Dog Crate Brooder?

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rickson

rickson

In the Brooder
10 Years
Jan 11, 2010
18
0
22
I'm getting my 10 baby chicks next wednesday and was planning on using a large size dog crate for my brooder.

What are your thoughts to doing this? I plan on getting some shaving to put in?

I've got my feeder, waterer, heat light, and food.

My friend raises pheasants and always puts a heating pad in w/ his fresh chicks as a back up in case his heat light goes out. He lost a batch or two when his bulbs went out so he started to put in a heating pad and said it was a great back up. He said his chicks would curl up and sleep on it....

~Rickson
 
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Awesome, that's exactly what I was going to do!

I was going to just push a doll rod through when the chicks got a little bit bigger!

Thank you!!!!
 
It will work as long as you don't need solid sides to prevent several potential problems. With the wire sides, you potentially have three to problems to watch for. The first is maintaining a steady temp with room temp fluctuations. With solid sides, the fluctuations are not as drastic or immediate, while with wire sides, the brooder will fluctuate immediately with the room temperature, which means raising and lowering the lamp accordingly. The second potential problem is drafts. With drafts through the wire, the felt temp may be cooler than the temperature shown on your thermometer. Thermometers don't account for wind chill. The third potential problem will only be a problem if you have pets that can get their paws inside the brooder. Need I say more about that?

Actually, a fourth problem may be that the chicks can squeeze through the wire during the first week or so. You might want to put a 12" high cardboard guard all the way around the bottom. That will also help with drafts some.

Otherwise, it should work fine.

UGCM
 
I have used both the wire kind and the plastic kind. I kinda prefer the plastic kind (keeps the bedding material in better) but the wire kind is nice because you can set the lamp on top of it.
Both of mine happen to be "medium sized" because I had them already for my puppy, who now sleeps in the super-large size. I recently got a bigger dog who has the extra-large wire crate --- and the middle divider section works super-well for a top over a plastic tote brooder.
I originally used the dog crates to securely keep the cats out, but now that I've been raising chicks for a while my cats have learned to ignore them so I can get away with the tote brooder now.

My first set up in the wire crate ETA: VERY YOUNG CHICKS CAN GO THROUGH THE WIRES ON THIS STYLE OF CRATE!!! They are little escape artists!
chickensday1005.jpg

I use that crate for a hospital crate now - I zip tied 2 plastic or tin coffee cups (from the camping section) for feed and water, and can set a lamp on top if necessary.

Airline crate (no escapes!)
chickensday2003.jpg

Basically when using an airline crate - the chicks have to choose their own temperature by moving closer or further from the lamp. When I brooded chicks in here they always slept close to the lamp even when they were pretty old.
BuffChicks005.jpg


7726_592175693551_55007926_34084285_4981176_n.jpg
 
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I use a large tote for the wee ones when they first hatch or arrive, and I keep them in there until they are about 4 to 5 weeks old, than I put them in the chicken coop in a metal dog kennel, I keep it covered at night with a heat lamp, and during the day if it is 75 in there I turn off the light. Seems to work good. I had a broody with her chicks in the kennel, and I had a heck of a time keeping the wee ones in the kennel, and mama was frantic, so I prefer to use it when they are more able to be on there own, just my opinion:D
 
the plastic at first seems like a great idea, thanks for all the advice!
 
I use the plastic dog crate to brood in, but set it up a bit differently. For 10 chicks, it's going to get pretty crowded in there quickly.

I take the dog crate apart and get rid of the door. Lay them both on the floor, open side up and face the door opening together on both sides. I duct tape where they meet, so that no chicks get squished. The wire mesh on the top part of the crate is now at a great level to add a roost. (I put a stick through, and they love it) Put pine shavings in both sides and you've just doubled your brooder space. I put a wire covering over the top to prevent escapees.

ETA: Then you can hang the heat lamp from above and still give them an area to get away from the heat.
 
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I used the folding metal dog crate once my chicks got too big for the recycling bin they started in. I had them in there for close to 2 weeks until I picked up a little kid swimming pool at the annual "trash day" where you can toss anything (great way to get coop materials too! I got several rolls of fencing, lumber and translucent roofing) My complaint about the dog kennel was that anything that started out IN the kennel ended up OUTSIDE of the kennel. I even just used newspaper and they would shred it and toss it out. I entertained the idea of putting old bills and personal documents in there to eliminate the need for a shredder. And besides, don't we all wish sometimes we could just poop on our bills, tear them up and the toss them out? With the kiddy pool, I rolled out a two foot chicken wire around the outside edge. The sides of the pool kept the shavings in. I have my brooder set up under the stairs out of the way.
 

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