Brooder

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone,

Here in southern California it’s heating up. My question is can you place a brooder out doors with a heat lamp at night for three  day old chicks? My plan is to turn the lamp off during the day due to the heat any advice would be greatly appreciated. Attached is what I’m making the brooder from and where it would be.

[Kenny Troiano]

Hey Cody,

My concerns with that would be chills and drafts, predators. I would try to keep them indoors (garage or shed) for the first 3 weeks, then put them outside (protected) during the day and bring them inside at  night. At 6 weeks you most likely can put them outside for good.

[Anonymous]

Thank you Kenny.

[Jason Ward]

I made a couple this year, that have 1/2” hardware cloth about 3 1/2” from the bottom for the floor.  3’ x 4’x30”tall and out of 3/4 inch plywood. The roof is flat and hinged, so I can open and reach down inside to feed/water.  There is a sliding door on one end, about 12”x18”, which can be removed to allow chicks to range out on the ground.  If you have a hen in there with them even better, you can butt one of those square meter pens up against the opening on the end of the brooder. It keeps the hen sort of confined and the chicks can come and go through the larger sized wire.  It is kind of heavy, but works pretty well.  I remove the sliding door in the morning and close it up at night.  I do have a light in there plugged into a timer,  so when weather was bad I left it closed all day, no problems.  As far as ventilation, you can prop the roof open a couple inches with a piece of 2”x4” or scrap.

 

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