We are glad to welcome you, dear readers and site guests! Anyone who decides to buy chickens that are a few days old is faced with the problem of how to keep them, because they can die in the first month of life. Lack of warmth, drinking, food, care will lead to the death of the chicks. The solution is a DIY chicken brooder. The design will help preserve offspring.

To save money on buying a ready-made brooder, you can make a home for “newborns” with your own hands; it’s not difficult, with minimal skills and necessary materials. 2 - 3 evenings are enough and a cozy nest is ready. This construction will be discussed today. Photos and videos will help you visually navigate.

What is a brooder

When encountering this term for the first time, everyone has a different picture in their head. A brooder is a box, box, perhaps a room, equipped for raising chicks in the first weeks of life. The “device” performs the function of a mother hen, warming the baby and providing food. Later, the young animals move to the chicken coop; how to build one is described in the article: “”.

It’s easy to make a brooder yourself, understanding its main functions and the sequence of construction stages. Knowing the principles, you can even make a product from cardboard boxes.

What are the requirements for a brooder?

The requirements consist of factors affecting the growth of a healthy bird and the convenience for the poultry farmer to “maintain” the chicken house.

Non-slip floor.

Dry floor, otherwise the chicks will get sick.

It would be ideal to equip a tray for feces under the floor.

Control humidity levels.

Do not overheat the equipped room with heat lamps.

The heating source should not come into contact with the plumage of the young animals; maintain distances from the ceiling to the floor.

Good, well-designed ventilation will minimize mortality in growing flocks.

How to make a brooder

Reasoning and debate about the correct ratio of the size and number of chicks in the “nursery” are ambiguous.

Having clearly thought through the construction plan, even in a space of 100 x 50 x 50 (length * height * width), it is possible to house up to fifty chickens. More quails will fit. There is no need to crowd broiler chickens to avoid “walking on their heads.” There is no specific advice on how to house chickens - each poultry farmer is guided by his own vision of raising future workers.

Important! Brooder sizes may vary. Our option is not the only one. Clearly calculate the parameters when drawing a drawing - this is the key to an accurate, reliable home for chickens.

What materials and tools are needed to build a brooder?

1. Plywood, sheet 1 cm thick, 150 cm width and height (1 piece).
2. Rail with a cross section of 15 x 50 mm.
3. Four loops.
4. Galvanized mesh, cells 1 cm x 1 cm, size 50 x 100 cm (1 pc.).
5. Plaster mesh to make doors.
6. A tin sheet, oilcloth or plastic base is the future feces collection tray.
7. Nails, screws.
8. Cable of required length.
9. Dimmer.
10. Infrared lamp power 60 W or regular 40 W.
11. Light reflector.
12. Cartridge.
13. Fork (1).
14. Hammer.
15. Hacksaw.
16. Drill.
17. Screwdriver.
18. Screwdriver.
19. Roulette.
20. Pencil.

Another tool if necessary.

How to assemble a brooder

We cut a main piece of 50*150 cm from a standard plywood sheet (150 by 150 cm).

We cut a part of 150 x 100 cm into three identical pieces of 1 m x 0.5 m (future roof, pallet, back wall).

We cut the side walls from 50*150 cm pieces, measuring 50 (W) x 50 (H).

We assemble the walls. It is more convenient to first knock down the frame from the slats.

Then we make a frame, using a lath to place it under the product. Approximately 98.0 x 49.0 cm. 1 m x 0.5 m plywood for the bottom of the brooder. We check the accuracy of the calculations and nail them down.

The previous step is making a pallet. Covering it with oilcloth makes it easier to clean up feces.

We place the pallet in the designated place, fill the slats a little higher - floor holders.

We make a frame, as for a pallet, and nail a mesh (galvanized) along the bottom. Cover it with newspaper for a couple of days, the chickens will be warmer.

We knock together both doors, take the slats and pull them over them plaster mesh. 45.0*31.0 – approximate size.

We put together a frame from a lath, fasten it with nails to the front side of the construction site, and hang the doors on the frame using hinges.

We cut in the latches, if desired.

We cut a hole in the ceiling for the cable exit.

We pull the cable inside, attaching a socket.

We attach the dimmer and plug to the opposite end of the wire.

If desired, attach the thermometer to the back panel.

Attention: It is better to use infrared lamps, they heat better than conventional ones.

The DIY chicken brooder is almost ready. We screw the lamp into the socket, use a reflector - “a place in the sun”. The building area is heated by light unevenly. Reflectors increase the heat under the lamp, keeping the chicks warm under it. If it’s hot, they’ll move to another part where it’s cooler. We equip the “nursery” with a drinking bowl and feeding trough. The brooder is ready!

