Any brooder ideas for 9 chicks?

[suzpyoung]

Good afternoon! I have 9 beautiful little babies that hatched out last Thurs and Fri. They are doing just fine in an extra-large guinea pig cage that is 44 x 21. I live in Michigan so I plan to keep them inside for probably 5 or six weeks, so they will soon outgrow this set-up. I'm looking to do something at least twice the size for as little cost as possible. I'm wondering if anyone has tried anything like a kiddie pool with an x-pen around it or any other ideas? Pictures would be appreciated if you have them, and thank you in advance for any advice!

 

[Fanny]

A large dog crate (or two) works well - especially if you already have one on hand or can borrow one.

 

[suzpyoung]

Quote:
You are a genius! (And I am a dim bulb!) I do have a giant dog crate. Just gotta figure out how to keep the shavings in as the tray is quite shallow.

 

[Fanny]

Glad to hear that will work for you!
You can attach strips of cardboard around the base to help contain the shavings - mine still managed to make some mess, but not too bad. I think duct-taping a cut open garbage bag would work well too. Do a search of the site and you should be able to find lots of pictures.

 

[Keri78]

someone on here just used a pop up tent...they bought it for $12 online....they were using shavings in it but I was thinking of putting the kiddy pool inside the tent and then it would be easier to clean. They hung the light from the middle of the tent. It was a huge amont of space! I have 11 chicks residing in my upstairs bathub right now!

I just have two designated(never to be used againLOL) bathtowels that a rotate. I lay a fresh towel in the bottom of the tub in the morning and then again at night before I go to bed. I toss them in the washer and do two long hot cycles with lots of soap and they come out fresh and clean! I have my 100 watt red ligh bulb hanging from the spicket and plan on closing the shower curtain once they get ambition enough to fly! Once they are 8-10 wks(depending on the weather they are soooo going outside!LOL) I figure at that point I can just bleach out my tub and scrub it really good and we will once again have our 2nd bathroom back again. Really does make a great brroder though and I'm loving tossing the towels in the washer rather than dealing with shavings or hay! I guess you could do papertowels if you wanted to? I did cloth diapers with my last two babies so washing poopy things is no biggy for me!(LOL) Anywho...here's a pic...I feel like such a redneck having chickens in my bathtub!!!(LOL) My son had a BDay party this weekend and I didn't allow anyone to go upstairs b/c I didn't want to have to deal with the response to my bathtub brooder!!!(LOL)

Blessings, Keri

 

[suzpyoung]

Well, if you're a redneck I'm one too! My granddaughter was here today playing Barbies, and we did a photo shoot ..... stay tuned...pics are too much.

Your brooder tub pic didn't come thru?

 

[Armageddon]

Large costbox with two tops...FREE...easy to clean....
I have (17) Five week old chicks in it and they are still okay.....on space...

 

[andalusn]

the dome tent was a great idea.. that thread is fairly new is you search a few pages you should find it.

On the other hand if you have an X pen you can line it with cardboard along the sides and bottom, putting shaving on top of that..should work great too. I used an Xpen that I zip tied plastic square mesh (by the roll at Home Depot) cost was under 9 dollars/roll. Don't get the chicken mesh costs almost twice as much... go figure. I picked up 3 peeps yesterday and put them in a storage tub and fixed a light above.

Brooder:

When they get bigger they are moving into the Xpen and I will relocate the moms w/peesp currently using it into another kennel I have setup for chickens.

 

[cluckcluck42]

I use a clear storage container and it works great. We cut out the inside of the lid and attached chicken wire to the top so nothing can get in or out. They get booted to the outdoor brooder that is in the coop at around 4-5 weeks, and much earlier in the summer. My 6 week olds are out there right now. One of them got out of the brooder overnight and was in the main part of the coop and he had no scratches on him in the morning. The hens completely disregard them unless there is food involved. I really like having the brooder in the coop, I think it gets the hens used to the babies so there will be no kafuffles when they are all together. Fingers crossed.

Since you have a dogs crate just put cardboard like the other poster said. I found my chicks got ridiculously dusty by week 3 and I had to move them to the porch, I imagine it would be worse with an open crate.