It’s physically impossible for me to plan ahead when we buy chicks.
I just can’t.
Even the years when I know we will be adding to the flock, I still seem to always jump the gun and run to the feed store last minute without much pre-planning. It’s a sickness y’all.
Take last week, for example. I called the feed store on a whim in the midst of a morning of homeschool to ask if they had chicks. I don’t know why I called. It wasn’t in the plan. I was supposed to be ordering chicks from Meyer Hatchery again. I’m just going to call it an out-of-body experience.
Anyway. They had a new shipment of chicks– hot off the truck.
My heart rate increased.
I called Christian, who was on his way home with the stock trailer from delivering a steer to the butcher.
“Uh, honey. So… the feed store has chicks. Do you want to swing by and see if they have any meat birds?”
And he agreed. (See? It’s his fault. He’s my enabler.)
He arrived and bought out their entire inventory of Cornish Cross birds (here’s why we like raising this breed for broilers), and then called to report they had a decent selection of layers, too.
Crap.
I don’t need layers. But he was there. And they were there. And who can say no to that?
Not me.
So he ended up bringing home 5 Cuckoo Marans (these are the ones that lay the dark brown eggs– eeeek!) and 5 Blue Laced Wyandottes.
Only 10. (To add to our flock of 25+. But who’s counting?) That’s pretty amazing self-control on my part, don’t you think?
The kids and I wrapped up homeschool and rushed outside to prep the coop. At this point in the ol’ homesteading journey, racing around getting ready for chicks feels pretty much normal. Been there, done that.
Anyway, the babies are doing well tucked away in their brooders (we separate the layer chicks from the meat chicks to avoid trampling). The chirping of babies greets me whenever I open the door to the coop, which makes it feel like spring might really arrive. I’ll never get tired of this beautifully crazy cycle of homestead life. Even if it does make me out of breath sometimes.
What Exactly is a Chick Brooder?
A brooder is simply a heated place or container that houses new chicks who aren’t hatched by a hen. While we were surprised by a hen who hatched her own chicks in the garden last year, most of our hens thus far haven’t been broody long enough to sit on eggs, so we are still reliant on the feed store.
You can buy pre-made brooder boxes, but in 8 years of having chicks, we’ve never used one–its way too easy to put a simple DIY brooder together.
We keep our chicks in the brooder for around 6-8 weeks, or until they are feathered and seem savvy enough to avoid the dogs and barn cats. Basically, you’ll know it’s time to leave the brooder when the chicks look more like adult chickens than cute little balls of fluff and start acting like sassy teenagers.
Chick Brooder Basics
No matter if you buy your brooder or decide to build one of these DIY chick brooders they will all need the same basic things. These chick brooder basics include a heat Source, chick feed, water, and bedding that will absorb moisture.
Things Your Brooder Should Have:
Heat Source (preferably a non-flammable option– read more about that here)
Newly hatched chicks can’t regulate their own body temperature, in the absence of a hen, an artificial heat source must be used. There are a few options for heat sources these days, the most common are heat lamps and brooder plates.
The amount of time your chicks will need a heat lamp will depend on the time of year you get them and what your climate conditions are. Chicks hatched in early spring may need a heat source longer than chicks hatched at the beginning of the summer.
Heat Source Temperature Control
I personally don’t use a thermometer in our DIY chick brooders, I watch the chick’s behavior and let them tell me if it needs to be adjusted. This article Brooding and Caring for Chicks has a great diagram showing a chick’s behavior when the brooder temperature needs to be adjusted.
Note: All heat sources should start out at 95 – 100 degrees and be reduced to about 5 degrees each week. You can control the temperature in the brooder by raising or lowering your heat source.
Chick Feed
Your chicks should be fed a chick starter feed. The confusing part about chick starter feeds is that there are two types: Non-Medicated and Medicated.
- Non-Medicated Chick Feed is a normal chick starter with no additives.
- Medicated Chick Feed is feed that has an additive to help prevent Coccidiosis.Note: Coccidiosis is an infestation of a microscopic parasite called Coccidia. Most adult chickens have built an immunity to these parasites, but chicks’ immune systems are too new.
Should you buy Medicated or Non-Medicated Chick Starter?
