Does this sound familiar to my fellow chicken hoarders keepers, “We need a bigger brooder (or run, coop, farm, etc)”?
Over the weekend, the kids and I took it upon ourselves to take over a wood bin, made of pallets in the garage. Since we won’t be storing wood in it during the spring and summer months, it will make a perfect brooder for the chicks when they are a few weeks old.
We purchased some hardboard tempered panels from Home Depot, lucky for me, the measurements were close to the inside of the wood bin, making the need for cutting minimal.
The hardboard has a smooth side and a rough side, we used the rough side for the inside of the brooder to give chicks a better chance at developing their sea legs. Aka, avoiding spraddle leg. When we first welcomed the chicks home, we gave them a solid base of bedding, wood shavings. Underneath the shavings, we’ve occasionally put newspaper down as this makes changing out the old bedding easier. (Just roll up and toss.)
So far, our first batch acclimated nicely to their brooder box and have been doing well in the bigger brooder since being switched over. Another batch of chicks will be arriving tomorrow or Wednesday and we wanted to start them in the smaller brooder.
Yes, that is a “jungle gym” for the chicks. They seem to enjoy hopping up and down on it so far, gives them practice for roosting. (Pardon the fuzzy, red images.) Who can resist these adorable bantams?
Our next batch is a special order from Murray MCMurray Hatchery and will include some polish chicks, brahmas, and Jersey giants – with a few extras thrown in. Since part of our order was a mix, we won’t know until the chicks are a few weeks old what we have. Stay tuned for more chick pics!
Owlcatraz Farm 