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DIY Let's build a brooder!

We've built an incubator https://poal.co/s/Quail/260060 We've hatched some chicks https://poal.co/s/Quail/260066

Now it's brooder time. Things you need: rubbermaid tote, hamster bedding, 28% protein feed crumbles (turkey feed, or as close to 28% as possible), 100w incandescent bulb, and a little waterer like in the picture below. You know those little lamps with the big chip clip thing to hold it in place? Those work great to hold the bulb onto the tote. You could also use those 100w ceramic bulbs for lizards.

https://files.catbox.moe/mrtx3d.jpg

Don't place your lamp in the middle or on one side. Offset it from center so you have a warm side and a cooler side. Get that bulb in there so the bedding on the warm side stays around 100F. If your birds huddle up, too cold. If they scatter or make a big ring, too hot. Just watch them and adjust your bulb up or down. Place your waterer in the middle. Get a small one like I have or place some marbles in a larger one so they can't get in it. They're almost too stupid to live as chicks. They'll try to swim and get cold and freeze. They'll also maybe forget to eat, dumb right? Skip buying a feeder and simply make a couple piles of food so they can't miss it. You should end up with something like the image below.

https://files.catbox.moe/wcgshx.png

At 10-14 days, they'll be nearly feathered out and can sort of fly. Make sure you have a lid. If you're doing this indoors, you can begin reducing their heat by raising the lamp a little every few days. By 21 days, they can survive without heat indoors (or outdoors if the weather is nice). If it's cold in your area, give them until week 4 before tossing them outside.

Congratulations, if they survived the intial 10 or so days, they'll probably be ok.

Disclaimer: This is how I started, but this is not my current setup. For 30-50 chicks, I use a 3ft tote with bedding for the first 10-14 days. Then, I move them into a smaller wire-bottom brooder for a week to keep them closer together. This teaches them not to be assholes and to walk on the wire.

I use this for brooder #2 only if I have a huge batch of chicks https://files.catbox.moe/pp83uj.jpg with the ceramic bulb and a regular bulb (for light) https://files.catbox.moe/ebiku8.jpg

This could quickly become 10 pages of rambling, and I tried to keep that from happening. If you have any questions when you get to this point, I'm happy to answer.

We've built an incubator https://poal.co/s/Quail/260060 We've hatched some chicks https://poal.co/s/Quail/260066 Now it's brooder time. Things you need: rubbermaid tote, hamster bedding, 28% protein feed crumbles (turkey feed, or as close to 28% as possible), 100w incandescent bulb, and a little waterer like in the picture below. You know those little lamps with the big chip clip thing to hold it in place? Those work great to hold the bulb onto the tote. You could also use those 100w ceramic bulbs for lizards. https://files.catbox.moe/mrtx3d.jpg Don't place your lamp in the middle or on one side. Offset it from center so you have a warm side and a cooler side. Get that bulb in there so the bedding on the warm side stays around 100F. If your birds huddle up, too cold. If they scatter or make a big ring, too hot. Just watch them and adjust your bulb up or down. Place your waterer in the middle. Get a small one like I have or place some marbles in a larger one so they can't get in it. They're almost too stupid to live as chicks. They'll try to swim and get cold and freeze. They'll also maybe forget to eat, dumb right? Skip buying a feeder and simply make a couple piles of food so they can't miss it. You should end up with something like the image below. https://files.catbox.moe/wcgshx.png At 10-14 days, they'll be nearly feathered out and can sort of fly. Make sure you have a lid. If you're doing this indoors, you can begin reducing their heat by raising the lamp a little every few days. By 21 days, they can survive without heat indoors (or outdoors if the weather is nice). If it's cold in your area, give them until week 4 before tossing them outside. Congratulations, if they survived the intial 10 or so days, they'll probably be ok. Disclaimer: This is how I started, but this is not my current setup. For 30-50 chicks, I use a 3ft tote with bedding for the first 10-14 days. Then, I move them into a smaller wire-bottom brooder for a week to keep them closer together. This teaches them not to be assholes and to walk on the wire. I use this for brooder #2 only if I have a huge batch of chicks https://files.catbox.moe/pp83uj.jpg with the ceramic bulb and a regular bulb (for light) https://files.catbox.moe/ebiku8.jpg This could quickly become 10 pages of rambling, and I tried to keep that from happening. If you have any questions when you get to this point, I'm happy to answer.

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[–] • 0 pt

wow, so no space at all. So they never fly. This reminds me of fair chickens. Only way less space and temp control.

[–] • 1 pt

75 birds (15M and 60F) is only during full production in the summer. That's 50+ eggs per day. It's also a goddamn sex-fest in there with those numbers.

It's not as crowded as it sounds. There's usually a group playing in their sandbox and another group chilling by the water cooler.

[–] • 0 pt

OK, Im just askin shit here cause this is pretty amazing, what if no feed was commercially available?

[–] • 0 pt

Adult birds will eat any commercial chicken/duck feed. Literally anything. Calcium is important for layers, so if you only had shitty feed, you'd have to grind up their shells and mix it into their food. The 28% protein is only important under 6-8 weeks.

If somehow feed became like toilet paper in early 2020, I'd let them graze in the yard. Maybe build a low and wide net enclosure out of that super cheap nylon deer fencing? I guess I could start a cricket farm.

[–] [deleted] • 0 pt

How do you pick your breeding stock?

[–] • 0 pt

Weight and demeanor. I'll cull any assholes so they don't pass along those genes. All my hatching eggs are weighed before incubation. All adults are weighed and any giant freaks are kept too as long as they don't show leg problems.

In one year of a strict program, you'll see consistently heavier birds and larger eggs. I will eventually have a post with some numbers and reasonable expectations.