# What is your brooder setup?



## MichaelZ (Feb 27, 2015)

I will be getting some chicks next week. We have had 30's and 40's this week (brrrr). But I expect by next week, we should have more decent weather. For my brooder setup I have one kiddie pool per dozen chicks with wood shavings and a heat lamp hanging within a box enclosure that is 6" up so chicks can go under the heat or come out as needed. I keep it in the locked garage to make sure my cat or other gangsters do not get at them.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Mine was always in the house for that just in case moment. And that moment happened, the light went out during the night. Luckily the room they were in stayed warm enough that I didn't lose any. My friend had her brooder in the garage, her light went out one night and she lost several. 

Mine eventually was a large cage that I could cover to keep drafts out. Her was a large wood house. Sort of like a rabbit hutch but very large.


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

I'm hatching chicks with my daughters school right now and am using a similar "kiddie pool" system. Works great so far, with loads of room for the next couple weeks until they've feathered out enough to go out to the barn with their heat lamp.


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## MichaelZ (Feb 27, 2015)

Here is my "brooder box".


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

I use a 2x4x2 wood box for the peeps, new hatchers, and any troubled or struggling chicks. Onc they have shown they eat well, are real active and have started gaining size and feathers I move them to a 4x4x4 cube brooder. this brooder has a few small roost, and a small run for the birds to get in their excersise as they gain size and strength. Once they have adult feathers I send them to the lower coop.
my smaller brooder







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big brooder







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the big brooder sits against my houses southern wall, it is beneath the porch so it does not get rained on and it keeps the less bold predators away


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## grampsjim (May 18, 2015)

Those are some nice chick motels! We use a large appliance box cut down enough for me to reach in. The part of the box that we cut is covered in plastic,then covered with newspaper and pine chips. We set the water and feed up enough to keep the chips mostly out. Its covered with a frame that has screen on it to keep the cat out. Our climate is a lot warmer here so the chicks start going out between 2-3 weeks during the day and back to the brooder at night. After 4 weeks we have a 6x6 grow out pen that we have an old dog house in for shelter. So far they've done well.


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## Buckeye209 (Aug 11, 2015)

I use a homemade one from a large Rubbermaid tote with wire screen for light and ventilation and picture frame glass for viewing


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## rosco47 (Jul 6, 2015)

good looking setups. heat lamps and cardboard make me nervous though...


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## rosco47 (Jul 6, 2015)

here's mine...big heavy duty rubber water tub with hardware cloth lid. will likely be outside on the back porch. chicks arrive thursday or friday.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

This just goes to show there are almost as many workable brooder setups as there are people raising chickens.


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## Buckeye209 (Aug 11, 2015)

Well I think ima repurpose some wood and make a brooder out of that will have use bleach water to disiinfect it as a precaution


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## Buckeye209 (Aug 11, 2015)

Mine ended up being a giant Rubbermaid tote with wheels and a wooden frame added for ventilation and heat light


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## Alaskan (Aug 22, 2015)

Looks good! Gotta love rubbermaid!


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## Buckeye209 (Aug 11, 2015)

Thank, yeah that's for sure


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## jn4 (Jun 21, 2012)

We use a Tote also....I use a piece of cage wire across the top and set the heat lamp on that.....at night we cover the top with a large beach towel. When they are 3 weeks old they go outside and are kept in a 10x20ft. rabbit pen for a month or so before we move them over to the coup area . We have it divided into 2 separate sections ,..one for the new guys and the other half for the normal flock...its simple but works out great.


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## Buckeye209 (Aug 11, 2015)

Very cool mines set up pretty much the same way, I had one that I used glass picture frames for side viewing windows


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## WhitecatFarm (Oct 10, 2014)

Rubbermaid tub with screen over the top and brooder light with 60 W bulb. I put a piece of Styrofoam on top of part of the screen.


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## WeeLittleChicken (Aug 31, 2012)

We started with a cardboard box... three years later, a lot of influxes of chicks, and we got three of these built for the first couple weeks in the house.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Mine eventually evolved in to large cages. Depending on the ambient temps I closed up the three sides when necessary.

Why the cages? I learned that peeps are not as afraid if they can see you coming and are more willing to check out the hand when it shows up. That blast of fear when something suddenly appears over head causes natural instincts to kick in and their attempt to run from the threat.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I use a tote in a spare room for the first 3 weeks. Then they go out to a rabbit hutch on my patio with the heat lamp facing inward for outside. It's also my hospital cage. I disinfect with virkon after each use.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

I use a cage as a brooder.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Good grief, that looks so nice and clean. Won't take long for chicks to start messing it up. Sort of like teenage boys do to their rooms.


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## Buckeye209 (Aug 11, 2015)

Great idea, looks good, is it easy to keep steady temps


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

Buckeye209 said:


> Great idea, looks good, is it easy to keep steady temps


Thank you. I place a thermometer in the center of the cage and adjust the heat lamp to the desired temps the chicks need as they grow. Once I get it adjusted to the correct temp...it's easy going afterwards.
I use paper towels the first week or so, then switch to newspaper. I change out the newspaper quite often to prevent splayed leg and other issues. It's fairly easy to keep clean, but gotta save up alot of newspaper.
I used to use pine shavings as litter until a chick ate a small piece and died. 
Both of those chicks are Black Stars that were 3 days old when I bought them back in early February. They are now 7 months old and laying eggs daily.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Very nice!


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## jn4 (Jun 21, 2012)

There are some very nice setups here. 


NewsPaper ink can/may be toxic. Be careful of that. But I assume you change it everyday...Dawg53.

I use Timothy Hay or similar...crushed up. 
The straw encourages them to start their "scratching" activity sooner. Increasing their activity helps the lungs develop faster to fight off pneumonial/bronchial infections.. Its not necessarily the cold that kills the new chicks...but the windy draft on newly developing lungs.

Haa ha 
Learned that from some high School kids 4h club at the county agri-fair a few years ago. Talk about old dog and new tricks
The science behind it is sound...We loose very very few birds after hatching...it must work.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

You're right jn4, the newspaper has to be changed frequently. At about 10 days old I sprinkle some parakeet grit on the paper, but not too often. They pick and sometimes scratch the grit, it's instinctive. As they get older, they scratch the newspaper and tear it to shreds. I eventually remove the newspaper and then they're on wire, the poop drops down onto the tray underneath the cage.
I always raise chicks in the house during cool or cold temps, garage in warm or hot temps. The two chicks in the pic were raised in our spare bathroom.
I once had 6 chicks in a cage in the garage, a yellow rat snake managed to squeeze through the bars and ate 4 of the 6 chicks. The snake was bulged and couldnt get out of the cage. I killed the snake. 
All these years, I've only lost 5 chicks; 4 eaten by the snake and the one that swallowed a shaving.


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## Alaskan (Aug 22, 2015)

I lost one chick this spring due to having no hole at the vent.

Crazy.

I use paper towels for about a week... And then shavings.


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## Buckeye209 (Aug 11, 2015)

Oh man that is wild but nothing you can do when stuff like that happens


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## jn4 (Jun 21, 2012)

Dawg....ya gotta hate on them snakes.....they get big here......mostly from my eggs...

Keep up the good work friend.


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## Jennifer Behm (Feb 7, 2021)

*How to Set up a Baby Chick Brooder?*
step by step The best chicken BROODER: Baby Chick starter home [Guide]


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