Choose a brooder for chickens and do it yourself ⋆ 👨‍🌾 Farmer-online ⋆

Many farmers keep various poultry on their farms. Chickens are rightfully recognized as the most common and sought-after species. These individuals demonstrate high productivity if they are provided with good conditions. The brood of laying hens is very vulnerable to temperature changes, so they need to make a quality brooder. Today we will analyze in detail what it is and how you can make it yourself.

What is it and why is it needed?

It is very important for any poultry to provide optimal conditions for keeping. Only under this condition can we expect good productivity from birds. Proper environment must be provided for both adults and chicks. The latter are very vulnerable, so they need special care.

Chickens do not tolerate temperature extremes very well. The first weeks of life, they should be in ideal conditions for them – in warmth. If you neglect this requirement, then the chicks can get sick and die. That’s where the brooder comes to the rescue.

A brooder is a special box, a large box, a certain territory or an entire room. Under these conditions, chickens are kept for the first 60 days of life. The specific name of this design comes from the English “brood”, which means “to bear”. This term speaks for itself – such a device is designed to act as a replacement for the mother of little chicks. The brooder is designed to give them vital warmth, without which the kids will simply die.

Most recently born chickens experience very serious stress. It is during this period that the risk of catching a serious illness increases significantly. Little birds are trying to adapt to life without a mother hen. That is why it is so important at this time to provide them with ideal conditions of detention.

Basic design requirements

The brooder is a vital structure for little chicks. It must meet a number of basic requirements, without which its application will be useless.

The design of the brooder must have a floor. It must be exceptionally dry. Its surface must not slip. If this requirement is neglected, then the chickens can get sick and die.
If possible, a pallet should be built to accommodate the waste. It must be placed over the entire structure. The brooder should be cleaned regularly, excrement and other debris should not be there. At the same time, it is often not advisable to disturb the young. This is especially true for individuals who are not yet 50 days old.
The room must have good and proper ventilation. But at the same time, drafts should not be there in any case. Be aware – newborn birds are incredibly sensitive to low temperatures, and this can end badly for them.
It is important to maintain optimum humidity in the brooder – this is another requirement for these designs. This parameter must not be allowed to go beyond the allowed limits.
The device that is responsible for heating the brooder must work in such a way that the animals do not overheat. The heat source must be equipped so that the chicks cannot reach it. In the first days of life, the optimum temperature for the chicks will be about 35 degrees. After a certain time period, it will need to be reduced to 30 degrees.
It is necessary to properly adjust the dimensions of the brooder. Here, each poultry farmer himself calculates which parameters will be optimal. Much depends on the materials that are used in the manufacture of the brooder. The average dimensions of this design are 1,5 by 1,5 m.
The permitted density of chickens per square meter should be no more than 25 individuals. The standard design usually accommodates approximately 50-80 one-day birds.

A brooder must meet all of the above requirements. Then it will be useful for the young. If you plan to make this design with your own hands, then you definitely need to be responsible for each item.

Necessary materials and tools

It is quite possible to build a brooder for chickens with your own hands. For such work, it is necessary to select only high-quality and wear-resistant materials. In addition, they must be environmentally friendly, because they will surround vulnerable and fragile chicks. To make a brooder, it is allowed to use the following materials.

To build the base and wall structures, OSB sheets or plywood sheets are ideal options.
To make a frame base, doors and other similar elements, it is recommended to use wooden bars and slats.
It is necessary to take care of high-quality and reliable protection from other animals. For the construction of a protective structure, it is best to use a galvanized mesh with cells measuring 10 by 10 mm. Many poultry farmers prefer to put polycarbonate instead of a grid.
To protect young animals from precipitation, which can undermine their health, it is worth using a slate sheet.
Doors need hinges.
It is very important to build reliable foundations for the waste products of these poultry. To do this, you will need to purchase a pallet, tin sheet, oilcloth or plastic panel. A little less use of the grid.
The net should be selected based on the immediate age of the chicks. The smaller they are, the smaller cell sizes will suit them.
Be sure to prepare nails and screws.
Prepare an incandescent lamp with a power of 25 to 60 watts, a quality light reflector, a lamp cable and a plug.
For a brooder, you need a thermometer, a high-quality heater, and a thermostat. The latter will be needed to adjust the heating, as well as automatically turn off and on the incandescent lamp.

