Contents of the article:
Small chickens are extremely susceptible to changes in the environment. Temperature fluctuations, increased air humidity, lack of lighting or draft for them are a serious stress and risk of disease. The solution will be a DIY brooder for chickens.
The construction is quite simple, with certain skills and the availability of simple material, it will take no more than two evenings to build it, but the young will continue to have a comfortable house equipped with a heating and lighting system for growth in the first month of life.
. Brooder design features for chickens.
Novice poultry farmers often, instead of real brooder, fit packing boxes, crates, or other suitable containers at hand. Such temporary solutions are easy and cheap, but they cannot be used all the time:
- due to natural wear of the structure;
- due to aging of the material;
- due to the inability to conduct high-quality disinfection and cleaning between batches of young animals.
In addition, cardboard or other temporary brooders resist drafts worse, cool faster, they are more difficult to adjust to the required temperature and humidity conditions, to make high-quality lighting and a removable tray to collect droppings. Also it is necessary to take into account that the chicks constantly need water, as well as wet, at first, feed.
Considering all the pros and cons, a poultry farmer should take care of building his own cage for chickens, which has an enviable margin of safety and is equipped with:
- adjustable heating system;
- lighting;
- feeders and drinkers by the number of chicks in the brooder.
In addition, the design should be easy to wash and clean, adequately maintaining the residence of the chickens, and these mandatory procedures.
Materials for the manufacture of brooders for growing chickens with their own hands
Repeated use of a brooder suggests that for its manufacture you should take durable, durable materials that are not afraid of any moisture or heat and light.
At home, preference can be given to plywood, thin up to 25 mm thick board and bar 30 to 30 mm for the manufacture of the frame and other structural elements. The walls of a brooder can go fiberboard or particleboard, but their density and wear resistance is lower than that of high-quality plywood.
In order not to accumulate litter and remnants of food on the floor, its surface is not solid, but ethmoid. The smaller the chicks, the smaller the mesh should be cells used. Most often used mesh with 10 mm cells, the same material is useful for the manufacture of mesh parts of doors.
Litter, falling through the mesh, should fall into a special tray. It is more convenient if it is not wooden, but metal or plastic, for which, for example, PVC wall or ceiling panels are used. In this case, the tank is easier to clean, wash and maintain proper hygienic condition.
For heating, various types of infra-red incandescent bulbs are installed.
By considering the presence of a thermostat, you can sensitively respond to changes in external conditions and adjust the temperature in the brooder for chickens.
In addition, the home craftsman will need to stock up with self-tapping screws, a pair of piano hinges for fixing the doors, an electric cable and a chuck, as well as a plastic mesh for the doors.
Making a brooder for growing chickens with their own hands
Before you make a cage for chickens with your own hands, it is important to calculate its dimensions, outline the scheme and prepare all consumables. The size of the brooder depends on the number of farmed livestock, as well as on how long the chickens will be kept in such a comfortable cage.
For self-made brooders for chickens, the drawings must include such structural parts as:
- box for chicks with doors for access inside the brooder;
- mesh cage bottom and tray for collecting litter and other debris;
- duct lighting and air heating system.
The work begins with cutting a sheet of plywood according to the drawings made. 
On the sides and the back wall of the cage, plywood or bar strips make original guides for the lattice removable bottom. 
To do this, prepare 4 strips of equal length for the side panels and two strips for the end. The length of such parts should be two centimeters less than the length of the brooder walls. The fastening of the lower slats is carried out along the edge of the walls, retreating from the side sections of 1 cm.
When the lower bands take their places, strictly above them, at a distance of 3 cm in parallel, attach one more strap. When building a brooder for raising chickens by yourself, it is important to accurately observe the distance between the parts of the improvised sled. Only in this case the removable bottom and litter tray will move without difficulty. 
Then the bar segments are attached to the sides, which are designed to play the role of stiffeners. The size of the bars is calculated so that their upper edge was flush with the edge of the side walls, and the lower one was 3 cm above the upper bar.
Now you can put all three sides together. The correctness of the manufacture of their own hands and drawings brooder for chickens says complete coincidence of the grooves in the bottom of the structure.
The front panel is cut out of plywood, parts are assembled according to the drawings and hinges are fastened to the sides of the frame for the subsequent hanging of the doors.
Deaf parts for two doors are cut out of a sheet of plywood in the size of the frame and fasten in place.
When all the details of the hand-picked brooder for growing chickens are ready, you can proceed to the installation of the structure, which completes the mounting two and the ceiling, cut from the same sheet of plywood.
Brooder frame is assembled, but the work is not completed. Now you need to make a removable mesh bottom and tray for receiving litter in size slightly smaller than the plywood bottom of the device. This is necessary for a free but reliable travel trays. 
Mesh is fastened between the plywood strips on the type of frame, so that the design was durable and practical.
The litter tray is made similarly to the mesh bottom, only a lightweight, hygienic plastic panel is used as the base.
A long, wide level covering the gap between the grid and the plywood bottom is fastened to the front plate with self-tapping screws. It prevents rubbish from falling out and reduces the spread of bird odor.
In order to make it easier for the poultry farmer to keep an eye on the chicks and maintain the brooder, it is useful to make net windows on the front doors. To do this, the jigsaw selects the central part of the plywood part.
A sturdy plastic mesh is attached to the resulting frame.
However, it’s not enough to make a brooder for the chickens according to the drawings with your own hands. For a comfortable stay of chicks, they need a lighting and heating system that is connected to the electrical network.
The power and location of the lamps to maintain the temperature in the brooder for chicks is calculated depending on the size of the device, its location and external conditions outside.
A box ready for entry into chicks is equipped with feeders, drinkers, thermometers to monitor the conditions of housing, and then warms up. If you have to grow a large number of young animals, construct multi-tiered cages for chickens. 
Video on how to build a brooder for chickens using your own drawings will be a useful help for a novice breeder who decides to start growing healthy, healthy young animals.
