We make a brooder for chickens with our own hands according to the drawings
Small chicks are extremely susceptible to environmental changes. Fluctuations in temperature, high air humidity, lack of lighting or draft for them are a serious stress and risk of illness. The solution to the problem will be a do-it-yourself brooder for chickens made according to drawings.
The design is quite simple, with certain skills and the availability of simple material, it will take no more than two evenings to build it, but the young 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
- due to natural wear and tear of the structure;
- due to aging of the material;
- due to the impossibility of high-quality disinfection and cleaning between batches of young animals.
In addition, cardboard or other temporary brooders are less resistant to draft, cool faster, it is more difficult to establish the required temperature and humidity conditions, to make high-quality lighting and a removable tray for collecting droppings. It should also be borne in mind that when growing chicks constantly need water, as well as moist, at first, feed.
Considering all the pros and cons, the poultry farmer should take care of building a cage for chickens with his own hands, which has an enviable margin of safety and is equipped with:
- controlled 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 living of the chickens and these mandatory procedures.
DIY materials for making a brooder for raising chickens
Multiple use of a brooder suggests that for its manufacture, wear-resistant, durable materials should be taken that are not afraid of moisture or exposure to heat and light.
At home, preference can be given to plywood, a thin board up to 25 mm thick and a bar of 30 by 30 mm for the manufacture of the frame and other structural elements. Fiberboard or chipboard can go to the walls of the brooder, but their density and wear resistance is lower than that of high-quality plywood.
To prevent droppings and food residues from accumulating on the floor, its surface is not made solid, but trellised. The smaller the chicks, the smaller the mesh 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.
Litter, falling through the net, must fall into a special tray. It is more convenient if it is not wooden, but metal or plastic, for which, for example, PVC wall or ceiling panels are used. In this case, the container is easier to clean, wash and maintain proper hygiene.
For heating, different types of infrared incandescent lamps are installed.
With a thermostat, you can be sensitive to environmental changes and adjust the temperature in the chick brooder.
In addition, the home craftsman will need to stock up on self-tapping screws, a pair of piano hinges for attaching doors, an electric cable and a holder, as well as a plastic door net.
Making a brooder for raising chickens with your own hands
Before making a cage for chickens with your own hands, it is important to calculate its dimensions, outline a diagram and prepare all consumables. The size of the brooder depends on the size of the livestock being raised, as well as on how long chickens will be kept in such a comfortable cage.
For a do-it-yourself chicken brooder, drawings should include structural details such as:
- box for chicks with doors for access to the inside of the brooder;
- mesh bottom of the cage and tray for collecting droppings and other debris;
- box lighting system and air heating.
The work begins with cutting a sheet of plywood according to the completed drawings.
On the sides and back wall of the cage, from plywood strips or a bar, they make a kind of guides for a lattice removable bottom.
For this, 4 strips of equal length are prepared for the side panels and two strips for the end. The length of such parts should be two centimeters shorter than the length of the brooder walls. The fasteners of the lower planks are carried out along the edge of the walls, retreating from the side cuts by 1 cm.
When the lower strips take their places, strictly above them, at a distance of 3 cm, one more strip is fixed in parallel. When constructing a brooder for growing chickens with your own hands, it is important to accurately observe the distance between the parts of the improvised sled. Only then will the removable bottom and litter tray move without difficulty.
Then, pieces of the bar 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 was flush with the cut of the side walls, and the lower one was 3 cm higher than the upper bar.
Now you can put all three sides together. The correctness of making with your own hands and drawings of a brooder for chickens is indicated by the complete coincidence of the grooves in the lower part of the structure.
A 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 from a sheet of plywood to the size of the frame and screwed in place.
When all the details of the brooder, assembled with your own hands, for growing chickens are ready, you can proceed with the installation of the structure, which completes the fastening of two and the ceiling, 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 litter tray in size slightly smaller than the plywood bottom of the device. This is necessary for the free, but reliable trays run.
The mesh is attached between the plywood planks like a frame to keep the structure strong and practical.
The litter tray is made in the same way as a mesh bottom, only a lightweight, hygienic plastic panel is used as a base.
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 bird odors.
To make it easier for the poultry farmer to monitor the chickens and service the brooder, it is useful to make mesh windows on the front doors. For this, the central part of the plywood part is selected with a jigsaw.
A sturdy plastic mesh is attached to the resulting frame.
However, making a brooder for chickens according to the drawings with your own hands is not enough. For a comfortable stay of chicks, they need a lighting and heating system connected to the electrical network.
The power and position of the lamps to maintain the brooder temperature required for the chicks is calculated based on the size of the unit, its location and the outside conditions.
The box, ready for the arrival of chickens, is equipped with feeders, drinkers, thermometers to control the conditions of keeping, and then warmed up. If a large number of young animals are to be raised, multi-tiered cages for chickens are built.
A video on how to build a brooder for chickens using do-it-yourself drawings will be a useful help for a novice poultry farmer who has decided to independently start raising healthy, strong young.