In order to build and equip a reliable and high-quality brooder on your own, you will have to prepare a number of necessary tools, without which such work will become much more difficult. These include:

drill or high-quality screwdriver;
hacksaw and screwdriver;
tape measure and special scissors for cutting metal;
a hammer.

Having all the listed materials and tools, it will be possible to make a good brooder with your own hands. It is advisable to rely on detailed step-by-step instructions for its manufacture, so as not to encounter serious errors.

How to make your own?

As mentioned earlier, it is quite possible to make a brooder with your own hands. The main thing is to stock up on all the necessary materials, tools, make the necessary drawings and stock up on detailed manufacturing instructions.

First you need to decide on the design of the planned brooder. Standard chick models should have the following basic features.

As a rule, they have small dimensions – 1×0,6×0,6 m.
For their manufacture, you need to use high-quality materials. Chipboard or plywood sheets are ideal. Such designs will provide the chicks with warmth and good protection from harmful drafts and excess moisture. Since chicks’ droppings are usually liquid and they often spill all the water, the brooder must be sufficiently water resistant.
The chick brooder tray must be removable. When the sand under the paws of the chicks becomes very dirty from their droppings, the pan can be easily removed and the sand can be replaced.
The drinker and feeder for chickens should be as stable as possible. If you follow this rule, then the chicks will not be able to turn them over, they will not climb there with their paws and will not pollute everything with the remnants of litter or sand.

Given all the features of the future design of a homemade brooder, you can proceed directly to its manufacture. Consider step by step how you can independently build a simple version of this design for chickens.

First of all, you will need to prepare an approximate drawing and diagram of the planned future design. They will depend on the number of chickens you want to keep there. Of course, the more chicks there are, the more spacious the brooder should be. Models for 50 or 30 individuals will be small if there are 100 chicks.

Mark the plywood. Carefully cut out the side and back walls.

Prepare your wood blocks. Cut out 6 planks for wall structures. These parts must have one length parameter. It is necessary to attach the strips, making indents from the edges by literally a few centimeters.

Similar manipulations must be carried out in relation to the lower part. In this case, it will be necessary to comply with absolutely all the necessary dimensions. Otherwise, the bottom and waste tray cannot be removed easily.

Next, you need to drill a hole for the wiring. Through it, you will need to carefully stretch the necessary wires. Then they fix the cartridge, the lighting device themselves and the heating element.

Further, all the walls of the brooder will need to be insulated by installing foam on them. To prevent drafts from entering the brooder and keep the heat in the inside, these components will be simply necessary.

Now all the right sides need to be put together. If before that you did everything right, then the grooves in the bottom wall will ideally match the side grooves.

Prepare the front wall by cutting it out of the plywood sheet. Fasten the loops securely on the side. They will be needed for the installation of doors.

Make holes in the sheet or make a window from a strong mesh. Such components will be needed by the poultry breeder so that everything that happens in the brooder can be controlled. Thus, it is possible to see how the chicks are doing.

Now you should cut off a metal sheet or plywood piece to equip a strong and reliable brooder roof.

Build a pallet from a material that will not get wet and deform under the influence of liquid and does not rot. This part of the brooder must be firmly fixed using wooden blocks.

Be sure to install stable containers for feed and water in the brooder.

You can let the feathered “youngsters” in only after you have thoroughly warmed up the structure.

You can build a brooder with your own hands for broilers. In this case, it is necessary to observe some important subtleties.

The floor in such a brooder must be made non-slip. Otherwise, the broilers’ paws will disperse.
Here you can use simple trays left over from eggs as dishes. Due to the similar design of the feeders, each bird will have the opportunity to easily get to food.
Drinkers and feeders should be such that the birds could not get hurt on them. In addition, these parts must be stable so that broilers do not turn them over during moments of excessive activity (these individuals like to “walk” along the edges of feeders and drinkers from time to time).
In order for the service life of the structure to be more impressive, it is desirable to paint it with high-quality paint.
It is advisable to pre-disinfect and wash the finished brooder for broilers with soapy water.

As you can see, there is nothing complicated in making a brooder. With such a functional design, raising healthy chickens will be much easier.

Many poultry farmers build similar “boxes” to keep young animals in them until a certain age. Feedback on these models is entirely positive.

Heating Options

It is not enough to build a good and strong brooder. It is necessary to provide excellent heating in it, because this is the main component necessary for small chicks. Of course, when choosing a particular heating system, most poultry farmers start from their own preferences and financial capabilities. You can maintain the required temperature with ordinary incandescent lamps of the appropriate power. But such a method cannot be called economical, and it does not differ in particular safety, because a simple incandescent lamp can be very easily broken by accident.