If you breed a lot of chickens, make two more of the same buildings and combine them on top of each other, assembling a frame. The design will allow you to keep quons, cockerels of different ages, various types. Painting the chicken house as desired.

You can even make a brooder out of an old bedside table. Properly equipping it with everything necessary, you can accommodate more than 50 chicks (quails, broilers, ducks). The design can be made multi-level by installing cabinets on top of each other. Reusable device: worth the effort once.

Drawings, photos of the stages of brooder construction

Tell us in the comments how you made your own chicken brooder. Share this article with like-minded people on in social networks. Don't miss out on what's new in the chicken world.

Good luck, chicken lovers!

If you are planning to breed poultry, in particular chickens, it is necessary to foresee in advance where the chicks will be kept from the first days of life. Having made a suitable box or rack, called a brooder, it is quite possible to provide them with the necessary heating and care on their own. The chicks placed in it will gain strength and grow to a sufficiently large size. comfortable conditions. You can make a similar structure for raising chickens yourself with minimal carpentry skills.

IN last days hatching birds from eggs in an incubator or before purchasing one-day-old chicks on the market, the question arises where to place them for further cultivation. Chicks that are still immature must be kept dry and warm - thus, it will be necessary to ensure a suitable temperature regime for them without drafts. The name of the design for raising chickens “brooder” comes from the word brood, which in English means “mother hen” - thus, this device in the form of a specially equipped box for chicks is intended to replace their mother. Brooder is small design- a “house” for chickens in the first few weeks of their existence. non-slip and always dry floor, otherwise the chicks may get sick. It is advisable to equip the brooder with a retractable tray underneath for collecting litter, which allows you to maintain cleanliness without unnecessary effort; absence of high humidity, as well as the presence of ventilation without drafts; a source of moderate heating - it is advisable that the chickens do not have direct access to it. It should be noted that for chickens in the first days of life, the optimal temperature is about 35 ° C; after a few days it can be reduced to 30. Chick brooder sizes vary. For example, a design with bottom dimensions of 100 x 50 cm and a height of 50 cm can easily accommodate about 50 chickens, and slightly less - broilers. In addition to them, ducklings, goslings, and quail chicks can be mixed in the brooder. If necessary, in the future it will be possible to build an additional brooder (or several) and stack the boxes on top of each other. In a similar way, a significant number of chicks can be placed in one room. Types of Brooders Build a solid and easy-to-use structure from scrap materials, ensuring with your own efforts the most suitable conditions for housing chickens, quite realistic. For this you can use available materials. Perhaps you have an old bedside table or wooden drawers. When making a brooder for raising chickens, you do not need special equipment, suitable tools Perhaps every home craftsman has them. If you are interested in the question of how to make a brooder for chickens, you should consider the following information: Experienced poultry farmers note that structures for keeping chicks from OSB boards it is difficult to wash, since this material has an uneven, rough surface; Plywood is more suitable for making a brooder - it is smooth, easy to wash and disinfect by wiping with alcohol. However, it is worth considering that this material is noticeably fragile and can break under weight. Therefore, having made several brooders from thin plywood, they are unlikely to be installed on top of each other in four tiers; a special frame will need to be built. Plywood sheets with large thickness have a significant cost; manufacturing such a design can be expensive; designs from polymer materials like polycarbonate, it is easy to clean and disinfect. However, it is worth noting that polycarbonate practically does not breathe, so it will be very difficult to ensure optimal temperature and humidity conditions inside such a structure. Available for sale various designs for raising small chicks - you can buy brooders for chickens with a body made of pressed foam, moisture-resistant plywood, as well as models insulated with sandwich panels. How can I temporarily replace a brooder? Some owners use various simple devices to house small chickens, such as houses made from a plastic container, an unnecessary chest of drawers, shelving, and even boxes made of multilayer cardboard. Sometimes the thought of using a brooder arises when the chicks are already in hand. While a more substantial structure is being built, a spacious box can be used to house a small number of chicks. household appliances. It should be taken into account that its bottom will need to be insulated and made non-slip by covering it with several layers of gauze or corrugated cardboard. Boxes in the wall comfortable height it is necessary to cut a viewing window and tighten it with transparent plastic film– it will be convenient to look into it without opening the box over and over again. You can assemble a homemade heater for chicks yourself in short terms from a liter jar with a screw-on metal lid. A small ceramic cartridge will need to be mounted on inner surface covers bolted connection. It is advisable to place a non-flammable gasket (for example, textolite) between them. About a dozen holes should be drilled in the lid to ensure air exchange inside the jar. About a third of the jar will need to be filled with fine sand. You will need to wrap the bottom of the jar with a cloth (you can put a thick sock on it) so that the chickens do not get burned. By raising and lowering the fabric, it will be convenient to adjust the level of illumination in the box. It is worth considering that the amount of heat generated by this device will depend on the power of the light bulb used. In the presence of big box You may need to place two mini heaters in it. The older the chicks get, the less they will need heating. To arrange such a “house for chickens” from cardboard box no special financial costs are required, it can be built quickly and placed in any room, including the living room. It is worth considering that cardboard wears out quickly after the chicks are settled, and besides, it is difficult to achieve optimal results using this method. temperature regime, necessary for keeping small chickens. How to make a chicken brooder yourself To make at home reliable design, which can be used for more than one season, you will need to build a durable frame from wooden planks and bars, and then fix OSB boards or plywood sheets on it. These materials heat up efficiently, so they are quite suitable for constructing a brooder, in which it is necessary to ensure dryness and warmth. You can find it on the Internet various schemes and drawings of brooders for chickens. In the process of making a brooder, you may need these materials, tools and equipment: electric jigsaw or saw; hammer, wire cutters, pliers, hacksaw; tape measure, pencil; drill; screws, nails, furniture hinges, latches; plaster mesh for covering doors; galvanized metal mesh with small cells (about 1 cm) - a piece measuring 1x0.5 m; infrared or regular incandescent lamp with a power of 40-60 W, socket, plug, reflector; light controller (dimmer), a piece of cable of suitable length. In addition, it is necessary to prepare a sheet of moisture-resistant plywood 1.5 x 1.5 m thick, 1-2 cm, wooden blocks or slats, as well as metal corners. To avoid cracking of the plywood when fixing it with screws, it is recommended to drill small holes in it before starting assembly. Stages of work execution The sequence of steps for making a brooder for chickens with your own hands will look like this: Next, all that remains is to place the chicks in the brooder. This design will greatly simplify the care of chicks. Having assembled a suitable frame and made two or three brooders of suitable dimensions, they can be installed on it, obtaining a suitable place to place chickens of different ages.

