Today the kids helped me finish the brooder. Simonne wanted to be helpful, but she let her brother Jorn take center stage. The chicks will spend the first 6 weeks of their life in this structure, give or take. I had some really, really crappy (8' x 4') plywood / pressboard stuff hanging around from a retailer infamous for sub-par wood. I don't like to name names, but lets just say it sounds like “Chrome Despot”.
I used as much as possible from existing 'inventory'. I wanted to make it large enough to accommodate greater numbers of chicks that may arrive in the future and possibly be rugged enough to have a dual use as a chicken tractor, allowing the chicks to forage safely on the grass. One side has wheels (large 40's era dense metal) and the other handles to lift to get it to roll.
On the underside are screw-in hangers for the water and food, which will be raised higher as they get older. I needed to “double bag” a few other pieces of lumber across the center and around the sides. The pieces I used for the main box had crooked cuts in them, were warped, had holes, etc...
There will be two heat lamps shinning through the chicken wire doors. This will keep them warm, plus they will be able to get away from the heat if they wish by going to the centermost covered area. Simple cardboard will be used as a floor, with shavings on top – easy to compost or recycle.
My initial intention was to make it twice as high, with levels, but my wife informed me that I did not work in Jurassic Park and these were young chickens, not Velociraptors.
