Brooder

 The brooder is an oval galvanized steel stock tank. It's about 2 feet wide and 4 feet long. This size is perfect for us. It will easily slide through doorways and is small enough to put into the extra room or in the living room. In the living room they can be watched closely. For the first few days it is a short time for a chick to become stressed and die so checking them often is important. By the time they are about a week old, they are usually hearty enough to go out to the chick coop, with proper heat and protection. For bedding I line the bottom with brow packing paper or newspaper and then use shredded junk mail on top, cause what else are you going to do with it anyway. Be sure there is no plastic in it. I quite using the wood chips that I use in the coop because it creates a lot of dust and who wants that.  I use cement stepping stones to elevate food and water. Aside from keeping food and water clean, they will soak up heat and help keep babies warm at night, when the house is cooler. 

The bases for the water can be purchased at the feed stores as can the base for the feeder. The bottle for the water is just a regular mouth quart bottle. We were lucky enough to get a metal feeder base but the 4” PVC pipe may work with the plastic ones also. The PVC pipe just slid over the base and is not secured in any way. It fit tight enough that it does not fall off. Don made the feeder because with the number of birds we raise I had to fill the feeder several times a day. The feeder sits on a cement stepping stone and the pipe comes to the top of the stock tank. It will tip over so by cutting it that tall the cover will hold it in place. 

We switched from the heat lamps to the heat table and a heat panel a few years back because a heat lamp is harder to control the temperature and was also lite up all night long. Having the other 2 heaters the babies can decide where they want to hang out. They will start out under the heat table or up against the heat plate. As they grow they will spend most days in the middle of the brooder. 

The cover was made by Don. He used 2x2s for the frame and covered it with ¼” wire, but 1/2” would work also. The hinges make it easy to fill feeder and change water. The chicks probably won't escape this containment, but we do have a couple cats so it's covered. This also allows me to lay a couple towels over the top to help retain the heat at night. The cover is light weight and easy to get on and off, but sturdy enough for the cat to lay on top and watch the babies. 

I have had as many as 30-35 newly hatched chicks in this with no problems. It will only hold that many for about a week. It is a perfect size to keep about 20 for 2 to 3 weeks.