close

Baby Chickens for Sale in Wakita, Oklahoma

Baby Chickens for Sale in Wakita, Oklahoma

How to Build a Better Ohio Brooder for Chicks

Learn how to build a better chicken brooder using found materials. I started with a piece of plywood, some basic tools and followed general steps to making an Ohio brooder and you can too.

March has arrived and that means our chicks will soon be here at Get Down Farm! Having raised chicks with a traditional heat lamp hanging above their brooder, I was looking for a better, easier design to help us scale up this year. Chicks need to stay at 95 degrees when they first arrive and can safely go down about a degree a day or 5ish degrees per week. Below is the brooder my students and I built at during the after school program. It worked wonders for the classroom because there were always plenty of little eyes monitoring the chickens. As a production farm, we don’t have the capacity to constantly monitor temperature. That’s where the Ohio Brooder comes in.

At this year’s conference,  highly recommended Ohio Brooders because they prevent drafts better than traditional heat lamp setups and allow the chicks to monitor their own temperatures by scurrying in and out of the brooder as they need.

Our brooder was built with all found materials and cost $0 and you can use a lot of found materials too!

Materials needed

  • w/short long
  • or
  • or or
  • plywood (you can use lauan plywood to save on weight)
  • 1 x 4 or 1 x 1 board (or anything similar)
  • (broken extension cords in my case)
  • 2 electric boxes (if you like safety but I’ve seen designs without)
  • (if you want to get fancy)
  • (if you want to get fancy)
  • (i use one 250 watt and 1 150 watt)

I found a piece of plywood that was about 36 inches by 33 inches which will be more than enough room for the 100 chicks I will brood at a time. Each chick need about 10 square inches of space in the brooder and ours will have just over 11 inches.

From there I cut four 12 inch feet out of a 1 x 4 and worked backwards to figure out the frame made from 1 x 1. I added a supporting board to the back because I wanted the top piece to lift up for cleaning.

Then I cut four side pieces about 9 inches tall to allow 4 inches for the chicks to travel in and out. I cut boxes in the sides to accommodate electric boxes for the wires from the lamp fixtures. Using a circular drill bit to make a hole I was able to finish it with a reciprocating saw. I’d recommend using a jigsaw but ours was broken. As the chicks grow, I will add bricks to lift up the brooder legs.

After that we wired up two lamp fixtures using some cut off old extension cord. Remember, hot/black wire goes to brass screw, greens goes to ground and white/neutral wire go to silver screw. Our wires we old and unlabeled so it took some fuse blowing to figure it all out but we survived!

I added some old hinges to the back of the top plywood and an old handle so I can check on the chicks and clean out the brooder easily.

 

Share this:

Related

Baby Chickens for Sale in Wakita 
OK

Baby Chicks Baby Chickens in Wakita, Oklahoma

We have many Rare Chicken Breeds for sale in Wakita Oklahoma, including Sussex Chickens, Welsummer Chickens, Turken Chickens and more. Be sure to check out the Bargain Specials, as you can combine different egg layers in smaller amounts and buy as an assortment. Wakita Oklahoma also has poultry equipment for sale, game chickens for sale in Wakita Oklahoma, bantams for sale, ducks for sale, geese for sale, turkeys for sale, guinea for sale, peafowl for sale, pheasant for sale, chukar partridge for sale, bobwhite for sale, many different breeds of baby chicks for sale in Wakita OK.

Baby Chicks Names in Wakita, Oklahoma

Thumbing through a baby chickens for sale in Wakita Oklahoma catalog is a yearly traditions in many houses. My kids and I eagerly await the Murray McMurray Hatchery catalog. We love looking at all the cool and different chicken breeds available. Catalogs are free so head on over to their site and request one if you are interested. Baby Chickens for Sale in Wakita 
OKTypically hatcheries online offer both standard breeds and bantams. Bantams are fun hardy little chickens, they lay tiny eggs that kids especially love collecting. Bantams typically weigh less than 2 pounds when full grown. Just like ordering anything online there are pros and cons to ordering baby chicks online. Pros of buying baby chicks in Wakita Oklahoma * Big Selection - If you are wanting a large variety of different chicken breeds and egg colors, you will find the best selection at an online hatchery. * Both Bantams and full sized chickens available * You get to choose what sex you want. If you want a mixture of both male and female then choosing a "straight run" will save you money and you will get a mixture of male and female chicks. You can also choose all males or all females too. * Weekly specials. Hatcheries have sales on chicks, you are likely to get a good deal if you are flexible with the breeds you are wanting. Cons of buying baby chicks in Wakita Oklahoma * Order early to get the best selection. Certain breeds sell out fast, sometimes as early as 6 months in advance of shipping! If you are wanting a certain breed it's best to order your chicks in the fall before their orders sell out.