Good afternoon, dear readers and subscribers of the site “Everything about hens and roosters”. When we thought about the question of how to make a brooder for chickens with our own hands and not buy it in a store, we found three of the coolest options on portals on the Internet. Today we are taking them into our collection. Lots of photos and videos, drawings and diagrams.

Go!

First, our version of how we made a brooder for chickens with our own hands.

Many villager, as well as city dwellers who spend the summer at their dachas raise chickens. If there is a hen, there are no problems with heating the young animals. It is much more difficult with purchased day-old chicks. They lack dense down, and there are no feathers at all.

For cultivation you need a brooder. This is a special cell in which there are several zones:

• the feeding section, where the young animals get access to feed and water;
• a warm room in which a comfortable high temperature is maintained.

To protect against bad weather, the entire cage has a coating that prevents precipitation from getting inside. To ensure that the young animals receive ultraviolet radiation from the sun, part of the walls are made of mesh. At night these walls are hung thick fabric to reduce heat loss to the environment.

Attention! A heater in the form of an incandescent lamp is installed inside the brooder in the warm section. Additionally, an automatic thermostat is installed. When the air temperature drops below the set value, the light turns on, inner space warms up. To avoid overheating, at the top critical temperature the light turns off.

The rooms are connected to each other by a narrow passage through which the chickens can move freely. It should not be made particularly wide in order to limit heat loss into the aft room.

The photo shows our baby Araucanas in the bathtub; we will urgently make a brooder for chickens with our own hands!

Materials for making a brooder

To make a brooder you need to purchase:

• OSB sheet, an oriented strand board 9 mm thick, is ideal as a base for such products;
• perforated mesh, it will reliably protect young animals from dogs, cats and others, allowing sunlight to pass through it;
• an incandescent lamp of 15...25 W will serve as a light source and for heating;
• thermostat and thermometer - devices for automatic switching on and turning off the incandescent lamp;
• wooden slats and beams will be used to make the frame and doors, they should also be used to create a lattice floor;
• self-tapping screws, they are most convenient for assembling the product, then you can completely disassemble it;
• wavy leaf asbestos cement sheet(slate) will reliably protect the young animals from rain.

Before production, a suitable project is found on the Internet or your own sketch is developed. On paper, individual parts are worked out that need to be prepared before assembling the brooder.

Attention! At independent design In the brooder, it should be taken into account that the chickens will be kept inside until they are two or three months old. Therefore, one person will need an area of ​​at least 0.1 sq.m.

The fluffy little ones are sitting in plastic box under the lamp and waiting for a new warm house!

