When we decided to start raising broiler chicks, we needed a very safe place to do it. Our predator load here is very high, easier to say what we don’t have: wolves, wolverines, lynx. If we wanted to have a flock at the end of the brooding period, we had to plan well.
Our first flock was to be 75 birds but we’d thought we might raise more and sell some in future years. We’d need a brooder big enough for that. In looking at brooders online I came across a pamphlet for a 1942 Chick Brooder: https://web.extension.illinois.edu/hkmw/downloads/46524.pdf
The next thing to consider was a very safe heat source. This design had the lights high inside the box.
A quote from the brochure:
“The new electric lamp brooder –
• Involves a minimum use of metals needed for war purposes.
• Weighs about 30 pounds without insulation material.
• Accommodates 150 to 250 chicks when made 4 by 4 feet or 250 to 300 chicks when made 4 by 6 feet.
• Is operated on the basis of the behavior of and comfort of the chicks rather
than thermostatic heat control or temperature shown by thermometer.
Thermostatic heat control is unnecessary, since the chicks readily adapt
themselves to their heat requirements and comfort in a brooder of this kind. A
thermometer is misleading rather than helpful, since the ordinary thermometer cannot be depended upon to indicate the radiant or infrared heat requirements of chicks or poults.
• Has a wide range of heat supply for special brooding requirements throughout the year.
• Requires no curtains during usual brooding conditions. In severely cold
weather, curtains may be needed to conserve heat or prevent floor drafts;
otherwise, curtains should not be used.”
Sounded good to us, and we had leftover materials on hand to build it. We went with the 4’ x 4’ size.
Source: https://web.extension.illinois.edu/hkmw/downloads/46524.pdf
There several things we would adapt:
- Smaller size
- Covering the wiring
- Figuring out a system to raise the brooder hover side height as the chicks grew
- We planned to use deep bedding, so the side height had to accommodate this
- How to raise the brooder hover up to change water and fill feeders twice a day
- Regulating the temperature under the hover
- Installing insulation they couldn’t reach and peck at
- Rounded corners inside
- Making sure we used bulbs rated for outside and that were secure in their bases
We chose to make ours 3’ x 4’ as we did not intend to do more than 150 chicks per year.
We used cut PVC pipe for the vertical electric chaseway and angled wood along the top for the horizontal ones.
To raise the side height as the chicks grew and to keep the edges out of the deep bedding as it got deeper, we cut lengths of PVC that would slip over the legs and serve as risers. We made 3 sets, each 1½” longer than the previous. They were held in place with a screw.
This hover was pretty heavy and we had to work under it twice a day to change out waterers and fill feed trays. We put an eye hook on one side and used an old hunting block and tackle with a hook to raise it.
Holding up the hover
The block and tackle from a hook in the ceiling.
Though the pamphlet said you didn’t need to regulate the temp, we found in our situation we did. So we installed an analog thermostat and mounted it 1½” from the floor.
And to double check the temps, we kept a thermometer set at chick height under the hover. This apparently made an excellent perch also.
Now we had heat, we wanted to retain it. Putting insulation on the top would not work because within a couple weeks, they could fly up there. So we found reflective insulation and stapled it to the ceiling, out of their reach.
Should the temperatures drop, we needed to prevent bunching in corners. The ones at the stuck in the back get smothered that way. So we put pieces of plywood up to block the corners.
Heat lamp bulbs come in different qualities and wattages. It’s best to use the best quality to avoid fire hazard. We found the ones from Premier1 the best. This is why:
Source: https://www.premier1supplies.com/img/product/pdf/Howtosecureheatlamps&bulbsIT17.pdf
This is the materials list for building it, from the pamphlet:
"The following materials are needed for a 4 by 4-foot brooder:
• One piece of 4’ by 8’, ¼” plywood or 1/8” pressed wood (to be cut into one 4’ by 4’ top and four 1’ by 4’ sides)
• Four cleats 1” x 1”, 4’ long, to which the top and sides are nailed.
• Four pieces of 1½” x 1½” lumber, 16” long, for corner posts or legs
• Two porcelain electric lamp bulb sockets (Porcelain lamp sockets are necessary for these lamps)
• One 150 watt, 115 to 120 volt projector or reflector Mazda spot or flood lamp and one 250 watt R-40 Bulb Drying lamp
• Twenty feet of rubber-covered electric appliance cord with plug and cap”
Remember this was 1942! The electric components are much improved and you should find the heaviest duty wire applicable and the best quality lamps.
To this list we added:
2” PVC for legs and wire chases
½” x 3” x 40” slat
½” x 3 x 18” (2) slats
(Wood above for wire chases on top)
Analog thermostat
Pieces of plywood wide enough to round all 4 corners
Large eye hook
Block and tackle
We now had the brooder made but realized we would have to totally enclose it in hardware cloth as it was going to be in a room in the barn that was not animal proof.
So we built an enclosure that was a couple inches higher than the top of the hover. It had a hardware cloth floor and sides, and a hardware cloth bifold door top that was hooked down.
The first thing we realized was that even though the pamphlet said not to worry too much about drafts, in a 150 year old tobacco shed, one has to deal with wind. So we tacked on wooden draft curtains on the outside of the enclosure walls.
The next thing we discovered was that we had not allowed room for increase in depth of the deep bedding pack. After a month the top was no longer secure.
So the following year we built new sides with solid board walls and used the original hardware cloth sides above them. The floor and bifold top were able to be reused also. Support boards held them in place and provided a rest for the top when open.
One hardware cloth side folded down so we could get inside.
We ran support boards in the corners to hold the bell waterer also.
The entire enclosure was built to be taken apart, cleaned and stored flat each year. We also put rounding boards in each corner and covered the tops of them so no chick would fall in. These make great perches for watching the world go by, we’re told.
The photos were taken in our butchershop. Since then we’ve built a cold room, heavily insulated, and that has become the chick brooder room as it holds temps so well.
One year we had to rebuild a pasture coop before they could go outside. We took the hover out once they no longer needed it for warmth and just hung, very securely, a heat lamp in one corner.
We changed out the small red feeders for larger round divided feeders and added a roost they could play on.
This system has worked very well for us for 10 years now. This year we will be raising 90 birds in it.
References:
1942 Chick Brooder: https://web.extension.illinois.edu/hkmw/downloads/46524.pdf
Premier1 for heating devices:
https://www.premier1supplies.com/img/product/pdf/Howtosecureheatlamps&bulbsIT17.pdf
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