Baby Chickens Coop in Wakita, Oklahoma

Quantity - you must order a certain number of chicks. Typically hatcheries will require you buy a minimum of 25 chicks at a time. The number is necessary for the chicks survival during shipping. All 25 chicks are put in one small box without heat. They are crowded in the box and produce enough body heat to arrive in good shape. * The wait - If you choose to buy chicks from a feed store you will have them the same day but if you choose to go with a hatchery you have to wait until they are ready to ship and then wait for the chicks to arrive. Ordering baby chicks online in Wakita Oklahoma is easy and has always been a very pleasant experience of me. It can be a little frustrating waiting for the chicks but it's so worth the wait. When the post office calls and you hear all those little "cheeps" or "chirps" in the background you'll know the wait was worth it! How to Care for your new baby chickens in Wakita, Oklahoma Baby chicks are very cute and also challenging to stand up to, however it's ideal to plan for their arrival before you get them. Prepare initially by gathering not just the correct products, but also the correct expertise to look after them. Raising baby chicks is reasonably simple, you merely should give them with the following: A clean as well as cozy environment A lot of food and also water Attention and also love Environment Your habitat can be an easy box, aquarium, feline provider, or guinea porker cage. Line it with old towels and blankets (without any loosened strings!) to begin, and after a few weeks use straw over newspaper. Note: Avoid making use of just paper or various other slipper surfaces-- or your chicks legs can expand malformed. You likewise need something to dish out food as well as water in, such as a chicken feeder and also water meal from the feed store, or a pickle jar lid for food as well as a family pet bird water dispenser from a pet dog shop. Also, as the chicks get older you could present a perch into the environment to get them educated on perching. Heat To maintain your chicks warm you have to give them with a heat source. This can be as straightforward as a 100 watt light bulb in a reflective clamp design light from an equipment shop, or an infrared reptile warmth bulb likewise work very well (my recommendation). Chicks need this heat 24/7 until their downy fluff is replaced with feathers (which can occupy to 2 months). The freshly hatched out require a temperature level between 90 and also 100 degrees, and also each week this can be reduced by roughly 5 levels approximately. The warmth source need to get on merely one side of the cage to allow chicks a variety of temperature levels. The chicks are your best thermostat- if they are hiding in the contrary edge of your warmth lamp, you need to lower the temperature level. If they are surrounding each various other under the warmth (not just snuggling), you should put some heat. Home cleaning Cleanliness is essential as well as it maintains your chicks healthy. Be sure to transform the bed linens usually as well as consistently supply tidy food and water Food and water. Chicks expand quite quickly which needs lots of tidy food and also water. Give sufficient at all times and also check often to prevent dehydrated and also starving chicks. Chick food is various compared to adult chicken food, as well as it comes in both medicated and also non-medicated varieties. Feed chick food for the initial 2 months, after that switch to a raiser food (~ 17 % protein) for an additional 2 months, and afterwards to a somewhat lower protein feed or a layer feed (if you have layers). Dirt Some chicks like to obtain a running start on taking filth baths, while others will not occupy that activity till they are older. If you have the area in your chick room, introduce a tray of sand or dust for them to shower in. Interest and also love There are a couple of benefits to spending quality time with your chicks. Firstly, they will certainly more than likely bond with you as well as not run away as grownups. Second, if you examine your chicks daily and also enjoy their actions, you could catch health problem or other problems previously. Watch out for hissing, hopping, or various other harmful indicators. Be sure to likewise look at their poop, as diarrhea could result in matted plumes and also blocked cloaca. Finally, it is necessary to watch out for social issues, such as the smallest chick getting teased. Vacant nest disorder So your chicks are now completely feathery as well as its time for them to leave the safety and security of your residence and move outside into a cage. Have a look at our section on chicken cages to learn more concerning coops and also proper coop habitats.
Baby Chicks Breeds     Baby Chickens Under Heat Lamp
More Posts
Baby Chickens for Sale in Panama, Oklahoma
Baby Chickens for Sale in Roff, Oklahoma
Baby Chickens for Sale in Carmen, Oklahoma
Baby Chickens for Sale in Tatums, Oklahoma
Baby Chickens for Sale in Rufe, Oklahoma