Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Tabletop Brooder


I found the plans to make a tabletop brooder in one of the chicken books I have been reading. We picked up the supplies last week to make it. The past two nights the boys & I have been working on it.

We measured the rabbit wire & Sam is cutting a piece to fit in the indented area of the storage tub lid.

Sam is holding the plastic piece Mom is cutting out of the storage tub lid so we can see our chicks & let fresh air in to them.

Lucas is cutting one inch wide strips of wood to make a frame to staple the rabbit wire to.

Sam is drilling holes through the wood frame with the stapled rabbit wire & the the storage tub lid.

Sam is assembling the nuts & bolts to secure the wood frame with rabbit wire to the storage tub lid.

Our tabletop brooder is in the workshop just waiting for us to add the heat lamp, pine shavings, waterer, feeder & baby chicks. We were told the baby chicks will not arrive until the first week of March. We are hoping they will have all the colors in the silkie breed so we can have a colorful flock. The book said the baby chicks can live in the tabletop brooder up to eight weeks. So that gives us about ten weeks to have a coop ready for them to move in to. We are now looking for & gathering building materials to build the chicken coop.

Blessings Til Next Time!
Lara

10 comments:

  1. Hi lara... we built one of those last year for our baby chicks we hatched...Once they our grew the brooder we put them in a large Dog cage for about a month and set them free in the barn and gave away a few.. it was fun.. Your boys will have a ball aw will you!!

    Happy building

    Tonya

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  2. Looks like you are off to a good start! Looking forward to seeing your chicks in their new brooder. Their is nothing cuter than a Silkie Chick-tiny little fuzzballs with legs. They really do make the best pet for kids. What hatchery are you getting them from?

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  3. lara
    Family fun~ I love how you are all working together with it~
    I bet you are getting so excited~ won't be long and you'll have the peeps!
    Can't what to see them!
    I also wanted to thank you for being one of the gals who helped me win over at crows nest, thanks so much for mentioning that I sent you( Big Hug)!
    smiles
    Teresa

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  4. You are up and going, to have a great learning experience with the chicks and chids (children/kids). My mother is 81 and still makes sure to have little post office delivered chicks by Easter, for all the Grand and GreatGrandLoves to enjoy. Life on the farm had always been eventful and educational. Sooo anxious to see your fuzz balls.
    BlessYourAdventurousHearts

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  5. I'll bet you and the kids are excited. This will be a wonderful family project. I can't wait to see the chicken coop. Well, I can wait, but I'm excited to see it and watch your chicks grow up. Be careful of dogs and other predators. Our cats got along with our chickens, but a pack of wild dogs got them all. I miss 'em. ~Carol

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  6. Great idea! My son made a wood box with a side window, but this is a much better design. Plus, so much easier to keep clean! I loved raising chicks and hatched most from eggs. *sigh* My last batch of Frizzles were perfect - 5 chicks that had 5 different colors. It will probably never happen again.

    I can tell you this. It is great fun. Make sure, though, that you have a good tight fence. We had coyotes kill three of our best hens, and the others suffered some major damage. They have finally recovered and are laying again. It was heartbreaking, but I wouldn't give up my chickens for the world!

    Enjoy every moment... look forward to the wonderful photos!!

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  7. Its really a wonderful Blog. There are many types of custom point of purchase displays. The most common and effective are the plastic type. You commonly see the brightly colored plastic displays on or around the check out counter.

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  8. We have chickens too and Hubby has ordered new chicks. They are always so cute!! He keeps a new supply coming so we never run out of eggs when the grown hens molt. Hubby is a real chicken man, raised on a chicken farm where they had thousands!!
    Good luck with your chicks!!
    Blessings,
    Lorna

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  9. That is a clever idea for a brooder! Looks like a great family project. Looking forward to when you get your chicks and finish your coop! I love chickens, but I don't think we can have them in our neighborhood.

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  10. pretty crafty... we always just used a big cardboard box. boy, do those chicks make things dusty! it will be nice that you have a bit of a lid!!

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