Tools for making a brooder

To make a brooder with your own hands you need:

• a hacksaw, it would be even better to use electric tool for sawing OSB and wooden blocks and slats;
• a drill and a screwdriver will help you quickly assemble the entire structure;
• metal scissors will help you cut a metal sheet and expanded mesh;
• the hammer will be used to attach the mesh to the walls and doors.

Having collected all the tools, you can start cutting out the blanks. Then a test assembly is performed. The blanks are coated with a primer for wood and metal. After painting, final assembly can be done.

Attention! It is advisable to install the brooder near the walls of the house on the south side. Will have less impact cold wind. In the sun it is easier to change bedding, feed and water for chickens.

Having made a brooder for chickens with your own hands, as well as setting the operating modes of the heater, you can purchase chickens and start doing a very interesting and useful job.

Next option.

Do you hatch chickens using an incubator and then struggle for a long time heating them? Then why not make your own chicken brooder? There is nothing complicated here, the main thing is to understand the principle and you can safely get to work. An example of such a structure is given later in the article, and photos, videos and drawings will help you understand the design features in more detail.

In the video, Brown Nick chickens are in a simple brooder: walls made of fiberboard (from old furniture), the floor is covered with sawdust.

What is this brooder?

A chick brooder is a box, box, or part of a room that is designed to house chicks during the first weeks of their lives. This design should completely replace the mother hen for babies and perform her heating functions. It is not difficult to make such a structure with your own hands. The main thing is to understand general principle work and take into account all the basic requirements. If everything is taken into account, then you can make a brooder from any available materials, even from cardboard boxes.

Plywood construction.

The main requirements include the following:

1. The floor must always be dry, otherwise the chicks will get sick.
2. The floor should not be slippery.
3. If possible, a tray should be provided under the floor for excrement.
4. The structure should be well ventilated, but there should be no drafts.
5. High humidity should be avoided in the brooder.
6. The heating source should not overheat the chicks.
7. It is advisable to arrange the heating source so that the chicks do not have direct access to it.

Now let's take a closer look at the features of this design with drawings, photos and videos. To begin with, we will give approximate dimensions and materials that can be used in making them yourself.

Dimensions

Each poultry farmer has his own brooder size for chickens. It all depends on what material he uses. You can also easily equip an old bedside table or even an aquarium for similar needs. But in our article, the structure will be made of plywood sheets 1.5x1.5 m. The approximate final size of the brooder for chickens will be 100 cm in length, 50 cm in width and 50 cm in height. Photos of this design are given at the end of the article.

DIY chicken brooder from an old nightstand.

You can easily keep 50 or more chickens here. The quantity does not depend on whether it is broilers or not. If everything is done correctly and everything is taken into account design features, then in the first weeks of life you can keep here both laying hens, broilers, ducks and even quails. As they say, I made it once with my own hands and for all occasions. Then, if you wish, you can make several more of the same cases yourself and stack them one on top of the other. This way you can create a brooder with your own hands in the form of a battery, where you can keep quite a few chicks.

We make it ourselves

It is not yet possible to talk about how many chickens you will keep in a structure you made yourself. If you arrange everything correctly, you can place 50 or more chicken chicks in a structure with dimensions of 100x50x50 cm (LxHxW). More quail babies can fit here, but preferably more than 50 broilers. do not place to avoid crushing. But these are only recommendations and it is not necessary to adhere to them, because each poultry farmer has his own nuances.

Toolbox.

Materials and tools

• plywood sheet 150x150x1 cm (HxWxT) – 1 pc.;
• rail with a section of 50x15 mm;
• loops – 4 pcs.;
• galvanized mesh with a cell of 10x10 mm, size 1x0.5 m - 1 pc.;
• plaster mesh for doors;
• plastic panels, oilcloth or sheet of tin for the drip tray;
• nails or screws;
• a piece of cable of the length you need;
• cartridge;
• Dimmer;
• regular lamp 40 or 60 W (infrared lamp) – 1 pc.;
• reflector;
• fork – 1 pc.;
• screwdriver;
• screwdriver;
• drill;
• hammer;
• hacksaw;
• roulette;
• pencil;
• other tools if necessary.

Manufacturing

All that remains is to screw in the light bulb and place the feeders and drinkers. It is advisable to place a reflector on the light bulb, so the chickens and broilers will not be able to reach it, and they will have a space with higher and lower temperatures. When the kids are cold, they will sit under the reflector, and when they are hot, they will go to the other, cooler end of the structure.

Almost finished building.

