New Pastured Poultry Brooder

  Swallow Hill Farm     Mar 31, 2016

Last year we set up our brooder in the basement of our farm house. What a mess! We had 200 chicks eating, drinking and dropping their stuff in the 4x8-foot brooder. We changed their bedding frequently and still had more mess and smell than was tolerable. Something needed to change.

While searching Craigslist for low cost salvage materials, I came across some 4x8-foot storage boxes for sale at our local U-Haul dealer. I purchased two boxes for $175. They are well constructed from exterior plywood and pressure treated 1x4s.

I screwed and bolted the two units together and built a base from pressure treated 2x6 joists. I also installed a 2x4 roof frame and metal roof with reclaimed tin.

Photo #1 - Finished Brooder

Photo #2 - Brooder Side Window

The container (Photo #1) is constructed to allow a dry, rodent-proof storage area for feed and bedding supplies and also functions as an airlock to keep the cold wind from blowing into the brooder when entering. I installed a window on the right side of the brooder to allow for ventilation and natural light (Photo #2). The right side is also insulated on the sides and top to ensure a warm environment for new chicks.

Photo #3 - Brooder House Storage

Photo #4 - Brooder Chick Section

Photo #5 - Chicks in Brooder

Electrical service was added and two heat lamps were installed. One of two heat lamps have been connected to a thermostat to carefully manage the temperature inside the brooder.

You can see a photo of our first batch of 100 chicks in the brooder in Photo #5. Yesterday we received our second batch of chicks who are sharing space with the first batch until the weather warms up enough for them to be put on pasture.

So far, the brooder has been a huge improvement over our previous setups.

Tags: broiler chickens, broilers, chickens, Fredericksburg, free-range chickens, free-ranging chickens, Freedom Ranger, meat chickens, Northern Virginia, pastured broiler chickens, pastured poultry, poultry, Swallow Hill Farm, Virginia