My home-made brooder

greenaus · **Posted:** Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:31 pm

Well, the incubator worked, so I needed to build a brooder.

It's only "temporary". :lol:

Here's what I did.

I paid $15 at LifeLine for a 1200mm x 445mm grey melamine Credenza. Never heard that word? It's like a little office storage cupboard. At 1200mm, mightn't be too little.

It is divided down the middle and also had a removable shelf each side which I didn't need (yet).

I laid it on its back.

I took the lighting assembly from a lamp. I drilled a hole between the ends, made it bigger, woke up the whole house at 3am doing it, and connected the lamp through that.

I lined the base with newspaper and used a few pieces of sticky tape to hold it down in places.

I had considered using some of the wood shavings (I have two unopened bales), but was worried it would stick to them.

The biggest incandescent bulb we had in this place was 75w, so that's what I've had to use.

That was done by 4am. I put the chickens in at 9am.

Click here to see the brooder

Click here to see the first four chickens in the brooder

The bulb is about 6-8 inches above the floor over to the right of the chickens. Since they're not bunching up under the light, I reckon 75w might be good enough after all.

greenaus · **Posted:** Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:41 pm

What's the other end for?

Well...I thought this out before I bought it.

I figured I could make a better incubator or combined incubator and hatcher.

I saw photos a few days ago of someone's wooden incubator, divided off at one end. On the "non-egg" side of the division is where the lights are. A fan pumps the hot air through to the "egg-chamber".

I don't recall where the humidity came from. I reckon I'd put the water dishes in the same area as the lights/heat.

Using aviary or mouse/snake mesh, I could divide off an area of the egg-chamber for hatching. Why? Because the little chickens move around too much and walk all over the unhatched eggs! Also, if the water trays and sponges are in the "egg chamber" but separate from the hatching area, the chicks can't drown in them.

Or, I could just use it as a hatcher. Or, just as an incubator.

debbieo4914 · **Posted:** Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:55 pm

Looks great, greenaus - you are very inventive! Much more sophisticated than my plastic storage box with a desk lamp hanging over the side (although it does seem to work!) :lol:

I've found that newspaper or old towels work well in the bottom until the chicks are a few days old, then something more absorbent and easier to clean (such as wood shavings) after that as when they start pooing a bit more the newspaper gets messy pretty quickly and they walk all through it. I haven't had any problems with the wood shavings sticking to the chicks - I just make sure I have the shavings in an open area to "air" before putting it in the brooder as sometimes they have very strong sap fumes.

Your links to the photos are a great idea - very easy to have a quick look and then get back to reading your post!

Deb :-D

greenaus · **Posted:** Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:52 pm

debbieo4914 wrote:

Your links to the photos are a great idea - very easy to have a quick look and then get back to reading your post!

What's the going rate for a picture these days?

Is it still a thousand words?

Peacocks Australia · **Joined:** Wed Jan 02, 2002 9:14 am **Posts:** 310755

Hi Greenus, Looks good and great information. Thank you for sharing your trials and tribulations with us.

Thanks
P.A :lol:

Stt · **Joined:** Sun Aug 19, 2007 7:01 pm **Posts:** 3006

welldone im starting a new brooder to its a double story (its really and old guinea pig cage) but ittl work

greenaus · **Posted:** Fri Aug 07, 2009 3:36 pm

greenaus wrote:

I paid $15 at LifeLine for a 1200mm x 445mm grey melamine Credenza. Never heard that word? It's like a little office storage cupboard. At 1200mm, mightn't be too little.

It is 740mm high.

I know this is an old thread, but I still have that "brooder" and it has been used as a storage cupboard for a whole range of things since last year.

But, tomorrow, it might be used as a "box" to bring home three chooks.

I had to go and measure it because the dimensions weren't all listed here.

mirrell · **Joined:** Fri Aug 07, 2009 7:32 pm **Posts:** 1

looks good
what did it cost all up
I saw a brooder for sale for $200 made out of wood but thought it was a little pricey

greenaus · **Posted:** Sat Aug 08, 2009 8:13 pm

mirrell wrote:

what did it cost all up

Unless I forgot anything, it was $15 for the credenza, a free bayonet fitting from a lamp was being thrown out ($5 max if bought at Lifeline), some time and some newspaper (and later on, wood shavings).

So, $20 plus whatever you use for the floor.

That $15 credenza was a real bargain though. The Lifeline had only just opened out here and they had lots of furniture stuff brought out here from Jacaranda St at Ipswich and sold really cheap. This lasted for only a few weeks before prices went up...and up. (Supply and demand -- maybe they got sick of me buying stuff like the $15 credenza and a $15 desk for a brooder and broodie pen).

Some stuff is still cheap there. I paid $15 each for the desks I bought for my latest brooder.
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