At this stage, the construction of a brooder with your own hands is completed. Additionally, if desired, it can also be painted. You can also make a frame and make 2 more similar structures. Then we put all three brooders on the frame and get a convenient and spacious battery in which you can keep chickens and broilers different ages. You can look at the given or similar example in more detail in the drawings, photos and videos.

Photo gallery

Brooder wall dimensions.

Door design drawing.

Broiler chickens in a brooder.

An example of heating with two light bulbs.

Chick brooder made from cardboard boxes.

An example of a multi-tier type.

Video “Brooder for chickens, broilers and quails”

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Everyone who decided to raise chickens using an incubator was faced with the problem of their further maintenance. After all, in the first weeks of life, the chicken needs warmth and proper nutrition. In nature, these affairs are managed by the hen, but what to do during incubation rearing? This is where a do-it-yourself chicken brooder comes to the rescue, which you can make yourself without any problems. Read on to find out how to do it correctly.

Brooder - what is it?

When everyone hears the word “brooder” for the first time, they imagine something different. The word actually refers to a structure that looks like a large box. Chicks should spend their first weeks of life in this special box.. It should replace the chickens with a hen, that is, they will warm up and grow in it. As you can see, everything is quite simple.

What is better: making a brooder yourself or buying a ready-made one?

This question occupies the minds of most beginners in poultry farming. Of course, if you are not afraid of additional expenses or want to get a beautiful brooder, then you can buy it. The price of such a device is approximately 6,000 rubles. You can also immediately purchase feeders, drinkers and other devices that will make caring for chickens a pleasant experience. In general, the price can even increase to 10,000 rubles.

But is it worth going to such expenses? Experienced poultry farmers will immediately say no. After all, making a brooder with your own hands from available materials will not be difficult. And at the same time, financial costs are minimal or non-existent. So why overpay then?

So, you have decided to make a brooder for chickens yourself. Then you will need tools, hammer skills and hand saw, and you also need to figure out what to make it from. But first you need to find several schemes for making a brooder so that it is clear what the final result should be approximately. Well, then you can safely get to work.

Tools:

• hand saw or electric jigsaw;
• roulette;
• hammer;
• screwdriver;
• pliers, and you may also need wire cutters;
• It would be a good idea to take a pencil.

This toolkit may not be needed as a complete set. It is needed for the manufacture of brooders, which are described in the article. You can also replace any tool with a similar one.

Materials

It is difficult to determine exactly what materials to use. After all, you can make a brooder for chickens with your own hands from anything. If you make it from scratch, then wooden blocks, multi-layer cardboard or QSB boards work well. But it can also be made from available materials.

For example, it could be old wooden box, wooden barrel, an old nightstand or even a large plastic container. Some people abandon the brooder altogether in favor of keeping the chicks on the floor of the kitchen or hallway, simply separating them with a partition.

As you can see, there are a lot of manufacturing methods. Even you can come up with your own brooder based on what you have. The main thing is that the chickens should be comfortable, warm and dry in it. And for greater convenience, below are several instructions for making a brooder with your own hands at home.

Making a brooder with your own hands

Type one

This do-it-yourself chicken brooder will be a box 1.5 m long, 0.5 m wide and the same height. It will be made from cheap materials that can easily be found in any hardware store. The floor and door frames are made of wooden blocks, and the walls are made of 10 mm thick plywood. There will also be two doors on the front for feeding the chickens. And under the mesh floor there is a tray for collecting litter.

Materials:

1. 2 sheets of plywood 1.5x1.5 m;
2. Self-tapping screws;
3. Metal corners;
4. Mesh with a cell of 10x10 mm;
5. Rail 50x15 mm;
6. Door hinges – 4 pcs.;
7. A piece of cable;
8. Cartridge;
9. Fork;
10. 60 W bulb.

Let's get started

• We make blanks for the frame. For this we need 2 sheets of plywood, 1.5x1.5 m each. We saw both sheets in half. Then we take 1 half and cut it in half again so that we get two squares 0.75x0.75 m. Three parts 1.5x0.75 m are the top of the brooder, its bottom and the back wall, and two parts are 0.75x0.75 m These are the side walls.

• We assemble the frame. We assemble the walls using self-tapping screws and metal corners. To prevent the plywood from cracking, you can drill a small hole for it before screwing in the screw.

• We make the floor. We make the floor from a mesh with a cell of 10x10 mm. The mesh is attached to a pre-knocked frame. The frame is made from wooden slats 50x1000x15 mm and 50x470x15 mm. We screw the guides, which are also made of slats, to the side walls and install the floor on them. When installing the floor, you must not forget that there must also be a tray underneath for collecting litter.

