Setting up the Brooder

The Brooder



The Brooder is where you put the chicks for the first two or three weeks.

·         The brooder can be any sort of secure environment away from anything that could harm the chicks such as other animals or harsh weather ect.

·         The brooder should have proper ventilation so the chicks can breathe.

·         The brooder needs to be big enough for all the chicks to freely move around

·         The brooder should also have some way to control temperature  

For my brooder i have used a large plastic box with a vent attached to the side to allow ventilation and a light fitting to allow the heat needed from the light bulb.

Heat

·         The chicks need to be put in a brooder at around 32 degrees C to start with for this you can use a 40 watt light bulb.

·         the temperature should be reduced slowly to room temperature while they grow their own adult feathers to keep themselves warm.  

Ventilation

       Ventilation is extremely important as the chicks need to be able to breathe properly. You can find brooders with ventilation systems already in place or you can attach a vent to a homemade brooder.

Food

·         Newly hatched quail chicks eat chick crumb, you can buy this in most pet shops or online. You need a shallow dish for the crumb so that the chicks can easily get to it.

·         A good tip would be to scatter a small amount of the food on the floor near the chicks to ensure they are able to get to it   

·         Food must always be available to the chicks so make sure you keep the dish full

Water

·         Again for the first few days use a shallow dish for the water that the chicks can easily get to.

·         You must make sure that the water is shallow enough so that the chicks cant possibly drown in the water.

·         A good way to do this is to use small clean pebbles, so you can fill the dish with them allowing the chicks to drink the water from the small gaps around them.

·         Be sure to change the water every day and keep the dish clean

Comfort

·         For the first couple of days it is a good idea to place something like a towel or a cloth on the ground for the chicks to move around on. This makes it easier for them to move around as their legs are fragile and can easily get injured when if they slip or fall. The towel allows the legs to grow stronger before moving around on the solid ground.

·         The brooder must be kept as clean as possible to avoid bad germs spreading.

·         On the ground it is best to use something like sawdust because it absorbs all the chicks mess making the brooder easy to clean