Useful Tips for Brooding Chicks

Many people have discovered the joy of raising chickens. Chickens are fairly inexpensive to maintain and they don't require a lot of your time. In return, they provide you with delicious eggs and meat and, in some instances, can even be family-friendly pets. After they leave the egg, and before they become a chicken, they are chicks. Most folks interested in raising chickens start by purchasing several chicks either via mail order, from a local store, or directly from a farm. An essential tool for raising chicks is the chicken brooder. If this is your first time raising chicks, read on for plenty of useful chick-brooding tips.

What Is A Chicken Brooder?

The brooder is where your chicks are raised until they have enough feathers to keep themselves warm. Brooders should, most importantly, keep your chicks safe from predators. But, they should also keep your chicks dry, draft-free, and be large enough to prevent crowding.

The Battery Brooder

There are many styles of chicken brooders. You can construct a brooder box out of cardboard or build yourself a more elaborate structure.

One popular form of chicken brooder is the battery brooder. A battery brooder looks like two or more cages stacked on each other which, in turn, are on wheels for mobility. They let you keep lots of chicks in a small space, and their tier construction allows you the opportunity to organize your chicks, if you so desire, by variety. Each level of the battery comes with feeders and waterers along two outside edges that the chicks' access by poking their heads through feed guards. Batteries also include heat coils, wire mesh floors, and catch trays, per level, to make clean-up easy.

Chicks are generally kept in a battery for a week to 10 days at which point they should be relocated to a larger space. If housed in a battery for too long, their beaks may grow too large to fit between the feeder guards, making food and water access impossible. While in the battery, make sure your space is well-ventilated and the temperature remains consistent.

The Hover Lamp

Using a hover is another way to brood your chicks. A hover looks more or less like an umbrella that hovers above the chicks, heating them with either an electric or gas-heating device. Chicks can stay under the hover for warmth, or move away for food or water, or take a break when the heat becomes too much. Hovers are used when brooding your chicks in an enclosed space on a floor. Water and food are positioned in corners of square/rectangular confines or along the wall of round ones.

A more DIY approach is to suspend a heat lamp or brooder lamp over your confined chicks. Do not use more than a 250-watt heat bulb and be sure, when using a heat lamp, your chicks have an unheated area to move to. Often a 100-watt bulb will provide enough heat. It depends on the size of your brooder and how many chicks you have. Some experts recommend using two lamps in case one bulb fails in your absence.

A good rule of thumb is to suspend heat bulbs, depending on your wattage, 24" from everything. Use porcelain fixtures and a chain to suspend the lamp.

Infrared lamps with red or clear bulbs are readily available. Red lights are often preferred as they allow chicks to sleep and their red color has been shown to prevent pecking. Run-of-the-mill incandescent bulbs are famously inefficient as light sources, but they excel as heat sources. The typical incandescent bulb uses up to 98% of its energy as heat. Whatever bulb you select, be careful to avoid fires. Should your heat lamp fall, you'll be much better served by a lamp with a cage or guard that encloses the bulb rather than letting it come into contact with anything.

Keep Them Safe: The Brooder Guard

Simply put, the brooder guard guards your brood. If you are brooding your chicks on the floor, the guard keeps them safe and contained. The main function of the guard is to prevent drafts and help keep predators out. You can construct the guard out of cardboard, or some other sort of fence material and create a wall about 12" tall.

Brooder Lamp Concerns

As mentioned, chicks are contained in a brooder box, battery brooder, or by a brooder guard because they need a source of heat and protection. Also mentioned, heat lamps are the heat source of choice for many. Spring chicks will typically need auxiliary heat between 8-12 weeks. Once they feather and the temperature of the brooder matches the temperature outdoors, they will no longer require the light. They will certainly need it early on.

The temperature of your brooder should be 95° F for the first week of your chicks' lives. You should reduce the brooder temperature by 5° F every week following that until indoor and outdoor temperatures match and your chicks are feathered.

Battery brooders and most hovers use thermostats to adjust their heat levels. If you use a heat lamp, you will adjust the heat level by raising the lamp by about 3" every week. The best place to measure brooder temperatures is about 2' off the floor. Use a thermometer for an accurate read. You can also observe the behavior of your chicks. If they are crowding the walls, then the brooder may be too hot. If they are clustered directly beneath the lamp, likely the brooder is too cold.

If a brooder is too hot, chicks may avoid eating, pant, and tend to crowd the outer edges. If the temperature is far too hot, chicks can be cooked alive. Conversely, if a brooder is too cold, chicks will cheep loudly and crowd the heat source. This can present a problem with smothering. Chicks may also smother one another as they pile up at night for warmth.

Ideally, you want to see happy chicks moving freely through all areas of the brooder.

Flooring Options for The Chicken Brooder

One option, such as with battery brooders, is a chicken wire or plastic floor like DURA-SLAT. The advantage here is the droppings fall through the wire and are caught by a tray. The chicks are separated from their waste, and the waste is easily removed. The disadvantage is it reduces the opportunity for your chicks to develop immunities that floor-reared or litter-reared chicks have.

As parents, we may be grossed out by all the gunk that can cover our kids. We know, though, that being dirty can be useful as it helps children develop immunity to a whole host of germs. The same is true for your chicks. If you raise your chicks on litter, they will develop immunities to chickhood diseases like coccidiosis. If your chicks are brooded on wire floors, they will likely have to remain in cages their whole lives or succumb to diseases when moved to the coop.

Common forms of litter are softwood shavings like peat moss and crushed corn cob. Sand and chopped straw work as well but are less effective options. If you brood your chicks on the dirt, it's a smart idea to first lay down mesh bird netting to keep burrowing predators out. Spread an ample amount of litter 3" over the top.

Litter should keep your chicks dry and warm. It will also absorb droppings. Litter can get wet around waterers, so our advice is to keep a close eye out for mold. Moldy litter can lead to aspergillosis, or brooder pneumonia. Keep it dry and fluffy, adding and replacing as needed, and you should be good to go. Keep in mind that you'll want about 10 square inches of space per chick up to two weeks of age. Add another 10” of space per chick for every two weeks after that.

While this may sound like a lot of information, brooding chicks is an easy thing to do. You need some heat, some protection, and enough space for the chicks to move freely. Hopefully, we've set you on the right track! Did we forget an important piece of information? Do you have an eggcellent tip? Tell us in the comments section!