1. Tray for litter; 2. Mesh floor

• Tray for litter. A similar frame of slats is made under the floor. But it is not the mesh that is attached to it, but plastic panels. Finished design sticks under the floor.
• To attach the doors, you need to make a frame of slats along the front perimeter and attach it to the brooder with self-tapping screws.
• Doors. They are made from the same slats. A frame is made on which a fine mesh is attached, or even a plaster one. Then the doors are attached to the brooder frame using hinges. You also need to attach a stopper to each door so that it does not close inward. It can be made from anything.

• We pass the light inside the brooder. To do this you will need a piece of cable, a plug and a socket. We connect one end of the cable to the socket, and attach a plug to the other. Then we attach the cartridge to the ceiling of the brooder. The length of the cable depends on how far the brooder will be from the outlet.

For lighting, it is advisable to use an infrared heating lamp, but you can get by with an ordinary 60 W lamp. Also, after assembling the brooder, you can paint it, but this is not at all necessary.

We arrange feeders and drinking bowls inside at our discretion. For convenience, you can make several mesh floors and use a larger mesh on each one. Then, as the chickens grow, we change the mesh floor to one with larger size grid cells.

Type two

Materials:

1. Plywood sheet – 2 pcs.;
2. Boards;
3. Mesh (you can use plaster mesh);
4. Self-tapping screws, but you can also use nails;
5. Cable;
6. Cartridge;
7. Fork;
8. Beam;
9. Washers;
10. Staples;
11. Door hinges – 4 pcs.

Let's get started

• We make a frame from bars. We make a frame from wooden blocks, as shown in the photo. The frames of the bottom and top are made first, then they are attached to each other using perpendicular bars. It must be remembered that the size of the finished brooder should be 1.5 m in length, 0.5 m in height and width.

• We place a jumper in the middle on the top and bottom frames. The jumper is needed at the bottom to prevent the floor from sagging, and at the top to secure the door. The lintel is made from the same bars and is placed in the middle of the length of the frame.

• We cut out the side walls, back wall and floor from plywood. Then, using small nails or self-tapping screws, we attach the walls and floor to the frame.

• The front wall will consist of a mesh. We cut out the mesh to the required size and use a stapler to attach it to the frame.

• Next, we make four legs from the bars on which the brooder will stand. Using self-tapping screws, we attach them to the frame on the sides.

• The doors are made of plywood. We apply it to the top, draw out the desired piece with a pencil. Next, we cut the plywood and use loops to attach it to the top of the brooder. Then we install special latches so that the door does not open accidentally.

• We connect the cable to the socket on one side. Then we attach the cartridge to the top of the side wall of the brooder. We attach a plug to the other end of the cable. It is important to remember that for lighting it is better to use an infrared heating lamp.

That's all. Another do-it-yourself brooder for chickens is ready. You can, before placing the chicks there, slightly adjust the lamp power. To do this, you need to experiment with a thermometer and lamps of different power.

Or you can install a power regulator for convenience, but this is an additional expense, so it’s up to you to decide what to do. We also offer you help the following instructions, which shows in detail what and how to do.

Video “Example of an automatic brooder”

Source: Do-it-yourself chicken brooder - instructions and photos http://zoohoz.ru/kyri/bruder-svoimi-rukami-1434/

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We make a brooder for chickens with our own hands according to the drawings

Little chicks are extremely susceptible to change external environment. Temperature fluctuations high humidity air, lack of lighting or draft for them - serious stress and risk. The solution to the problem will be a do-it-yourself brooder for chickens made according to the drawings.

The design is not at all complicated; with certain skills and the availability of simple materials, its construction will take no more than two evenings, but the young animals will henceforth have a comfortable house equipped with a heating and lighting system for growth in the first month of life.

Features of the design of a brooder for chickens

Beginning poultry farmers often use packaging boxes, crates, or other suitable containers that are at hand instead of a real brooder. These temporary solutions are easy and cheap, but cannot be used permanently:

• due to natural wear and tear of the structure;
• due to aging of the material;
• due to the inability to carry out high-quality disinfection and cleaning between batches of young animals.

In addition, cardboard or other temporary brooders resist drafts worse, cool faster, and it is more difficult to establish the required temperature and humidity conditions in them, make quality lighting and a removable tray for collecting litter. It is also worth considering that chicks constantly need water when growing, as well as wet food at first.

Considering all the pros and cons, the poultry farmer should take care of building a chicken cage with his own hands, which has an enviable margin of safety and is equipped with:

• adjustable heating system;
• lighting;
• feeders and drinkers according to the number of chicks in the brooder.

In addition, the structure should be easy to wash and clean, adequately withstanding both the residence of chickens and these mandatory procedures.

