Building A Simple Brooder
Building a brooder to house your chicks and ducklings doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. We had extra lumber laying around and though they weren’t perfect or beautiful, they were quite enough to house the babies that will be arriving in a week. If you are interested in something simple + affordable and quick, than this article is for you.
I so desperatley wanted to add beauty to it. I have been hording two gorgeous single pane windows from the 1800’s that I would have loved to use as double door lids. Alas, I withdrew my temptation of the elaborate, reminding myself that soon a move would take place and my beloved windows would more than likely be damaged and also that this was with all the spare parts lying around, making it a prime example of how you can forge a way forward even with what you have.
If you were to buy all the materials from the store that you needed here (9 2x4’s,2 pieces of plywood, chicken wire, screws) the estimated cost would be around $100-150.
There was a newsletter I sent out last month that talked about materials that I never pass up and on that list was
Pallets
Screws
Plywood
You can find used items online, at a local “Re store” and even driving down you city / town streets. I make an effort to visit local hardware stores and ask if I can take any pallets off their hand and any other materials that I might find handy around our home.
A F E W T H I N G S
W h a t I s A B r o o d e r ?
A brooder is a cage (essentially) or safe dwelling that protects from drafts, elements and carries warmth and access to fresh water + food. There have been many ideas on what can consist of a brooder. Some use large plastic totes from their local stores, large cardboard boxes, galvanized tubs and any other thing that can be conjured up. If you’re anything like myself, I personally love having something that I can revisit over and over that will last and has personal touches that make my life easier. Having scoliosis, we were able to custom build it to a height that was perfect for not bending over to clean or pick up chicks.
H o w B i g S h o u l d T h e B r o o d e r B e ?
In theory, a brooder that is 10’ x 12’ would house about 120 chicks to eight weeks of age!
So if you imagine them at the size / age they will be ready for the outdoor chicken coop + run, that would give you a pretty good idea of how large you will want your brooder to be. Don’t fret to much on the anxiety of it being to spacey for the tiny ones when they come. You can simply create a divider out of wood or other materials to retract or create more space.
S U G G E S T I O N S
T r a p d o o r s O r T r a y s - We decided to cut squares at opposite ends of the brooder, added a few hinges and a lock from the underside of the to create trap doors for easy cleaning! That way you can simply place a bucket, garbage can or spare tote underneath and sweep / push / brush all the dirty shavings right out the bottom. Another idea I had (but didn’t have the lumber for) was to add a “catch tray”. Essentially, you would pull out a lumber frame with a plastic tray that you could remove and empty out. Now that I have the trap doors however, I prefer them.
P o l y u r e t h a n e - Polyurethane is a water proof sealant for wood. If you went with a wood floor you’re going to need to water proof it to ensure it doesn’t absorb moisture, bacteria and begin to rot.
M A T E R I A L S W E U S E D
01. 2x4’s
02. Plywood
03. Chicken wire
04. Screws
05. Hinges
06. Latches
07. Hand drill
08. Hand saw
09. Circular saw
10. Staple gun / staples
11. Carpender square / pencil
12. Tape measure
We created our brooder to be 8’ x 2’ x 2’ housing 30 chicks and 12 ducklings till at least 8 weeks of age. Not shown in the video or photos, is that we cut down a piece of wood as a divider within the brooder that can be moved around as needed. Why divide? Ducklings and Chicks both eat crumble starter that’s true, however if you didn’t opt to vax your chicks, they will be eating medicated chick starter which is toxic to ducklings in the amount that they eat.
Here is a short break down video of the brooder build.
It was our fist time filming and editing in this manner so if I left anything out in this article or video please comment below and let me know!
