Brooder Box

Backyard Poultry

Housing Renovations

Our chick raising experience this second year could not have been more different from the first. Year 1: dusty litter smelling up the kitchen; construction of a housing addition (ie cardboard box + duct tape) every other day; feed either messed up with droppings or shoveled out and wasted; all ten chicks hauled out every day to remove dirtied litter. Yes, an experience not to be compared (or repeated). Well, the photo above may not look much different, but believe me, it is.

We started by building a real box, using plywood panels framed by wood stakes. It was generously large, about 4'x4', and the bottom was covered waterproofed with sheet plastic. The best feature was that one wall was hinged, so it could fold down flat to shovel out old litter. It was a breeze to clean out! Then I made a 'brooder guard' from a long piece of cardboard taped into a circle. This kept the young chicks in a small area directly under the light, and could be expanded and removed as they grew bigger. Yes, expandable housing. As a final touch, we used a piece of Styrofoam insulation as a cover on top to regulate the temperature inside this cozy brooder box.