We ordered 25 cornish cross chickens to raise for meat.  Since we haven’t done much work on the upstairs yet, we built a brooder we could use in the house and then move outdoors later.  We made the brooder almost completely from scraps, but it would be cheap and easy to buy the supplies.

 

 

 

My parents had some scraps of T11 siding that measured 48″ x 18″ which worked perfect for the sides.  We had some triangular scraps that we cut to 18″ for braces (but you could use 2x2s).  

 

Next, we cut the base (48″ x 49.5″) and secured it on the corners.

 

You can add support on the inside of the box to secure the base if needed.  (We added some 2×2 braces just in case).  To finish off the brooder we built a cover out of 2x2s and chicken wire.  We also put a 1×6 support down the center to staple the wire where we had a seam.

 

 

We hung a heat lamp from the ceiling with an adjustable cord so we can manipulate the temperature.

 

We put in the food, water, and thermometer to get everything warmed up for the new chicks, which arrived the next day. (Yes, there are 25 chicks in there!)

 

We put them into their new, cozy brooder and dipped their beaks into the water to get them started.

 

 

The dogs were very intrigued.  Every so often they go upstairs to check on them and they have been very gentle.  

 

We are learning as we go, but everything has gone well so far.  The chicks are darting around and chowing down food.  We will definitely keep you updated on our new adventure! Thanks for reading!