Spent a couple days turning one of our sheds into a dedicated brooder house for our meat chickens and it’s coming along great. We laid down 8x12 vinyl flooring to protect the wood and make cleanup easier, then framed up two-foot-tall interior walls to keep the shavings and chicks contained. We made an access point where the top foot folds down on hinges so we can access everything without climbing in—super helpful when it’s time to clean or move birds. We’ve still got some work to do: sealing th

BROODING TEMPERATURE GUIDE FOR CHICKS 1. ■ START chicks at about 32–34°C (90–93°F) in the first week of life. 2. ■ REDUCE the temperature by 2–3°C each week as the chicks grow. 3. ■ BY week two, aim for around 29–31°C (84–88°F) in the brooder. 4. ■ BY week three, maintain about 26–28°C (78–82°F). 5. ■ BY week four, reduce to 23–25°C (73–77°F) if feathers are developing well. 6. ■ WATCH chick behavior: if they crowd under the heat, it is too cold. 7. ■ IF they stay far from the heat source and pa