• Home
  • Recipes
    • Appetizers
    • Breakfast
    • Quick and Easy Meals
    • Salad and Veggies
    • Side Dishes
    • Main Courses
    • Breads
    • Beverages
    • Desserts
    • Canning and Preserving
  • Skills
    • Craftmanship
      • Blacksmithing
      • Woodworking
      • Welding
    • Brewing & Distilling
      • Homebrewing
      • Distilling
    • Cooking & Food
      • Cheese & Dairy
      • Drying & Smoking
      • Canning
      • Fermentation & Pickling
    • Homemaking Skills
      • Candle Making
      • Soap Making
      • Spinning & Weaving
  • Projects
    • Workshop
      • Homes & Buildings
      • Sheds & Coops
      • Appliances & Equipment
    • Garden & Outdoor
    • Homemade Products
      • Home Remedies
      • Natural Beauty
      • Cleaning and Home
    • Textiles & Fabric Arts
      • Sewing
      • Knit and Crochet
      • Quilting Skills
      • Weaving
    • Crafts
      • Home Decor
      • Pottery
      • Upcycling
      • Gifts
      • Kids
      • Holiday
  • Gardening
    • Growing Vegetables
    • Growing Fruit
    • Growing Herbs
    • Growing Grain
    • Soil Improvement
      • Composting
      • Worm Farming
      • Fertilizers
    • Aquaculture
  • Animals
    • Raising Poultry
    • Raising Goats
    • Raising Cattle
    • Raising Pigs
    • Raising Horses
    • Raising Rabbits
    • Raising Bees
    • Raising Cats & Dogs
  • Self Sufficiency
    • Emergency Prep
      • Planning
      • How To
      • Skills & Tips
    • Defense & Protection
      • Guns
      • Knives
      • Archery
      • Tools & Weapons
    • Energy & Power
      • Solar Power
      • Fuels
      • Water
    • Home Remedies
Logo
  • Raising Poultry
  • Raising Goats
  • Raising Cattle
  • Raising Pigs
  • Raising Horses
  • Raising Rabbits
  • Raising Bees
  • Raising Cats & Dogs
You are here: Home / Animals / Setting Up A Chicken Brooder

Setting Up A Chicken Brooder

Reading Time: 5 minutes

January 29, 2025 By Katy Light 5 Comments

Whether you bought chicks from a feed store or hatchery or hatched your own eggs in an incubator, you’re going to need a chicken brooder until they are big enough to venture outside alone. Learn how to make one here!

Easy To Make Chicken Brooder

Young birds, which have not yet feathered – those under around 6-8 weeks, depending on the breed – will need to be housed in a secure, warm area, with access to food and water 24/7. Building your own chicken brooder is easier and a lot cheaper than you might think. So if you are considering increasing your flock, or getting started with keeping chickens, here’s a simple tutorial that you can follow along for setting up your own chicken brooder.

 

What You Need For Your Brooder:

What you use for a brooder is up to you and your circumstances. Many people have custom-built wooden brooders, made with 2×3’s and hardware cloth. Personally, I do not like to use wood, because I like to super-disinfect every so often, and thus I prefer plastic.

Others use Rubbermaid tubs, an excellent option if you don’t have cats. It’s hard to put a secure lid on a Rubbermaid tub, though I have seen some great ones constructed from the actual lid of the tub and hardware cloth. These make me nervous though when used in conjunction with a heat lamp. Too much potential for melting!

You could, of course, spring for one of those amazing GQF brooders. You’ll sometimes find them second hand on Craigslist, but you’ll have to be quick. They go fast. They’re all singing, all-dancing, top of the line brooders – and they’re priced accordingly.

|

My personal favorite is to use an old rabbit or guinea-pig cage, such as what you see in the picture. They’re often at thrift stores, Goodwill, on Craigslist, at yard sales; the bottom line is, you can pick them up cheap. They’re plastic, so they can be scrubbed and disinfected, which should be done after every batch of chicks. They also have nice secure wire tops, which make it harder (I hesitate to say impossible) for marauding barn cats to gain entry. Lastly, should the wire top come into contact with the heat lamp, there’s little to no chance of fire. In an environment where there is hay and bedding, this is of paramount importance.

 

What You’ll Need To Set Up A Brooder: 

  • Brooder box
  • Heat source
  • Starter feed
  • Feeder
  • Waterer
  • Bedding material or sand

 

Here’s How To Set Up A Chicken Brooder:

Step 1: Disinfect

|

Start with your freshly washed and cleaned brooder, whatever it is you choose to use. A great way to disinfect is to leave it in the full sun to dry – the sun is the world’s most natural bleach.

 

Step 2: Fill It With Bedding Material Or Sand

|

Fill it with sand. I use play sand from Lowe’s, and I buy a bunch of it when it’s on sale. I like sand because it is naturally draining, it clumps if one area gets overly wet (such as if they dump their water over), and it doesn’t create the vast clouds of dust on everything that shavings do. Sand can also be very simply cleaned with the aid of a kitty litter scoop every couple days.

 

Step 3: Set It Up Above The Level Of The Sand Or Block

Step 3: Set It Up Above The Level Of The Sand Or Block | Setting Up A Chicken Brooder
image via redwicket

Take your freshly washed brooder, and set it up above the level of the sand on a block or an upturned dish. Don’t set it too high, or the smaller chicks won’t be able to reach it. Again, I like to use ceramic dishes for this purpose because they are easily cleaned. If I can’t find one, I use a brick or something, because wood is too porous. Setting it up like this prevents bedding and poop being kicked into the water as the chickens scratch around, and also limit the chance of drowning.