Using medicated chick starter is another one of those controversial topics. Choosing whether or not you should use medicated chick starter is a personal choice. Like with anything medically related you should do your research and talk with a veterinarian for more information.
For more information about Coccidiosis and medicated chick feed take a look at these articles:
- Managing Chicken Coccidiosis In Small Flocks
- What is Medicated Chick Feed – Do I Actually Need It?
- Is Medicated Chick Feed Necessary?
Water
Water is something that most people assume chicks need but don’t think much about. Chicks need access to fresh clean water all the time. When you are choosing your chicks waterer you should consider a few different things.
- Size
You will want to make sure the waterer provided is the right size for the number of chicks you have. If you find that it’s often empty you may need a larger water container or an additional one. - Height
The waterer should be the right height for the size of the chicks you have. You want your chicks to be able to reach the water but not walk around in it. - No Leaks
Make sure you don’t have a leaky waterer. A leaky waterer means wet bedding and less drinking water available.
Bedding
Brooder bedding materials should help absorb moisture and be relatively easy to clean on daily basis (if needed). There are different types of bedding that can be used in chick brooders.
Different Bedding Materials that can be used:
- Pine Shavings (we use pine shavings to keep the chicks from slipping on the bottom and to soak up wetness.)
- Straw
- Shredded Newspaper
- Sand
Considering I’m pretty much the expert of last-minute chick preparations, here are 5 DIY chick brooders you can put together last minute (or almost last minute) if your yearly tradition involves impulse buying poultry like me. We’ve used all of these ideas at one time or the other, and they all work well.
5 Easy DIY Chick Brooders You Can Make
1. Stock Tank (New or Repurposed) DIY Chick Brooder
Cost: $60-$200, depending on the size.
Difficulty Level: Easy
This is probably my favorite quick DIY chick brooder option and the one we’ve used the most over the years. You can use either new tanks or repurpose old ones that leak and no longer work for holding water. Sprinkle some shavings in the bottom, add heat, and you are good to go. I also appreciate that I can haul the tanks out of the coop on sunny days, give them a good scrub, and let them dry in the sun. Sometimes you can even find old stock tanks at auctions or farm & ranch Facebook groups that will save you some cash.
2. Plastic or Rubbermaid Tub DIY Chick Brooder
Cost: $10-$40
Difficulty Level: Easy
A large plastic storage tote makes a quick DIY Chick brooder if you’re in a hurry. To keep chicks safe from cats, dogs, or inquisitive children, you can cut windows in the lid and cover the holes with wire mesh. Otherwise, if that’s not a concern, the lid can be left off entirely as long as the sides are high enough that the chicks can’t jump out.
If you have more than a handful of chicks, they’ll outgrow the tub within a couple of weeks, but it’s a good place to start if you’re in a hurry. (Or just use multiple tub brooders if you have a bunch of chicks.)
3. Dog Kennel or Crate DIY Chick Brooder
Cost: $30-$50
Difficulty Level: Easy
Every homestead needs a trusty dog kennel– ours has been put through the ringer over the years. It’s housed cats, puppies, baby goats, piglets, turkeys, injured chickens, ducks, and has been a DIY chick brooder. The biggest downfall I see to using a kennel as a brooder is that it can be difficult to set up a heat lamp inside, so you’ll likely need an alternate heat source, like an EcoGlow brooder (affiliate link), if you use this option.
4. Homemade Wooden Box DIY Chick Brooder
Cost: Free-$40, depending on the size and materials you use
Difficulty Level: Medium
After years of using stock tanks and random boxes and containers, Christian finally built a simple wooden DIY chick brooder area in our chicken coop and it’s been extremely handy. We simply used two sheets of repurposed scrap plywood to fashion a box in the feed storage area of the coop (this area doesn’t have adult birds in it). The sides are approximately 2 1/2 to 3 feet tall, which is perfect to keep babies from hopping out. It also works well as a chicken hospital during the rest of the year if we have a bird that needs to be isolated from the rest of the flock. Here’s a slightly more sophisticated wooden brooder box design that features a fully enclosed box with legs.
