Chicks 101 ~ The Basics

It’s finally spring…temperatures are rising, flowers are starting to bloom, and local farm supply stores are stocking chicks! If you decide to take the leap into the world of backyard chickens, one thing you’ll need is a brooder box. What’s a brooder box? A brooder box is basically a heated enclosure used for raising baby birds (chicks, turkeys, ducklings, etc.). Generally, hen mothers provide all the heat a chick needs to survive, so in her absence, there needs to be a heat source available to keep the chicks warm enough to reduce stress to their systems. There are lots of different options when it comes to brooders and they range from fairly inexpensive to very expensive (these are typically more commercial grade). The fairly inexpensive brooders consist of a heat source and an open pen, which won’t work for everyone. For example, our chicks were going to live in the garage where our cat likes to hang out. We also have two very curious dogs, so we needed something more secure, and more importantly, with a lid. After doing a bunch of research, we decided to make our own. We knew that we wanted not only chicks but ducklings, and possibly turkeys, and because ducklings grow so fast, we knew we needed something big. We also wanted something that wouldn’t take up a ton of space and could be easily moved. Here’s what we ended up with…

This is our sweet puppy Rocco, checking out the chicks.

What are the heating options for a brooder box?

There are a couple of options for heating your brooder box. One is a 250-watt heat lamp, which you can find at your local farm supply store. If using this option, make sure that steps are taken to ensure the safety of your new chicks. If this lamp falls into the brooder, it can catch your bedding on fire and depending where your brooder is located, your home as well.

Another option, which is a little bit more expensive than the lamp, is a heat plate. There are several companies that make heat plates, so do your research before buying. The benefit with a heat plate is that there is little to no risk of the bedding catching on fire.

Whichever way you decide to go with the heating options, it’s a good idea to have a thermometer inside your brooder. Chicks need to stay at 95 degrees F for the first week; after that the temperature can be lowered by 5 degrees each week. The heat source should be kept at one end of the brooder box to allow space for the chicks to move away if they are too hot.

We opted for the heat plate, which has 4 adjustable legs, so as the chicks grow, it can be adjusted. Chicks should fit comfortably underneath, and if you notice they are standing rather than laying down, try adjusting the legs lower so they can lay down and still be warm. Chicks should be kept in the brooder until they are fully feathered (around 4 – 6 weeks), and/or temps outside are above 70 degrees.

What can be used for bedding?

There are a lot of options for bedding and it comes down to personal preference. Don’t be afraid to try different things to find what works best for you. We used a combination of puppy pads and non-adhesive non-slip shelf liner for the first few weeks while they got used to the brooder and then switched over to puppy pads and pine shavings once they started eating (and pooping) more.

Here’s a list of different options:

· Paper towels

· Old rags

· Untreated pine shavings

· Chopped, dry leaves

· Straw

· Peat

· Puppy pads

· Non-adhesive non-slip shelf liner

What else should your brooder box have?

Chicks should also have access to food and fresh water at all times while in the brooder. There are several different kinds of feeders and waterers and most can be found at your local farm supply store (or Amazon). For the first few days, especially if your chicks were shipped, make sure you add electrolytes to their water for a little boost. Chick starter feed should be given freely and it’s your choice on either medicated or non-medicated. Do your research and pick the option that works best for you.

We used the Little Giant® feeders and waterers. They are pretty inexpensive, and bonus, a quart size mason jar can be used in either the feeder or waterer, which gives you more options. They are also super easy to clean.

Another thing I would suggest as they get a little bigger is a roost. I recently saw a DIY roost for chicks that was made out of PVC. This is a great choice, especially for cleaning purposes. We used a wooden roost that was hard to clean and keep clean.

While we’re on the subject of cleaning, the brooder box should be cleaned out every couple of days. Coccidia can be lethal to chicks and spreads quickly in warm, wet conditions.

How did we make ours?

First let’s start with a list of materials, where we got them and how much we paid for them:

· 70-gallon tough storage tote with a lid and wheels (Home Depot / $45.98)

· ¼” hardware cloth (Home Depot / $10.63)

· Self-tapping sheet metal screws (left over from another project)

· Brinsea® Ecoglow 20 Safety 600 Brooder (Amazon / $69.99)

· Puppy pads (left over from our puppy)

· Gorilla grip drawer and shelf liner (Amazon / $14.99)

· Little Giant® feeder and waterer (Amazon / $20.00)

· Pine flakes (Tractor Supply / $6.19)

A couple of things to keep in mind when choosing what to use when making a brooder; 1) there should be one square foot of space per chick, and 2) from one to three weeks the height of the brooder should be 12” and by six weeks, they need 24” of height. So having a plan for how long your chicks will be in the brooder will help determine how deep your brooder should be.

Assembling the brooder box was pretty simple, but did require some power tools. We cut two sections out of the lid by first using a drill bit to make a pilot hole and then following with a jigsaw. After that, we measured the hardware cloth and then cut it to size, just big enough to fit inside the top of the lid. We had some left over sheet metal screws that we used to secure the hardware cloth to the lid, and the best part is that they were self-tapping so they were really easy to screw in. We then used the drill to drill a hole in the side of the brooder box big enough to put the cord of the heat plate through. We wanted as little cord in the box as possible. That’s it for the power tools!

The top ventilation holes ended up looking kind of like flowers. We followed the lines in the lid, and I like it!

The bottom of the tote was not flat and we were worried about the unevenness causing issues with the chicks legs, so we used a piece of coated cardboard (it was actually an unused cake board), cut it to size and put it in the bottom of the tote. We covered that with puppy pads (which we used for the first several weeks they were in the brooder) and for the first couple of weeks used the shelf liner rather than pine flakes. The big roll that we got had enough that we were able to get several sets so it was easy to switch them out when they got dirty. After about 4 weeks the cardboard was removed and the bottom was filled with pine flakes.

This is a pic of the bottom of the tote. The ridges weren’t super deep but we didn’t want to take the chance of any chicks having leg issues.

We then set up the heat plate and had it ready to go for when our chicks arrived. We ordered from a hatchery so we picked them up from the post office. The heat plate was plugged in before we went to pick them up so it would already be warm for them.

These are our chicks that we got in 2021, and they are currently just shy of a year old.

Storage for this brooder box was not bad at all. We left it in the garage but could have easily put it up in the attic. We are expecting Jumbo Cornish Cross chicks in the next few weeks so we just got it all cleaned up and ready to go for round two!