# New brooder



## Sarah1up (May 1, 2020)

Finished the new brooder yesterday and everyone seems pretty happy. The only cutting I had to do was the 1 by 2 boards in half for the support posts.

2 by 10 by 6 feet sides times 4- $25
1 by 2 by 6 feet support times 2- $6
25 feet hardware cloth- $50
6 by 8 vinyl flooring (pre cut)- $25

It was a little pricy for a one time use thing, but I can reuse all the materials so I didn't feel bad spending that much. My nine year old was thrilled to get to sit with the chicks finally.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Heck, yeah they're going to be happier with that space. 

I can't quite identify that royal blue bird in the center of the pic. 

You can probably turn that light off too. They've got enough feathers that they should be fine from here.


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## Sarah1up (May 1, 2020)

I know it's so close to turning it off, then I have a couple huddling underneath it and I can't do it. It is consistently 70 in the house and by age I think they would be at 75 or so. This week for sure. Oh gosh, I had to look twice because I didn't remember having a royal blue bird  Silas is my mini me and feeds into the animal obsession. If my husband and 12 year old weren't here to spread some rationality we would surely have a zoo. It may happen eventually anyways. My 12 year old is a bit of a neat freak and can't imagine why people would want to take care of pooping creatures... on purpose. He's a good sport about it though. There is a better picture of Si. He was just giggling up a storm when he went to stand up. They rushed over to see what was all over his bum and had to check and see if it was food!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

LOL It's too early in the morning so I can understand you searching for the royal blue bird. He looks like a happy, in his element kid. 

It's really hard for me not to add to my crowd so I get how you and Silas struggle. Oh, look at that, let's get it! Kind of thing. 

Want to have even more fun? Put them some low perches to play on. You probably have a couple of scraps laying around to build them.


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## Sarah1up (May 1, 2020)

In my defense, I had only had one cup of coffee at the time and was a little foggy... They have that stick in there and fight over it all the time (That's Margo on the stick in my profile picture), so I bet they would love some perches. Do you have a recommendation for materials? No scraps right now so I'd have to go pick up some dowel rods or if square edged is better I could get something and round off the edges a bit. Thanks for the idea!


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## TomC (Apr 9, 2020)

Looks great! Now they can stretch their legs out a bit. I used some scrap 1x2's and plywood to make a couple of roosts in my brooder. It doesn't need to be fancy and only about 6 inches or so high. Flat boards are preferable to round ones. While they can wrap their toes around a rod, they are mainly ground animals and are more comfortable on flat surfaces. You can see one of the roosts I made in this pic.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

As you tell from Tom's pic they don't have to be really fancy. I've used scrap 2X4's and put a piece of 1X4 for the top. Or 2x4's with a 2X4 for the top.

You could stack something. You're just making a little elevation for them to have some fun with.


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## Sarah1up (May 1, 2020)

I was figuring 1 by’s would work. I’ll have to pick some up. And I think that one is pretty fancy Tom. The half circle sides are a nice touch!


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## Sylie (May 4, 2018)

That is an amazing brooder! Well done! Just a thought for the future, you mentioned it was pricey for a one time use but you could clean and sanitize it when the chickens are done with it and turn it into a sandbox for Silas. Keep the fencing up so the dog doesn't get into it.


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## TomC (Apr 9, 2020)

I made them half circles because I didn't want the sharp corners sticking up there.


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## Sarah1up (May 1, 2020)

We were thinking that about the sandbox too Sylie. He would love the dog being in there with him. Probably not the cat though  I think we will eat able to get something set up for him.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

The chickens would love it as a dust bath too if it's full of sand. 

Just thought I'd toss that out there.


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