Got an order of White Leghorns in from McMurray on Monday morning so whatever the calendar says it feels like Spring around here now!
We'll keep about fifteen of the pullets and likely sell the rest at the swaps. For you sharp eyed types there are three Brown Leghorn cockerels in there as well as five White Leghorn cockerels which unfortunately they didn't mark! Going to have to do a lot of comparing and contrasting when it comes time to sell because the boy birds are for me!
A few photos of my overall brooder set up:
Both sides can be opened which makes it easier to change the bulbs in the hover, clean out the bedding, and what not. The brooder box itself is based on a sheet of plywood (4ft x 8ft) so it's thirty two square feet plus the additional space on top of the hover when they are big enough to get up there.
The hover is the one the Ohio Extension Service developed back during the Second World War to save materials. Mine is scaled down to about fifty-sixty chicks rather than the original 200-250. I've done hundreds of birds in it over the years and it's worked well.
You can find the plans for it here: http://www.plamondon.com/brooder.shtml
A few more shots to give a better idea of the set up:
Once the chicks are more than three days old all of the waterers and feeders go on top of the hardware cloth platforms. This helps to keep the shavings out of everything and in the event of drips or spills the water is confined to the bedding underneath that the chicks cannot get into. Wet bedding is an invitation to coccidiosis. That's a practice roost leaning against the hover. In a week or so they'll start playing on it and by the time they're ready to move into the growout pen half or more will be roosting on it so they will spend much less time sleeping on the ground once they've moved out. It also helps them get on top of the hover faster which effectively increases the square footage by going mult-level.
There is a cover made of hardware cloth and treated 2x2s over the top of the box to keep the predators out and the chicks in. I brood in an open bay of my workshop so it's an important consideration. The coldest I've ever brooded chicks in was 20 degrees and they passed it with flying colors. Even had a power failure during that time and they just snuggled down into the shavings underneath the hover to stay warm and waiting for the power to come back on. Eight hours and did not lose a one.
This month I'll begin working on a double decker version so I can handle more chicks without losing too much space.
We'll keep about fifteen of the pullets and likely sell the rest at the swaps. For you sharp eyed types there are three Brown Leghorn cockerels in there as well as five White Leghorn cockerels which unfortunately they didn't mark! Going to have to do a lot of comparing and contrasting when it comes time to sell because the boy birds are for me!
A few photos of my overall brooder set up:
Both sides can be opened which makes it easier to change the bulbs in the hover, clean out the bedding, and what not. The brooder box itself is based on a sheet of plywood (4ft x 8ft) so it's thirty two square feet plus the additional space on top of the hover when they are big enough to get up there.
The hover is the one the Ohio Extension Service developed back during the Second World War to save materials. Mine is scaled down to about fifty-sixty chicks rather than the original 200-250. I've done hundreds of birds in it over the years and it's worked well.
You can find the plans for it here: http://www.plamondon.com/brooder.shtml
A few more shots to give a better idea of the set up:
Once the chicks are more than three days old all of the waterers and feeders go on top of the hardware cloth platforms. This helps to keep the shavings out of everything and in the event of drips or spills the water is confined to the bedding underneath that the chicks cannot get into. Wet bedding is an invitation to coccidiosis. That's a practice roost leaning against the hover. In a week or so they'll start playing on it and by the time they're ready to move into the growout pen half or more will be roosting on it so they will spend much less time sleeping on the ground once they've moved out. It also helps them get on top of the hover faster which effectively increases the square footage by going mult-level.
There is a cover made of hardware cloth and treated 2x2s over the top of the box to keep the predators out and the chicks in. I brood in an open bay of my workshop so it's an important consideration. The coldest I've ever brooded chicks in was 20 degrees and they passed it with flying colors. Even had a power failure during that time and they just snuggled down into the shavings underneath the hover to stay warm and waiting for the power to come back on. Eight hours and did not lose a one.
This month I'll begin working on a double decker version so I can handle more chicks without losing too much space.
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