5. Kiddie Pool DIY Chick Brooder
Cost: $10-$15
Difficulty: Easy
The one drawback to using a kiddie pool is that the sides are short and it’s very easy for chicks to jump out, which can be deadly if they can’t figure out how to get back to the heat. Therefore, if you plan to use a pool, you will need to build taller sides for it by either surrounding it with cardboard or by using chicken wire. Otherwise, it’s a quick option that you can put together quickly if you’re in a hurry.
So there ya have it, my friends–five DIY chick brooder ideas to make your chick-buying impulses even easier. You’re welcome.
Are You Ready to Bring Home Your Chicks?
Whether your chicks were impulse buys from the farm store, planned shipments, or home hatches these 5 DIY Chick brooders are quick easy setups. No matter the chicks’ purpose (meat, laying, or show) they all start out the same. Remember your brooder should be a safe shelter that provides your chicks with all the necessary things for them to grow into healthy adult chickens.
As I mentioned earlier I believe that chicks are truly the gateway to homesteading they provide in so many different ways. Chickens provide us with food in the form of eggs and meat, they can also be put to work to help out with other aspects of homesteading (Save Time by Using Chicken Power on Your Homestead).
-> Chickens can also be a part of your plan to help fund your homestead dreams, those extra eggs can be sold for a little extra income. You don’t have to stop with chickens, you can use other things you are already doing to help fund your homestead. If you are interested in learning different ways you can fund your homestead take a look at my course The Self-Funded Homestead Here. <-
Other Chicken Posts You’ll Wanna Read:
- Homemade Chick Electrolyte Solution
- How to Prepare for New Chicks
- Raising Meat Birds: Our First Year
- The Beginners Guide to Setting Up Your Chicken Coop
Check out my Homestead Mercantile for all of my favorite homesteading tools and supplies.
Listen to the Old Fashioned On Purpose Podcast episode #109 for the Inside Scoop of Getting Chicks:
The old stock tank, always my choice for a chick brooder!
YOUR SHREK GIRL.
I have an old stock tank but I can’t see my chicks until I’m right on top of it…so we use and have used for many years now our 125 gallon aquarium! I sit old oven racks on top then sit the heat lamp on that. It’s the perfect height. Hubby connects the heat lamp to a dimmer switch and we just lower the temp that way instead of fussing with the height. It’s amazing!!!!
That’s PERFECT!
We have also used the large cardboard boxes that grocery stores keep potatoes in. But my favorite is definitely stock tanks!
We usually get a refrigerator box from a friend or family member or a local store. We cut out part of the top and put chicken wire over it and create a little door on one of the sides with a flap so we can mess with the food/drink. It works out well for us each year. Even though we had ordered 15 chicks from the hatchery to come this week, we couldn’t resist picking up 8 at the farm store last week! Never mind that we already have 20 chickens . . .
I am getting some golden comets next week. From what I have researched online they are wonderful for egg laying but because of their size not great for meat.
Dumb question time…
So what I was wondering is can I sill eat then?
Absolutely. Though if you are raising them until they stop laying they’ll likely be tough. They still make fabulous soup though!
We have only 14 hens and not sure how they will react to the new babies. How do you introduce them to the flock?
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who cannot contain myself when the new shipments of chicks arrive. I came home with 15 last spring (on top of the flock of 11 that we already had) and I thought my husband was going to utter the “d” word out loud. Luckily, we had a hen go broody this year and she hatched out a few chicks (4) so I got my chick fix without substantially adding to our flock!
. Beautiful home
penis
We do the Rubbermaid thing with hardware cloth (keeps the cats out). Works great and it’s quick and cheap. Took us about 15 min to cut off the top part of the lid, screw the hardware cloth on, put in pine shavings, feeder and waterer. Attached heat lamp to shine thru the hardware on the top.
Baby chicks love it and they’re good in there for about 6-8 weeks. Just about perfect before moving out to the coop!
What size rubbermaid did you use? im also buying 4 chicks.
I renovated my kitchen and kept the cupboards. They are really fabulous chicken brooders. I just remove one of the doors and cover with hardware cloth for air circulation. I have 2 different ones. One hanging in the barn and our old island in the garage. Since we were hit by lightening the power is out in the barn so the garage one is in use right now.
