Brooder door ideas? Help please!

violamama said:

These are great ideas! I think we're going to build a lightweight door with actual hinges.

For today, I stapled some extra tarp over one side and then leaned an old window screen propped with a storage bin to keep it in place.

Any set-up critiques or comments? We're also planning to put a real roost or two diagonally in there.

Toddler shown as prototype chick and to show scale.

Click to expand...

WOW! That's a HUGE brooder! I'm in awe, and a fair bit jealous. How nice to be able to get IN there with them! No doubt they'll be happier friendlier chickens down the road. Not sure how well the tarp will hold up though. If it's the type I am thinking it is (once it gets a cut it tears easy?), they may just peck holes in it!

I made mine quite a bit smaller (30x30 - but I should have gone 36) - 2x2's and one roll of hardware cloth and I had some steel screening laying around (yay for my husband finding random things on job sites) and used that for my "door" on the front as well I just have a piece of it sitting on top (they're in the house and it's too heavy for the chicks to push it off if they could flap up there). I just attached zip ties to the "door screen" and zip ties to the side, and then thread the thin wire that was keeping my hardware cloth bundle together through the zip ties and twist (like twist ties through zip ties)! Just used more zip ties for "hinges" to keep the screen attached to the hardware cloth on the other side.

I wonder if they'll peck through it, too. I really hope not mostly because it's a cheapo tarp from Harbor Freight and it's probably made of cancer or something. If I notice them doing it we may convert the whole thing to hardware cloth. We have a big roll of the stuff and we're trying to keep it in big pieces for building the coop and run.

I was pleased we could build it big! Having the old IKEA wood around made it really easy. It also made me feel a little better about paying to move and store what turned out to be scrap wood!

I can see where a husband in construction like yours would be VERY handy.

Those are 2x2s for the frame, actually. The Ikea bed happened to have sizes that worked, so the only part I had to slice up were the corner braces (they helped IMMENSELY). The frame took maybe an hour to put together with screws and a nailgun. It goes fast when you don't have to measure the lumber!

I had to buy more 2x2s and hardware for the door. As mentioned above, we're going to build a big door and put on hinges and a slide bolt. I discovered that they sell right-angle nail plates, so it's just a matter of cutting the 2x's the right length.

We also moved the heat lamp down into the brooder. It was a bit too high above the brooder, and the chicks were bunching into a corner. Crossing my fingers that they won't decide to try and roost on or in the lamp...