Brooder

Question
I wanted to know how to build a small brooder box for two to three parakeet chicks. I found an example with instructions here: http://www.utm.edu/departments/cece/idea/brood.shtml
But, its too big. I'm only doing this once and I just need something that is easy to clean and not really expensive to make. Please, some building plans would be fantastic. What makes a brooder? Like.. what do I need? I need help..

Answer
Hi,

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you. The instructions you showed me on that website seem like good ones. And I think that is about as inexpensive as you'd be able to get. If you leave the parakeets with their parents until they are a couple of weeks old, (and start to get feathers to help them regulate their body temperature), you can set them up in a plastic bin (similar to the ones seen in the brooder instructions) and have a heat pad (on low) underneith the plastic bin. You can keep a termometer in the plastic bin (taped up, so that the babies can't reach it) to make sure that the temp. stays at the ideal 80 to 85 degrees. You can decrease this temp. as the babies get older and can completely regulate their own body temp.

Here is a series of articles (with some great information on brooder and hand-feeding chicks). The articles are written about cockatiels, but most (if not all) of the information applies to budgies too:

http://www.wingedwisdom.com/ww60e.htm (Introduction)

http://www.wingedwisdom.com/ww61e.htm (Incubation)

http://www.wingedwisdom.com/ww61e.htm (Handfeeding babies)

http://www.wingedwisdom.com/ww63e.htm (Handfeeding babies- part two)

http://www.wingedwisdom.com/ww63e.htm (brooders and brooding babies)

http://www.wingedwisdom.com/ww65e.htm (Fledging chicks)

http://www.wingedwisdom.com/ww66e.htm (Socializing the babies)

http://www.wingedwisdom.com/ww67e.htm (Weaning)

http://www.wingedwisdom.com/ww68e.htm (Recording Keeping)

http://www.wingedwisdom.com/ww69e.htm (Selling the babies)

I hope this helps. :)

-Maggie