Bathtub Brooder

No one can ever question my will power after today. I went to the Bothell Feed Center to buy supplies for my chicks and did not buy chicks! My plan was to be practical by getting everything I need to raise chicks in my bathroom and then bring the babies home on Wednesday, when the Grange is scheduled to get a new delivery of day-old chicks. Since I'll be at a double dutch tournament this weekend, I wouldn't be around to keep a close eye on my new little brood. But, when I walked into the store and saw the precious little balls of fluff, it was all I could to do stay focused on my agenda and leave without chicks in tow. A quick call to Jake from the parking lot of the feed store was inevitable, "Remind me why I shouldn't buy chicks today?"

In the end, I resisted and made it home with only the supplies I needed to set up my bathroom brooder. I have to give credit to Amy Stewart at Garden Rant for her inspiration and guidance. Reading her recent chick updates have made me giddy with anticipation.


In a nutshell, baby chicks need a place to grow with an artificial heat source since they can't maintain their own body temperature. The chicks' mother usually provides this warmth so I'll need to provide it for them. The chicks will be living in my bathtub, which we don't use by the way, for about eight weeks, until they are fully feathered-out and ready to be outside.

Today I bought the following supplies:

• two 20x20in cardboard boxes
• one big bale of pine shavings (bedding)
• chick feed (non-medicated – sanitation will be the key so they don't get sick)
• a chick waterer and feeder
• heat lamp and chain to suspend the lamp from the ceiling
• thermometer
  

Amy estimated that the supplies would cost around $80 and I found that estimate to be pretty accurate. I am willing to bet it will be worth every penny!

To make the brooder, I put the two boxes together to make one large box. I did this by cutting one side of each of the boxes down the middle. I bought a long length of chain, which I connected to the heat lamp. I suspended the chain from a plant hook in the ceiling and luckily, the placement of that hook couldn't have been more perfect. The lamp is suspended right above the box on one side so the chicks can go under the lamp when they want to be warm and get away from it when they want to cool off.

According to Amy, when the chicks are really young, they can wander away from the heat lamp and may not be smart enough to get back to the warm area that they need to survive. So, I brought two of the side flaps together with a binder clip to create a cardboard divider. Later, when the chicks get bigger and are used to their surroundings, I can just remove the clip and let them take advantage of the whole brooder.

To finish the brooder, I put a couple inches of bedding material in the boxes and put the feeder and waterer in place. Now all I have to do is hurry up and wait!