Building the chicken brooder

This years brooder design is quite a bit different than last years brooder design - primary due to the volume of chicks that will be arriving tomorrow.  Wanting to keep them as happy as I can - and in doing so keep them disease and stress free - I look to achieve about 3/4 square foot of space per bird - when the birds are between 3-4 weeks old.  So with over 80 chicks coming in - that's just about an 8' x 8' pen (64 square feet).  Now - this is assuming that the birds all get put in the pasture over week 3-4 where their square foot space per bird increases.

This year I started by putting an older tarp down on the concrete floor in the barn to provide a bit of a moisture barrier and to make the final cleanup of the wood shavings and manure a snap.  As the pictures will show - I go with the deep litter bedding approach - and last year the chicks, even with their scratching, didn't get down to the brooder floor - so I hope they don't "discover" the tarp this year...  silver things under wood - to a chicken - fascinating.

(If the chickens outsmart the design, I'm prepared to bury some wood under the shavings to keep them from pecking madly at the tarp)



After the tarp was in place I built the same 2' high OSB walls around the sides - that makes for a terrific draft blocking height and still gives the chicks, at 4 weeks, plenty of headroom - heck - they would have headroom at 2' at week 8 heading into processing day - the pasture pens are only 2' tall.  Really - I had 2 - 2' high sections of OSB - so I just ripped another 4x8 sheet...  simple math - no waste - I will be using this when the brooder gets torn down for the barn - leanto rafter area to plug holes.

Anyhow, after the sides were in place I decided to reuse the framework the "killing cones" are mounted to as the support for the brooder lamps (killing cones are used in processing to hold the birds).  It's kinda in the theme of re-use AND cradle to grave...  figure when the chicks show up here - the first thing they will look up to see is these shiny silver cone things hanging overhead...  and on the last day of their life, they will see the same cones.  That's not being callous or morbid - just the cycle of nature and reuse on the farm.

After jiggering around with the location of the brooder lamp stand - I decided that pushing it against one side made the most sense and that's where it will live with 2 heat lamps suspended - more than enough for 80 chicks.
The last step here in construction was to partition off a little more than half the brooder.  When the little chicks arrive, I don't want them wandering off until they are familiar with their surroundings, know where the food and water and heat are - and are generally acclimated to the enclosure.  So - the partition is removable and will come out after about 2 weeks - as they really hit their growth curve.

I only have a few small tasks left to complete - and they will likely wait until after the chicks arrive.  I need to build a 8' long frame for the chicken wire top - so when the partition comes out - the chickens can't do the "hop and fly" trick to escape.

One other thing I think I'm going to try this year after the chicks hit about 2 weeks is remove the small and annoying to keep full waterers from the mix and play around with hanging one of the bell waterers from the pasture pens in the brooder.  If I can manage to get that to work - it will not only save me a lot of time - but will acclimate the chickens to the visual image of their water source well before they are placed in the pasture.

There you have it - in a nut shell - a simple enclosure safe from predators - draft free - easy to access for me - with ample space, heat, water and food access.  Everything a brooder should be.

Comments

[Jeph Remley]

Mmmm....mcnuggets and hot wings!

[Andy]

They will be here tomorrow - I think!