 

Step 4: Put A Dish Of Food

Step 4: Put A Dish Of Food | Setting Up A Chicken Brooder
image via technobillies

Put your dish of food at the other end of the brooder. The chicks will stand in the dish and scratch about, and this stops them kicking their food into the water. You could also use one of those long red plastic chick feeders, which prevents them from standing in the food, but I find these frustrating and too hard to clean.

 

“Forrest has been crying at the door because all he wants to do is feed the chickens. This is his happy place! 🐓🐓👶🏼❤️” – @michellechapin | We want to help you make your homestead a happy one! Visit homsteading.com (link in bio) for heaps of #HappyHomesteading ideas and inspiration!

A post shared by Homesteading (@homesteadingusa) on Mar 31, 2017 at 2:05am PDT

 

Step 5: Set Up Heat Lamp

Step 5: Set Up Heat Lamp | Setting Up A Chicken Brooder
image via backyardchickens

Set up your heat lamp above the food, at the opposite end to the water. If you put it over the water, it will heat it and cause algae to grow. Be sure to double-secure your heat lamp, so it cannot fall.

 

Step 6: Set Temperature

Step 6: Set Temperature | Setting Up A Chicken Brooder

The temperature should be around 90F for the first week for chicks, and fall 5F a week until they are roughly at room temperature. When they can go outside really depends on the time of the year.

 

Step 7: Add Your Chicks

Step 7: Add Your Chicks | Setting Up A Chicken Brooder

Finally, add your chicks!

 

Want more tips on setting up a brooder? Check out this video from MOTHER EARTH NEWS and Friends:

That’s it! But be very cautious when setting up your heat lamp! Every year, there are horror stories of people losing their entire barns, sometimes their houses and most if not all of their livestock too, in fires. Nine times out of ten, they were started by heat lamps that were not properly secured. There’s no such thing as being over-cautious with a heat lamp. Always take extra precautions!

Will you make your own chicken brooder? Let us know in the comments section below.

Want to know what are the best egg laying chickens? Check out here, The Best Egg Laying Chickens For Your Homestead!

Subscribe

Follow us on Instagram, twitter, pinterest, and facebook!

This post was originally published in June 2014 and has been updated for quality and relevancy.

Filed Under: Animals, Raising Poultry

Comments

  1. scot_belle says

    May 23, 2017 at 8:51 PM

    As a hobbyist…with a coop full of hens,
    this great article grabbed my eye. THANK YOU.

    My homestead has multiple species, a small budget, and
    this means….I use whatever is already here and available.
    Thus, I use one of the tall stock tanks (metal or composite),
    which are tall enough for NO drafts and some “flight room.”
    These are old tanks that no longer can hold water. *S*

    I use an old broom stick, set at about 1/2 height, to hang
    ………..both the water font and feeder, via baling twine,
    like one hangs up a garden plant. Hanging these up
    keeps the chicks from knocking these over and as the
    chicks become feathered…provide a ‘beginner roost.’ *S*

    With ALL my kitties “enjoying their live TV”….from above,
    I use chicken wire and open wire shelving as the top cover.
    Since the porch is not always heated….I also partially cover
    the top…when the temps drop, but not close to the heat lamp.

    In 20 years…I have not lost even one of my day old’s. *S*

    Reply
  2. Uche says

    April 6, 2020 at 2:21 AM

    How can I set up a commercial brooder house?

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. The Ultimate Guide To Every Skill All Homesteaders Should Have! – Outer Spaces is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by adverti says:
    October 12, 2019 at 4:24 PM

    […] the hassle of feeding your chickens by hand every day by setting up this easy chicken brooder. If you’ve got chickens more than you can handle, it’s high time you keep […]

    Reply
  2. Colocando galinhas - FamilyLifestyle says:
    December 6, 2022 at 7:12 AM

    […] Source link […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

DIY Projects And Get This FREE GIFT
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Popular Articles

Top 15 Ways To Make Money On Your Homestead

Kickstart Spring By Starting Your Own Straw Bale Garden

The Best Egg Laying Chickens For Your Homestead

50 Gardening Tips And Tricks To Become A Successful Homesteader

Important Pages

  • About Homesteading
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Returns
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Write For Us
  • Advertise With Us
  • Information Disclaimer

Other Great Sites

  • DIY Projects
  • Survival Life
  • Garden Season
  • Outdoor Warrior
  • Sewing.com

Resources

  • Hey Riley
  • Winter Survival
  • Raising Backyard Chickens
  • Canning & Preserving
  • Join Our Newsletter
  • Returns Policy
Homesteading
Email Support: support@homesteading.com
Phone: 512-806-7603

Product returns go to:
1889 E Maule Ave, Ste G
Las Vegas 89119

Copyright © 2025 · Homesteading


This copyrighted material may not be republished without express permission. The information presented here is for general educational purposes only.

MATERIAL CONNECTION DISCLOSURE: You should assume that this website has an affiliate relationship and/or another material connection to the persons or businesses mentioned in or linked to from this page and may receive commissions from purchases you make on subsequent web sites. You should not rely solely on information contained in this email to evaluate the product or service being endorsed. Always exercise due diligence before purchasing any product or service. This website contains advertisements.