Outside brooder?

[Denim Deb]

Right now, I can hardly wait until I get the nuggets out of the house. I'm having more problems w/my allergies than normal-and so is hubby. We both feel fine-until we get in the house. All we can come up w/is having the nuggets in the house. I'm hoping I can get them out over the weekend. I know Ralph and Rita are fully feather. And, I'm thinking the silkies are, it's kind of hard to tell w/them. But, I have more eggs in the incubator and don't know that I want more chicks in the house.

I know you can make an outside brooder and would love to do this for my next batch of chicks. I think it will be easier on me, as well as keep the house cleaner. But, I don't have a clue as to how to build one. So, who has one, how did you make it, how big is it, etc.

 

[the funny farm6]

I brood in the house, but a friend of mine has an garden shed and he uses the back 3-4 feet of it. He built a 3-4 ft wall with a walk threw gate (all of plywood). He put 2 heat lamps in there and put shavings on the floor.

I think as long as you can keep them warm and out of any drafts they should be ok.

 

[DianeS]

I had those same questions just a couple months ago. I got lots of advice and some good pictures. (I'll see if I can hunt up that thread for you.) But the long and short of it is: you just need somewhere for the chicks that is out of the weather, out of drafts, and that can be kept at the warm temperature a brooder needs to be. That's it. Once I realized that it wasn't complicated at all.

My regular chicken coop is raised off the ground about 2 feet, and is 4x8. So I simply used pieces of plywood to make walls around it, and a piece of wire fence for a "door" that I could open and close to handle the food and water. I ran an electrical cord across the yard to it for a heat lamp, clipping the lamp to the underside of the coop (one of the 2x4 support beams was the perfect width). I could cover the wire door with a bamboo mat to block winds, but I faced it the direction the wind doesn't normally blow from anyway. And it worked fine. My chicks spent one night indoors after I purchased them, and moved outside the second. They did just fine. Out of 25 chicks in the brooder I lost 3 (plus one more that disappeared, probably a predator for that one). That seems in the normal range for losses.

I was very happy with my outdoor brooder. It's dismantled now, and the chicks are in the regular coop and run. I liked not having to move them around, too - just one day I opened the door and didn't close it. The next day I took down the walls. That way the chicks already knew where to go at night and during the rain. (They're Cornish that don't need the coop, and a couple layers I can train later.) If I had chickens already in the coop and run, I could have replaced the walls with wire fencing to allow everyone to see each other and start on integration.

I can say I have no intention of brooding indoors since doing it outside was so easy.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I don't have enough brooders for sure. I do have a pretty respectable sized coop and barn though. My plan for solving the first problem is to use the rafters of the coop, to begin framing up brooders. Then I already have a top, side and back......less work, less material and less food wastage.......whatever falls, gets eaten by the flock.

 

[Beekissed]

Do you have an outbuilding or garage? If you don't want to build a brooder you could just erect a temp one in these structures. I did mine in one side of my cattle panel coop but just formed walls with hay bales and topped it with plywood when it was really cold. The bottom was heavy cardboard and this kept them dry and warm from the cold ground, plus a layer of good pine shavings and they were set. It was an excellent brooder and I'll form one just like it the next time I need a brooder.

 

[DianeS]

OK, found my thread, it was over on BYC. Here you go: http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/632389/can-a-brooder-be-outdoors

 

[Denim Deb]

Thanks Diane, I'll have to take a look at that.

Bee, the only outside building I have is my hubby's shed. And, I can just imagine what he'd say if I put the chicks in there!

 

[Avalon1984]

Thanks Diane, I'll have to take a look at that.

Bee, the only outside building I have is my hubby's shed. And, I can just imagine what he'd say if I put the chicks in there!

Hey Deb,

I normally keep my chickens under a steady heat lamp for about 5 weeks. After that I either turn it off during the day (if it is warm enough) or keep them in big enough groups so that they can keep each other warm. If they get too cold they will let you know quickly.

Jenn

 

[Beekissed]

Thanks Diane, I'll have to take a look at that.

Bee, the only outside building I have is my hubby's shed. And, I can just imagine what he'd say if I put the chicks in there!

Then I'd be tellin' dear hubby to build me something to keep those birds in! Give him an ultimatum...build or they go in your shed...

 

[MorelCabin]

You can build a doghouse like structure with a hinged roof. I just use a corner of my coop. I am very allergic to chick dust, so they go straight outside the day after hatch here. I have never lost one, and the temps here are still well below freezing at night. A heat lamp keeps them warm.