Bathtub as a brooder?- capacity/duration questions

[Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex]

Ok, I know some of you have done it. Who here has had their 'guest' bathroom full of peeps?
Well someone here gave me the idea, and it seems great. We can keep the small room warm, its near the sink for water-filling, it is dog-proofed, easy to clean, and all you need is some tape and a tarp-no building!

So I now have 1 dozen sandard sized chicks in my tub. They have food, water, a perch, and a screen top to keep them in. Saterday they will be 3 weeks old. They are growing so fast! How long do ya'll think they will fit comfortably? I don't have another space nearly as safe/warm/convenient in my new house.

Opinions? Anyone out there done this recently?

 

[dragonlair]

I took one of the bath tubs I use for a horse waterer and used it for a brooder. I set it up in a small stall my goat barn/dog kennel with chicken wire and plywood along the top. I lined it with cut open grain bags and added pine shavings, waterer and feeders and topped it with a heat lamp hanging by a chain from a 2x6, which I can easily adjust to keep the little baby biddies comfy. Its worked great so far.

I don't have a guest bathroom, just the one tub inside which my chicken killer dogs like to hang out in. Wouldn't be a great place to brood chicks.

 

[gryeyes]

I live alone and use my ONLY bathroom as a Nursery for the brooder. No bathtub - just a shower. But it's still a perfect place for brooding chicks. (Tile floor, easy to clean when the chicks find their way out of the brooder, since I don't put wire over it.) And kinda fun when they DO get out. Sometimes I find a chick on the counter, looking at its reflection in the sink faucet. Sometimes they are investigating the drain in the shower stall. (Shower curtain, no doors or anything.) Once in a while, there will be a chick perched happily on the lid of the toilet. (Good thing I always keep it down except when in use.) The door opens OUT so the chicken killing dachshund cannot push his way in, nor can the cats. Although the cats DO put their paws under the door and mew about being unable to get in there - especially when I'm in there being entertained by chicks.

I even cheer my chicks on when they make it out of the brooder, although I put them back into it again when I leave. Super easy to clean up. My first set of chicks were comprised of several different ages, because I kept adding a couple every week at first. So that batch stayed until the youngest were 8 weeks old and the oldest was 12 weeks old; it was the dead of winter and I wanted to put ALL seven of them out there at once, not piece meal. So the oldest had to wait for the youngest to get fully feathered, too.

It is easier to deal with chicks in the bathroom during Spring and Summer, I have discovered. Nobody stays longer than 8 weeks, and there's no need for supplementary heat in the coop at night for 'em.

 

[Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex]

I am still wondering, though, how long a dozen chicks can stay in a bathtub before they are too crowded. They already want out... and 5 weeks to go before they should move outside!
Starting today we will be taking them outside to play for a bit each day... but they will spend most of their time inside.