Materials for making a brooder for raising chickens with your own hands

Repeated use of a brooder suggests that for its manufacture you should use wear-resistant, durable materials that are not afraid of either moisture or exposure to heat and light.

Read also: Reasons for the appearance of unusual eggs in chickens

At home, preference can be given to plywood, a thin board up to 25 mm thick, and a 30 by 30 mm block for making a frame and other structural elements. The walls of the brooder can be made of fiberboard or chipboard, but their density and wear resistance are lower than that of high-quality plywood.

To prevent droppings and food residues from accumulating on the floor, its surface is made not solid, but lattice. The smaller the chicks, the smaller the cells of the mesh used should be. Most often, a mesh with 10 mm cells is used; the same material is useful for the manufacture of mesh parts of doors.

When droppings fall through the mesh, they must end up in a special tray. It is more convenient if it is not wooden, but metal or plastic, for which, for example, wall or ceiling panels PVC. In this case, the container is easier to clean, wash and maintain proper hygiene.

For heating, infrared incandescent lamps of various types are installed.

By providing a thermostat, you can react sensitively to changes in external conditions and adjust the temperature in the chick brooder.

Besides, home handyman you will need to stock up on self-tapping screws, a pair of piano hinges for attaching doors, electric cable and cartridge, as well as plastic mesh for doors.

Making a brooder for raising chickens with your own hands

Before you make a chicken cage with your own hands, it is important to calculate its dimensions, outline a diagram and prepare everything Consumables. The size of the brooder depends on the size of the flock being raised, as well as how long the chicks will be kept in such a brooder. comfortable cage.

For a do-it-yourself chicken brooder, the drawings should include such structural details as:

• a box for chicks with doors for access to the inside of the brooder;
• mesh bottom of the cage and a tray for collecting litter and other debris;
• box lighting and air heating system.

The work begins with cutting a sheet of plywood according to the completed drawings.

On the sides and back wall cages made from strips of plywood or timber make kind of guides for the lattice removable bottom.

For this, 4 planks are prepared equal length for the side panels and two stripes for the end. The length of such parts should be two centimeters less than the length of the brooder walls. The fastening of the lower planks is carried out along the edge of the walls, departing from the side sections by 1 cm.

When the lower strips take their places, strictly above them, at a distance of 3 cm, another strip is attached in parallel. When building a brooder for raising chickens with your own hands, it is important to accurately maintain the distance between the parts of the improvised sled. Only in this case will the removable bottom and litter tray move without difficulty.

Then, pieces of timber are attached to the sides, which are designed to play the role of stiffeners. The size of the bars is calculated so that their upper edge is flush with the edge of the side walls, and the lower edge is 3 cm higher than the top bar.

Now you can put all three sides together. The correctness of the do-it-yourself manufacturing and the drawings of the brooder for chickens is indicated by the complete coincidence of the grooves in the lower part of the structure.

The front panel is cut out of plywood, the parts are assembled according to the drawings, and hinges are attached to the sides of the frame for subsequent hanging of the doors.

Blind parts for two doors are cut out of a sheet of plywood according to the dimensions of the frame and screwed into place.

When all the parts of a do-it-yourself brooder for raising chickens are ready, you can begin installing the structure, which is completed by attaching two ceilings cut from the same sheet of plywood.

The brooder frame is assembled, but the work is not complete. Now you need to make a removable mesh bottom and a tray for receiving litter slightly smaller in size than the plywood bottom of the device. This is necessary for the free but reliable movement of the trays.

A long, wide strip is attached to the front strip with self-tapping screws, covering the gap between the mesh and the plywood bottom. It prevents debris from spilling out and reduces the spread of poultry odor.

To make it more convenient for the poultry farmer to monitor the chickens and maintain the brooder, it is useful to make mesh windows on the front doors. To do this, use a jigsaw to select central part plywood part.

A strong plastic mesh is attached to the resulting frame.

Lighting and heating

However, making a brooder for chickens with your own hands according to the drawings is not enough. For a comfortable stay for the chicks, they require a lighting and heating system connected to the electrical network.

The power and location of the lamps to maintain the temperature required for the chicks in the brooder is calculated depending on the size of the device, its location and the external conditions outside.

When ready for chicks to arrive, the box is equipped with feeders, drinkers, thermometers to control living conditions, and then warmed up. If you have to grow a large number of young animals, build multi-tiered cages for chickens.

A video on how to build a brooder for chickens with your own hands using your own drawings will be a useful help for a novice poultry farmer who has decided to independently raise healthy, strong young animals.

