We have started our livestock contingent with chickens and ducks; eight Khaki Campbell ducks, three Barred Plymouth Rocks (one our future rooster), two Ameraucanas, and the unexpected addition of fifteen roosters believed to be Rhode Island Reds. The birds are two and three weeks old today, and have definitely outgrown their cardboard-box-brooders, but are still too young to be outside permanently. In fact, the poor ducklings were pretty desperate for some more space. Given that we are going to be brooding new chicks often, we decided to build some permanent brooders. We will often likely be brooding geese, chickens, and ducks all at the same time (and in varying numbers) so the idea of a modular system was soundly agreed upon.

We had a bit of a nervous to-do this morning. It appears that my daughter Susan (all of 7 years old) got up at dawn and decided to give the chicks and ducks their daily ration of dried mealy worms... and promptly spilled the entire container inside the brooder. When I discovered this fact, much later, I spent a bad few hours wondering about enteritis, but as I continually discover, these animals (when properly nourished and cared for) are quite a bit hardier than my research would originally suggest. Everyone is healthy and happy.
We, too, found that ducklings and chicks could not be put in the brooder together. The ducks just grew so incredibly fast! And they were making a wet mess, necessitating new shavings every day. It was a revelation after several years with just chicks and one year of goslings.
ReplyDeleteGood times! They are pretty sturdy little buggers, to be sure.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to reading more of your experiences as they come to light! :)
~kea
If there is interest, I could draw up the plans for the brooder. It's pretty simple but, so far, appears to work well. If you know which end of the drill to hold one of these can go together in a couple of hours.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing information about the DIY brooders. One can use the details to hatch both chicken and duck eggs at a time.
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