[Stereo]

I'm considering doing a 96 egg hatch in a couple weeks which will be the most I have ever done. I know small fry to some but I need to ask about brooder space. I currently use pallet boxes (about 4 foot square) for up to 20 chicks with an electric hen in it. This is OK but getting towards 5 weeks, it's crowded with 20 and 6 weeks too small. I've got 2 of these and am building another soon. I need to plan for a 100% hatch rate which is unlikely but better to have more room than less.

So, hatch to 3 weeks, I split them into 3 lots of 32 and they go into the pallet brooders. Then, at week 3 they go into a pen type brooder which I can build in the shed. Will be deep litter on a concrete floor with mesh walls and probably a mesh roof to keep out rats. It will have roosts if they want them. I'm thinking of using ceramic heat lamps at this stage on a chain which I can adjust for height. They will stay in here for 6 weeks at which point they go out into my mobile 'salatin' chicken tractors which work really well.

So, assuming the worst (best) and I have 96 chicks, how big a brooder do I need to build to take them from 3 to 6 weeks? Also how many heat lamps? I could also keep them in 3 groups of course. Anyone do this sort of hatch size and if so, what do you have for the later stages before they are ready to go out?

[RPF]

Hi Stereo, I'm using a 5m plastic brooder ring, which will do 100 chicks, which will do 100 chicks for up to 4 weeks (I'm guessing as my first time at this quantity). I'm doing mine in a 20ft shipping container so I don't have to worry about rats. Regarding your size, you know the size you need for the small quantities of of that you have done in the past, so divide 100 by the number you did in the past and then times that number by the m2 of floor space plus a bit extra to get your brooder size.

Be very careful of rats. They will chew through almost anything and will go for even quite big chicks. If you are putting your brooder in a shed where rats could potentially get in, your brooder needs to be like a weld mesh cage.

I wouldn't keep them in for 6 weeks, chuck them outside at 4 weeks.

Unless there is any particular reason for brooding them in batches, I.i.e. Different blood lines, I would brood them all together. 3 different brooders means 3 different heat lamps, 3 sets of feeders and drinkers and that all need topping up and cleaning. Get a thermostatic heat lamp that does 100 chicks as much more efficient.

Hope this helps. Robin

[Stereo]

Thanks Robin, I've always stuck to 6 weeks but I guess they would be OK at 4 in good weather. Other issues outside are keeping rats off them, especially if they insist on sleeping on the ground. Next year I'm considering starting the whole thing earlier which does mean more time indoors but haven't decided on that yet. Rearing is so much easier in late spring / summer when it's warm and dry. I don't get rats in the shed as it's a modern build with good doors etc. and the pallet boxes are meshed up anyway so that's never been an issue.

[Marches Farmer]

I keep chicks inside under a dull emitter for three weeks.  They probably grow a little slower than under an infra red, which allows light for them to eat 24 hours a day, but I consider it gives them more time for a long rest at night and is a more natural way for them to grow. I use large cardboard boxes (the size a fridge would be delivered in) or make up "boxes" from split down smaller ones.  They then go outside into a run within concrete floored pole barn, using homemade meshed panels 4ft x 2ft which I can join with binder twine in whatever size/shape I want.  I keep chicks the same age in one group so when they're grown up they'll have sorted out the pecking order and there's unlikely to be the injuries you sometimes get from mixing in new stock.  That said, they're all home bred so I know their health status.