BROODER thread! Post pics of your brooders!

[yolksonus]

We did do nipple waterers but the wasted water collected in the pine shavings and was always damp. We bought a hanging one and it seems to be working great.

 

[WYNot]

We used a hanging waterer with a nipple with our first brooder (55-gallon fish tank, pics are in this thread) a couple of years back. Worked great and really liked it. In fact we have a 5-gallon bucket with a gamma lid on top and four nipples on the bottom that is hanging in our main run now.

This year though we went with a different brooder and it wasn't as tall as the previous one and I was pressed for time so we weren't able to get it set up for use with a nipple style waterer. As the chicks get a bit bigger, I'm hoping to get them switched over to a nipple waterer.

 

[Blooie]

Yeah, I had the same problem with vertical nipples. Not nearly so much with the horizontal ones.

 

[curious chickee]

This is my brooder/ grow out pen (small coop inside main

 

[RubyNala97]

I looked through this thread when I was contemplating hatching chicks. I was able to get everything I needed, including feed, for $20 by using an old glass tank that was sitting outside!

 

[slordaz]

won't glass get to hot?

 

[RubyNala97]

won't glass get to hot?

I thought that too. But I did a lot of research beforehand, and many people have had success using glass tanks. It is extremely long and low, so it gets good air flow and the chicks can find their happy medium with the amount of heat they prefer. It's staying just under 100, directly under the heat lamp. Ah, you just made me think of something. I bought an extra thermometer, I'm going to place it at the other end, so I know both temps!

 

[aart]

Quote: That's a very good idea. Interesting that that tank is so low......they won't fit in there for more than a week or two and may need a lid before then.

Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:
They need to be pretty warm(~85-90F on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker integration to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later i still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.

 

[Tomhusker]

Here is a pic of our 6'x6' brooder. Bottle with water nipples hung on all 4 sides, two heat lamps and 2 feeders. This gives them plenty of room and should be good for a couple of weeks before they can jump out. We'll move them to the coop at that time.

 

[Gentry1350]

Here is mine, it's in our shop, has a removable divider for smaller hatches, different breeds etc.  It's about 3x5 was designed for 30 chicks, they outgrow it quickly.




By jenichick




By jenichick

I'm loving this set-up! I've got 100 quail eggs coming within the next couple weeks. I have a huge box that a retail sign was delivered in that I was going to use as a brooder, with dividers for future staggered hatches. I think I'm going to copy the removable divider and heat lamp supports from this set-up. Perfect!!!