Preparing a Brooder for Your Newly Hatched Chicks

Preparing a Brooder for Your Newly Hatched Chicks

 

 

Getting a brooder set up for your chicks is an essential part of raising chicks yourself. It provides them with a comfortable space to live during their first few weeks of life. In this guide we dive into setting up the perfect brooder and everything you need to include to give them the best start you can!

 

So what is a brooder?

 

A brooder is a container where you will move your chicks to after they have dried off in the incubator post-hatching. It is an enclosed container where they will be safe and warm to ensure the best start for your chicks and prepare them for life.

 

 

 

Choosing a container

 

Choose a container big enough to handle the number of chicks you plan to have. Make sure they have enough room to move around freely as they learn how to be chickens!

 

You can purchase brooder containers off the internet but its easy enough to just make your own out of a plastic box or cardboard, personally id choose the plastic box over the cardboard as cardboard deteriorates if it gets damp.

 

Make sure whatever you choose has high enough sides so the chicks cant jump out!

 

 

Setting up a heat source

 

You have a couple of choices here.

 

You can buy actual brooder heat sources which you hang into the brooder. They’re sometimes called “Radiant Heat Lamps”. They have a heating element in them which warms the area beneath them which the chicks can snuggle into to keep warm. These are okay but they take up quite a lot of room and in my professional opinion they can heat up too much of the brooder and the chicks cant escape it if they get too hot.

 

Or you can go the heat lamp route, about a 250W, which is what we personally have at PrimaryPoultry. Yes there is some negatives surrounding these heat lamps from stories of them causing fires etc. If used properly and you buy a quality product then there should be any issues at all. Don’t hang them too low to the ground or let them get wet etc.

 

Positives for using a heat lamp include:

 

More directed heat to ensure that the whole brooder doesn’t get too hot and the chicks cant escape the heat.

 

Less space taken up allowing more room for the feeders and drinkers and other bits.

 

Whatever route you decide to go here, make sure its hung securely and cant drop on the chicks.

 

Get yourself a thermometer and start with a temperature of around 35°C (95°F) and reduce it by about 3° C (5°F) each week until you reach the ambient temperature.

 

 

 

 

 

Bedding

 

You want to prove a soft, grippy surface in your brooder so the chicks can get used to walking without slipping around. Chicks can suffer from something called “splay leg” if they don’t have a grippy surface and this cant be fixed properly most of the time and the other chicks will notice this and pick on the affected bird and this can be fatal! In all of our brooders we lay down puppy training pads as these are very grippy and also soak up moisture.

 

On top of the puppy training pads we use pine shavings (avoid cedar) to provide a soft and insulating bedding - but we don’t cover the entire bottom of the brooder, especially for the first week while the chicks are very small and getting used to walking.

 

Change the puppy pads and wood shavings as soon as you notice your brooder getting dirty or after a few days. You can expect to be changing them at LEAST three times a week minimum as chicks make a LOT of mess. It all depends on how many chicks you have really.

 

Feeders and waterers

 

You will be feeing your chicks something called chick crumb. (We have an entire guide on poultry feed here) (Expert Feeding Tips: The Essential Guide to Poultry Nutrition.) Provide your chicks with high quality chick crumb high in protein to support proper growth. This will have a small amount of grit already in it to aide in digestion.

 

You can get small traditional feeders but you can use pretty much anything that can hold food and is easily accessible by tiny chicks. Scatter some throughout the brooder so they can always find food and can get used to pecking it off of the ground to prepare them for when they are foraging for bugs and insects etc.

 

For drinkers, I use saucers with marbles in to prevent drowning as the chicks will happily sleep in their water and you can imagine how this ends…

 

After a couple of weeks you can remove the marbles and replace the saucer with a proper drinker.

 

Airflow

 

The brooder should have some airflow to prevent the buildup of moisture and ammonia, but avoid too much draft as this can cool the brooder and make the chicks cold!

 

Maintaining Cleanliness

 

Ensure the feeders and waterers are always clean and the food isn’t contaminated.

 

The chicks create a lot of mess so make sure the bedding is always as clean as possible as walking through droppings and whatever can burn their feet and will release toxic levels of ammonia. Its not uncommon to have to replace bedding daily depending on the amount of chicks you have.

 

 

Monitor your chicks behaviour

 

Monitor your chicks frequently to ensure they’re comfortable. If they gather under the heat source, they may be too cold. If they avoid it, they could be too hot. Adjust the heat source accordingly ensuring its secure and not going to fall or get too close to the bedding.

 

Inspect the chicks for any signs of illness or distress like lethargy, pasty butt (faeces stuck to vent area), or respiratory problems.

 

 

 

Prepare for transition

 

Begin acclimating your chicks to the outside temperatures around 4-6 weeks of age for regular breeds. Take into account the weather and their feather cover to judge when to start this, as a great temperature difference could prove fatal! So judge everything before you do it.

 

Start off with short periods of time in a safe environment and increase their time outside every few days to get used to being outside.

 

 

 

So thats everything you need to be able to set up a successful brooder and rear your first chicks into healthy grown chickens! If there’s anything your stuck on then shoot us an email and we will get back to you as soon as we can. Thanks for reading!