so i knew i wanted a 3 by 5 area and i thought about 30" legs, after building it i think i could have gone with 24" legs cause my wife is short and so are the kids, and i might take a fe inches off the legs but ill decide that later.
so i started with 2X3's for the frame and 1/2inch plywood for the base the legs are 56" long, i set the plywood so there was 16" of height above it.
this is the table with glue on it for the vinyl flooring . used a whole tub of glue i was surprised i used as much as i did
so i Ripped the 2x3's to make a railing for the canopy to sit on, or connect to, and the vinyl is on the table too.
I then cut the other sheets of plywood to wrap around the whole thing
i believe i made the canopy an additional 16" above the main area. i aded extra supports in the back but left the front open to add doors.
i got a little fancy and cut 45's on the doors, what a pain to hold them while you screw them together, i also screened the whole thing in. i used door screening, its a real fine mesh and its metal, i was worried about the plastic stuff melting under the heating lamp.
that is the finished product, i have since added some cabinet clasps to hold the doors shut and it adds a handle, i have also added a dimmer switch with an electrical receptical to the side of the brooder. with out spending a ton of money on a reptile heating red bulb i just grabbed a 250 watt from tractor supply and use the dimmer to adjust the light output. works great.
also i got this idea online somewhere just used 1/2 inch pvc to build a light hanger, only problem i encountered was the weight of the lamp tipped it over so i wrapped a brick in paper shop towels as a counter weight and after i got it in the coop i zip tied the brick to the fixture so it don't fall over and cook the chicks, and burn down the house.
i used screws to hold the whole thing together and i believe the total count on wood was 8 - 8ft 2 X 3 at like $2 a piece. 3 - 4X8 sheets of 1/2" plywood at $17per, 1 small bucket of vinyl flooring glue $5, a sheet of vinyl flooring to fill the 5x3 area $10. 2 rolls of screening were about $4 each. and staples were $2.
all in all i spent about $90 in material, but i have a full sheet of ply left over. i got extra just incase i screwed something up....lol
