We have raised many chicks inside the house and had many brooder set ups over the years and finally, we found our very favorite easy chick brooder setup that I just had to share with you all! It is spring time, get ready for the love of backyard chickens!
No more too small plastic bins or having to work with heavy wood that holds gross smells…. I present to you….
The easy chick brooder set up, with a pet play pen. Yes, it is this easy!
Easily keep chicks inside, safe, and thriving with an easy chick brooder!
We got our 8 chicks this time a few days old from a local feed store. In the past we have tried many kinds of brooders and nothing of them have been this simple. The pet play pen we got on Amazon but they sell them all over the place. I was a bit concerned that our large dog would love nothing more than to each chickens would bust through it, but he never did, and neither did our hunting cats! As you can see in the photo, we had this DIY Chick Brooder in a common area of a tiny house. (We have since bought a house and have so much more room thankfully!)
Now our chickens are 7 weeks old, fully feathered, and all are thriving.
What does a chich brooder need?
- A chick brooder Container large enough for them to move around and keep safe
- A heat source, in this we used the super simple (and fire safe) brooder plate!
- Chick Feeder
- Chick waterer
- Brooder bedding (we used pine shavings)
- Optional Chick electrolytes and probiotics
- Chicken Crumble
Why this chicken brooder DIY works so well
The fabric for the pet play pen is water-resistant and with all the shavings, that are changed out every other day we could keep this on a rug without damage or bad smells. Taking the whole thing outside every week to spray down with the hose kept it even more clean, and it didn’t even stain! This pet playpen even had a small round whole that we ran the wire for the brooder heater through! Unlike wooden brooders that tend to be heavy, that you have to build, and that soak up smells you can never get out, this brooder set up is just so so easy.
Another bonus is that even when the chickens move outside, this can be folded up to take up near no room and taken out again if needed. Many backyard chicken keepers know that having a hospital coop is important. Chickens get sick or injured and need a safe space away from the flock to recover, this will work wonderfully for that as well!
Covid19 life Chickens are now a thing, so many people have rushed into getting chicks and have been seeking help with their setups. I have been sharing this easy chick brooder idea in so many groups when asked and I thought a post having it all in one place might help. Reach out of your needing support, the Chichen communities welcome you!