Today, slightly different systems are most often used to heat a brooder:

red light bulbs with a mirror reflector;
ceramic infrared lamps;
artificial mother hens.

Each of these devices has its pros and cons.

red heating lamp

This is a common method of warming up a brooder. Such a lamp emits energy in the red and infrared range. It is designed to emit warm and fairly soft lighting. Calling such a device universal is not worth it, although experts often say that red lamps do not interfere with the chicks to sleep and rest normally.

When the temperature rises, the red lights should be turned off. This can be done both independently and with the help of special regulators. This means that in order to maintain the optimal lighting mode, it will be necessary to use another lighting device for a pair with the specified lamp.

The main advantages of these devices are:

they have a good resource – about 5000 hours – this is an excellent indicator;
are inexpensive.

Only those red lamps that have cylinders made of special tempered glass are safe to use.

Infrared Ceramic Heater

This is another version of the lamp for keeping day old chicks. Increasingly, poultry farmers are using an infrared ceramic heater, which makes it easy to maintain the required temperature. This option has a lot in common with a conventional lamp. If we compare it with a classic red light bulb, then it has the following advantages:

can last much longer – continuous operation of such a heater can be from 10000 to 30000 hours;
has a high efficiency – up to 98%;
characterized by high impact resistance;
are waterproof;
“not afraid” of vibrations.

The power limits of such heaters are very wide – from 25 to 200 watts. It is not difficult to find the ideal ceramic heaters for brooders of any size. If you wish, you can put several of these heat emitters at once in one design. Many poultry farmers use this method.

Artificial mother hen

Such an addition to the main heating system will come in handy. It is a low power heating plate. It stands on 4 small pillars. Such a device almost does not raise the temperature of the surrounding space, but if you lean against its warm surface, the chicks can warm up in the same way as in natural conditions – with a laying hen.

As the chicks grow, the gap between the floor of the brooder and the surface of this heater is gradually made larger. Due to this, it will be very convenient to operate it during the entire time of growing chicks in the brooder.

The dimensions of this apparatus are selected depending on how many chicks are contained in the brooder. Classic products are designed for no more than 20 heads. There are specimens for 50 chicks – their power is higher and they cost more.

If you decide to put this device in a brooder, you need to observe one important condition – the floor area of the brooder must be at least 2 times larger than the heater itself. Only in this case, the chickens will be able to warm up normally under the artificial “mother chicken”.

These devices can operate 24 hours 7 days a week. Since the power consumption of these devices is very small, this does not provoke large expenditures on electrical energy.

There are other types of brooder heating for chicks:

ordinary incandescent lamps;
special infrared films;
heat emitters made of plastic;
lamps designed for heating terrariums;
Heating elements of different power levels and structures.

Homemaking

The structure for chickens must be properly equipped. The conditions for keeping the chicks should be as comfortable as possible so that the brood grows healthy. Let us consider in more detail what is needed for the internal arrangement of these structures.

Drinkers and feeders. You can build them yourself, or you can buy them ready-made in a store or on the market.
It is necessary to fix a thermometer in the brooder in order to keep the temperature regime under control.
Mesh doors are most often used as ventilation for these structures, but if you made them solid, it is recommended to equip small windows. They will help bring in fresh air. In addition, through them you can follow the chicks.
It is allowed to install not too large perches. Even very young chicks will sleep much better if their paws grip the perch. Provided that the posture is correct, there will be no curvature of the keel of birds in a dream.
Of course, high-quality heaters must be installed in the brooder. They will provide the ideal microclimate necessary for young individuals.
You can not do in a brooder and without good lighting. The duration of daylight hours at first should be at least 17-19 hours. In the course of growing individuals, it should be gradually reduced to 14 hours.

Useful Tips

In the ceiling of the brooder, it is recommended to make holes with a diameter of 30-50 mm for ventilation. By installing the plate, you can adjust the ventilation level.

Brooder should be done with light inner walls. In this case, it will be much easier to see if there are contaminants in the structure and quickly get rid of them.

If you want to breed chickens, then you should purchase a special hatcher. This equipment is needed for culling and laying eggs in trays, tracking the period of embryos and the appearance of chicks.

Before making a brooder, you should prepare all the necessary drawings, diagrams and tables with the indicated dimensional parameters. Only based on such sketches, you can make a good design of suitable dimensions, so this step should not be neglected.