Backyard Poultry Forum

Well this is the final grower cage in our breeding system.
-It starts with an E1 incubator, (with second one about to be fired up- with auto turn)
-then 2 plastic tub indoor brooders with digitally controlled reptile heaters,
-then a large outdoor brooder with temperature controlled heater and attached wire cage,
-and now a larger cage, off the ground, without heat, and with partitioned off section with large feed hopper.

The final grower cage before they hit dirt. As with the previous one, i bought it of a fella who bred lots of chooks but got out of it. A few improvements with hinges, latches and the roof and its good to go!
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This shows how i clad the roof with klip lock and hinged it while leaving a covered section over the cage for a bit more protection:
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My favourite feature- a waterproof, vermin proof feed hopper which holds about 20kgs of feed. I bought another one of the same fella, which holds 2 25kg bags of feed, for one of our coops. I think i will make up one for each of the coops now- they are great :D
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How long do they stay in each one?

1st stage brooder: day old to 3 weeks- partially feathered,
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7995432&hilit=+brad%27s
2nd stage brooder: up to 5-6 weeks- till fully feathered and dont need heat,
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7996328
3rd stage grower: up to about 10 weeks.
Then its into the grower coop for a scratch in the grass :D

Brad,

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: is all I can say. I have just been out to clean out the chicks that I have in a borrowed rabbit hutch with a fixed roof and door on the front. They're now 4-5 weeks old and really ready for your fantastic stage 3 brooder! It's even raised so that they're easy to clean without breaking your back - well done!

Hope you'll have many happy inhabitants.

Cheers

Nic