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The first drawing (top view) shows that the width of the brooder is 60 cm and the length is one and a half meters. On the sides, feeders designed to be 140 mm wide extend beyond the structure. A nipple drinking cup runs across the entire length of the brooder: along the edges of the drinking cup there are clamps by which it is held.

The second drawing is a rear view. Here you can see a gap running along the top for ventilation of the interior.

Next drawing- front view. The height of the brooder itself (both tiers) in accordance with the drawing is 180 cm, 13 cm is the height of each garbage tray. There is a viewing window at the front.

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Manufacturing instructions

First option

The most common version of a brooder, one and a half meters long, is done like this:

1. The bars for the frame are being sawn. 6 142 cm long, 6 44 cm long, 4 vertical racks legs 60 cm.
2. All the bars are knocked together into a frame. Lower horizontal level the bars should be located at floor level, the second horizontal level should be at a distance of about 15 cm from the lower bars (the distance remains for the installation of the tray).
3. The mesh is attached to the second level of bars with self-tapping screws. If in some place it becomes necessary to join 2 pieces of mesh, another supporting bar is installed below in this place so that it does not sag under the chickens. Wire strings can be placed under the mesh at a distance of every 50 cm for support.
4. We cut out the bottom, ceiling and side walls from plywood or OSB board.
5. We fasten the ceiling to the frame with self-tapping screws.
6. The bottom can be made in two layers. The first plane is made of polycarbonate. Polycarbonate is very comfortable material, easy to cut, conveniently attached and quickly wiped clean if debris spills from the tray. Polycarbonate must be mounted on top of the bars in such a way that it is stretched as much as possible. If the polycarbonate bottom becomes wavy, it may be difficult to pull out the tray. You can replace polycarbonate with plastic panels.
7. We fill the bottom of the bars under the polycarbonate with plywood or OSB boards (you can even make walls plastic panel– they will be more convenient to wipe) just like the ceiling.
8. The back and side walls are sutured.
9. We make a door from bars and completely sew it up with mesh. The mesh must be attached to the outside of the door.
10. The front side of the brooder can be sewn up with any available material: either plywood, or plastic, or the same mesh as the door.
11. We hang the door on vertical bars made of bars on hinges and attach a handle to it.
12. We make a tray for manure removal.
13. We connect the heaters and lights.

Equipment

This completes the production of the brooder box. All that remains is to equip the room with lighting and a system. It is necessary to select the power of the lamps in accordance with the size of the brooder and its location: outdoors or indoors. In the finished brooder you need to install a thermometer, a feeder and a drinker. For newborn chicks, the bottom of the brooder should be covered with newspaper in the first days.

For one-day-old babies, a temperature of 29–30 degrees is required. After a week, it is recommended to reduce it to 26, and month-old young animals feel great already at 18. For broiler chickens, the temperature should be 2-3 degrees higher.

Excessive heating for chicks is unacceptable, therefore useful device there will be an automatic thermostat. Heating is usually carried out by one or two ceramic infrared lamps. If they are missing, they can be replaced with ordinary incandescent lamps. Don't forget to attach a reflector on top to prevent heat from dissipating to the sides.

In the first 2 weeks of life, chickens need 24/7 light mode. Then the duration of daylight hours is gradually reduced to 14–17 hours for broilers and to 8 for laying hens. If there is not enough light, the young animals will develop more slowly, if there is too much light - . To illuminate a brooder with the specified standard sizes, one 60 W incandescent lamp or its energy-saving equivalent is sufficient. During cool periods, you can close the mesh door from the outside plywood sheet.

Feeders are placed in regular or bunker type, to pull them out you will have to cut an additional slot in the wall. The advantage of such feeders is the ability not to disturb the chicks while feeding. To water chicks, it is better to buy drinking bowls with a sensitive nipple and a drip eliminator. In an ordinary plate or container, chicks can drown.

Nipple drinkers with drip eliminators will also help to preserve indoors optimal level humidity. Chickens need air humidity of 60-70%. To prevent it from increasing, you need to pour out the water from the drip catchers in a timely manner, remove droppings, and the remains of wet food. The room must be ventilated.

Brooder from the drawing

To make a long-lasting brooder, you can make metal carcass from an equal angle corner measuring 25x25x4 mm, welded together. Make the floor from frames and mesh with a cell size of 10x10 mm. The mesh can be secured between the frames with a screw connection. Cut and bend the pallet from stainless steel sheet. Cut the walls from 10 mm moisture-resistant plywood and cover the frame with metal screws. IR lamps are mounted on the top wall, the thermostat is on the front. A polycarbonate viewing window needs to be embedded into the front wall. Feeders and drinkers are placed inside the cage or hung on the side walls.