Why did we stick our brooder in the middle of our field, next to the garden? Seems weird. Maybe? But there was some logic to it, and at the end of the day, we could move it if we hate it. So let’s chat about that.
Our brooder is right next to the garden, which means it’s right next to our composting system. At the time of the brooder install, that composting system wasn’t set up yet, but we’re working on that too. Our idea was that we’d be able to clean out the deep litter from the brooder straight into the compost system as needed. So far, we haven’t had to clean it out yet since we’ve only done one run, but that’s the goal!
Our other thought was that we’d be maintaining this area more than the other parts of the farm. Our pasture is an uphill battle until we get some ruminants, and field mice are a huge thing in our field. We aren’t sure if that translates to having rats, raccoons, opossums, etc that might eat baby chicks. But most of those critters are going to avoid high trafficked, highly manicured spaces, we hope. Keeping the grass mowed should help. Again, we hope.
Also, this area is pretty warm, and chicks need warm. We thought putting it too close to the woods would mean colder temps and higher predator pressure.
I guess we’ll see how it works out! Most of this is guesses, so let us know if you have any other pros & cons of brooder placement we didn’t think of so far.
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