in high school, and they were already fully feathered hens by the time we got them. I only helped my parents raise chicks when I was a young child.

Nothing essential seems to be missing to me! if you feel like you are missing something you can try adding little chick perches or little tunnels made from toilet paper rolls. You could even add shiny bells (my chicks last year loved the bells). Again, your brooder looks great, but if you want to, you can add some more mentally stimulating things. Hope this helps.

 

[Not-so Slick Chicken]

Oh my god thank you!! I'm an idiot, I thought I read the directions thoroughly but I rushed through assembly.

Not prob. I had looked up reviews before I purchased it myself, and several people have done the same thing. I don't even know if the instructions make it clear which side is heated.
It's our first year using a heat plate, and they're pretty nice.

 

[ShotgunDog]

Yes, we are going to use a piece of welded wire across the top, most likely. That will probably go on next week.

Great. My chickies caught me off guard--I had no idea they would be able to launch themselves so high so quickly! Keeping the water clean with those waterers (I have the same one I think) is a challenge. No matter how high you get it up off the floor of the brooder, they WILL make a mess in it. I switched to horizontal water nipples in a gallon jug (it was an empty vinegar jug) when mine were about 3 weeks old. What a HUGE improvement! The only caveat was that the poor things were nearly thirsting to death the first day because screwing the lid on tightly formed a vacuum and they could not get water. Ugh. So I just left the cap off, and it worked flawlessly. Only one of them needs to get the hang of it--the others will be little lemmings and follow suit, and your life will be greatly improved!

 

[Mill Chick]

When I have chicks I usually give them something to snuggle like a stuffed animal.

 

[GuineaMania]

I'm planning on adding sticks eventually! We have a yard full of them. How did you set them up? I've seen some people with pack n plays just ram the sticks through the mesh sides to make little roosts.

Really just whatever way is secure. I had a slightly different set up where I put the sticks through the hardware cloth sides.