![]() Many of the suggested brooder arrangements and even some commercial brooders assume that the chicks are in a heated room. They are very easy to use, and the chicks do well in them, but they smell worse than the other kinds of brooders. These use wire floors with a droppings pan underneath. Wire-floored “battery brooders” can also be used. The smell isn’t too bad for the first week, but it becomes really repulsive after that! And the entire room containing the chicks becomes coated with a dust composed largely of dried chick manure.īrooders always present a certain amount of fire hazard, so there’s a lot to be said for brooding the chicks in isolated, cheaply constructed brooder houses with metal roofs.īrooder houses generally have litter on the floor, preferably with a layer of softwood shavings at least four inches thick. Some people brood their chicks in their homes, but after trying this myself, I can’t recommend it. But such brooders are tricky to use and less effective than ones that supply external heat.īrooding needs to be performed in an area where floor drafts, predators, unsupervised children, and cats can be excluded. It is possible to brood chicks without supplemental heat in an insulated box with feathers or flaps of cloth hanging from the ceiling, retaining their body heat allowing huddling to work more effectively. Each brooder handles up 1,000 or more chicks. Large commerical poultry operations generally use big propane brooders with a central brooder and a metal canopy, or hover, that retains the heat. People brooding fewer than 1,000 chicks at once generally use electric brooders. Groups of chicks can maintain body heat by huddling together, which is why day-old chicks can be shipped by mail. Naturally brooded chicks are warmed by nestling against their mothers. How should I brood day-old chicks?įor a complete list of steps, see my baby chick checklist.īaby chicks need an external source of heat. Getting started with baby chicks? Robert Plamondon, author of Success With Baby Chicks, tells you what you need to know.
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