We used to use an old rubbermaid tub covered with chicken wire and stored in our shed. Last year hubby surprised me with a “nursery coop” that is butted up against our larger/adult coop. It even has a little outdoor “play yard” for them when they get a little older. We use the EcoGlow Brooder so we don’t have to worry about a heat lamp. The “nursery coop” can hold 15-20 chicks till they are about 12-14 weeks and ready to integrate in with the older girls. We found that the two coops having a shared chicken wire outside wall actually helped the girls get to know each other and made the combining process go much smoother.
That is an awesome idea. We have a hard time with the girls getting along with the newcomers. We brought in heritage turkeys and the hens where not so nice and would not let them eat.
I love that I am not the only one with a supportive husband when it comes to our animal habits. We are both terrible when it comes to animals of almost any kind.
We usually go with Rubbermaid but got behind the eight ball this year and didn’t get set up soon enough. So the little girls are spending their first week or so in a box placed in the tub of our spare bathroom. I will get them in the Rubbermaid container in a few days then, when they are old enough, they will go into an old dog house while we slowly introduce them to the other hens.
This is my first year raising chicks from day olds bought at Ideal Poultry. My husband is very, very handy and almost always likes a new project and figuring out the best way to build it. we already had an 8’ x 9‘ chicken house with a penned in yard for our adult chickens. Since this was our first year with chicks, he built a 8‘ x 20‘ chicken house within a 32’ x 32’ penned yard. With a little alteration inside the small chicken house it became ready for the pullets. We also covered the smaller pan with netting. Parenthese with a little alteration inside the small chicken house it became ready for the pullets. We also covered the smaller pen with netting for protection. As for the brooder, we purchased a stack and grow. I like it, but I think I would like to add a simple brooder next time. (Which is almost here.) we kept the stack and grow inside my husband’s shop. Felt it was the safest, most secure place on our property. But now that are big chickens are in the new big house and the pullets are in the small house I have a great idea for a brooder in the small house. (We’ll see if my husband agrees.) my biggest concern raising day old chicks inside the small chicken house is snakes. They are always able to find a way in. But I have another idea for that too. Wish me well. ?
I so dislike auto correct!
My brooder is 39×44, how many bities can it safely hold, also my chicken coop is 8 ft x 16 ft, safe number of birds for that.
16×8=128÷4=32. 4 square feet per bird for the coop. 10 square feet per bird for the run. This is assuming you have standard sized birds. If you have bantam, those measurements would me much more than enough.
Jill, why do you buy chicks every year instead of letting your chickens hatch and raise the babies?? I would think that would be cheaper and way less work for you.
SHREK IS LOVE SHREK IS LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I EAT CHIKEN FOR BEKFAST LUNCH AND DINNNNER
GAY GAY
U SUK POO POO BUT CHEek
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sub to PewDePie
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I have the same sickness! And that’s why I’m here today.lol
Amazing!
I brood outdoors from the start. I have an old dog x-pen that we set up out there in the covered run. There are two “portal doors” cut into it with little wooden flaps we can open or close. The adults can walk around the brooder on 3 sides. I also live in Wyoming, and our chick season temps are still in the twenties, dropping into the teens. At 2 weeks they mingle under supervision for a few days, but if they get chilled, hungry, or spooked, they dash back into their brooder. By 3 weeks I open the portal doors and leave them together all day long. By 4 weeks I have total and peaceful integration.
For heat I use Mama Heating Pad. It’s a heating pad draped over a scrap of fencing as a frame (or under by using small bungee cords), covered with a threadbare towel covered in Press n Seal. This forms a sort of stationary broody hen. It’s dark, soft, cozy and warm and the chicks act exactly as if it were a broody hen. They duck under for a quick warmup, if they get spooked, or as the sun goes down. The rest of the time they are out exploring. By 4 weeks they are fully integrated with the flock and we take out the pen and Mama Heating Pad. This has worked beautifully for us for 7+ years, every batch, every time. There is a ton of info out there on Mama Heating Pad in the brooder.
Diane, you just changed my life lol. Well, maybe not quite my life but absolutely changed my entire plans for my future hatchlings! I’d only heard of one way to do it (setting up a small brooder in the house or warm barn with a heat lamp). What you described is just wonderful! My first batch of hatching eggs gets here next week and I was dreading having to figure this out during Christmas week! But now I’ll have my area sectioned off and heating pad ready to go out in the regular chicken area. Thank you so much for posting!