Brooder Basics, exactly what you need to raise chicks

Its chick time again! Our incubators are full and chicks are selling like mad. We get lots of first time buyers and I have spent countless hours explaining exactly what you need to brood chicks correctly. Setting up a chick brooder is pretty easy and only takes a few items like food, water, heat and an escape proof container.

From heat source to feed, all of the item's you'll need can be bought at any feed store so picking up everything you need should be quite simple!

what does a chick brooder need?

How do I set up a chick brooder?

What is a brooder: A brooder is any type of escape proof container to house chicks in until they have grown enough to be moved into their chicken coop. It will include a heat source, bedding, food and water.

Brooder box

First you need a container. A big box will do or you can use a plastic Tupperware type container, a feed tub, stock tank, aquarium, a baby pool etc. Anything the chicks can't get out of. If you're brooding ducks you'll probably be better off going with plastic as you'll spend a whole lot more time cleaning up wet litter. 

You can get large boxes from the grocery store or save one next time you get something big in the mail or from the store. I get crate style boxes free from the farm equipment dealer. I've also used large bird cages, or guinea pig cages...even small dog crates. 

Dog crates might need to be lined with cardboard at first until the chicks are too big to fit through the bars. See picture below.

12 tips for finding Guinea nests in the woods

It's that time of year again, when the Guineas start laying and I'm out there hunting for their nests. Guinea fowl are ground nesting birds and like to hide their nests among fallen branches and tall grasses. They can be very hard to find but it's imperative that you find them! 

If you don't find the nest, inevitably the Guinea hen will decide to hatch the eggs. Guineas sit on the nest for 28 days. In this time they are out there for all the predators to find. Many Guinea hens don't survive the setting period because of predators. If you're lucky the predator will only be after the eggs and the hen will run off. If not...well...

how to find Guinea nest

Those are pictures of Guinea nests I've found over the years to kind of help you see what to look for as you hunt Guinea nests of your own. As you can see, I placed a trail cam on one when they were in the coop for the night. 

The fox is back

We've had the worst problem with a fox lately! He's been hanging around off and on for almost 2 years, but has started visiting daily now. We lost a few hens to him in the fall. At that point a trapper came up and set out traps for a few weeks. I posted about that on the other blog.....you can read about it here: Waiting for the trap to snap

Unfortunately, the trapper didn't catch the fox then and it stayed away for several months. It got my male duck early this year, and another hen the same week. I tried sitting out with my rifle and waiting for it, but it never showed when I was there. It showed up a week or so later and was chasing the ducks around when the LGD came out and tore off after it into the woods. Once again it laid low for a month or so, then we saw this one morning.

chicken coop where a fox dug into it

Looks like something was desperately trying to dig into the coop! Since this finding he's taken 2 guineas out of the woods during the day and 2 more out of our yard in broad daylight! We're talking 9am! I spoke to the trapper and unfortunately there are restrictions about trapping this time of year, so it looks like I'll be doing it myself. 

I'm buying a large fox trap and setting it up this weekend. What else do I do? I've seen the large safe traps at Tractor Supply and they are not terribly expensive, so I guess I'll go that route. I just don't see any other option. I added 5 guineas to my flock this year and he's snagged them all along with several hens. ugh!

predator picture outside chicken coop

First d'Uccle chicks of the year

This years first set of D'Uccle chicks have hatched. 4 of them to be exact! Mama took her kids out of the nest and went out to play, leaving the last 6 eggs there. I guess she was done being broody and that was just it for her. Lol After a few hours when I was sure she wasn't going back....I took the remaining eggs and candled them. They were all fine and close to hatching, so I put them in the incubator.


mille fluer chick hen

Broody hens are funny. Sometimes they are ready to be done and other times they continue to sit even after the chicks hatch. I even had one hen steal eggs to replace the ones that hatched! This one though was ready to be done sitting and she rushed those chicks out into the sunlight to play. She's a good mama, showing the chicks where their food is and scaring the other chickens away from them. She watched as I changed the fence around to exclude the pond....letting them run under her wings and back out again and again.This one is a good mama, she raises at least 1 clutch a year sometimes 2.

Strange places chickens lay eggs

Pullets can be funny. Some catch on with laying eggs right away, others take a bit longer. Such is the case with my blue pullet this year. She just doesn't seem to get the whole 'eggs go in nest boxes' thing. At first she did actually.....then suddenly I started finding eggs on the ground. One by the guinea house. One in the driveway. One on the ground cover in the daisy planter.

egg on weed barrier

Where do chickens lay eggs?

Unfortunately I haven't caught her yet, so I can't try to catch her doing it and put her in the nest box....although she is a chicken so that might make it worse! This isn't like my other hens who just decided to start laying in other places. I posted about that HERE

I think this one just doesn't understand the 'I gotta lay an egg' feeling yet. Maybe she thinks she has to poop? Or maybe she's just too distracted by all the new bugs to chase around that she doesn't want to stop and go back to the coop? Teenagers...go figure! lol 

I made a video about the different places I've found my chickens laying eggs!



Hopefully she'll get it figured out soon, after all....laying eggs in the driveway isn't exactly a safe idea!

~L

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