1. Charcoal stove / kerosene stove

• Where electricity is not available, ordinary charcoal / kerosene stoves are used to provide supplementary heat to chicks.
• These stoves are covered with plate / pans to dissipate the heat.

2. Gas brooder

• Natural gas, LPG or methane is connected to heating element which is hanged 3 to 5 feet above the chick to provide heat.

3. Electrical brooder

• It is also thermostatically controlled heating system that spread required amount of heat uniformly above large area, this avoid crowding of chicks under brooder directly.
• One electrical brooder can be used for 300 to 400 chicks.

4. Infra-red bulbs

• It is a self reflecting bulb. One 250 watts IR bulb can provide brooding for about 150 to 250 chicks.

5. Reflectors

• These reflectors are called Hovers. Flat type hover – These hovers are provided with heating element, heating mechanism and pilot lamp and in some cases thermometer is also there in order to record the temperature.
• Canopy type hover – These reflectors are in concave shape consisting of ordinary electrical bulb, thermostat mechanism and in some cases thermometer.

6. Brooder guard / chick guard

• They are used to prevent chicks from straying too far away from heat supply until they learn the source of heat.
• We have to provide brooder guard with a diameter of 5 feet, height of the brooder should not exceed 1.5 feet.
• For this purpose, we can use materials like cardboard sheet, GI sheet, wire mesh, and mat etc. depending upon the season of brooding.
• During summer season, brooding is done for 5-6 days. In winter season it is 2-3 weeks.