Box Brooder?

[Kajoda929]

So I know a box is not the best option for a brooder, but I was just curious if anyone else had ever used a large box as one? I currently have 15 chicks(two are about 6 weeks old, the rest are 5 weeks today) and they have most definitely outgrown their brooder. Coop is not fully ready(protected from my one dog that doesn't understand they're not a snack) so as I was looking at them a bit ago, a thought dawned on me. My kitchen and bathroom are in the works right now and my dad and his friend, who are doin the work at this point) keep leaving the boxes, but I can't break them down, so they've just been sitting there...Well, sure enough, the bathtub box is over twice the width, a little longer, and a bit taller than the brooder I had them in. It may not be ideal, but it beats being in too small of a brooder, right?

Hopefully nobody finds this tacky, it was just a "make lemonade" kind of thing if that makes sense...Also, I had bigger food and water containers in for them, but they wouldn't stop making a mess and wasting it, so I made that little wood stand(also out of scraps left behind) to raise the food and water up and I just fill them when they're empty, which is usually about twice a day...Morning and afternoon...Just so nobody jumps on that. I know pretty much everyone in here is super helpful and respectful for the most part, just figured I'd put that out there

 

[rosemarythyme]

That's a very good size for a cardboard box brooder! Appliance boxes, melon boxes, all those work fine. I'd still throw some netting over the top at least, just as a precaution against fliers.

 

[rosemarythyme]

This is three feet three inches, but being a cardboart box, I was thinking the mesh laundry bags you can find at the dollar store, cut in half, might do the trick without being too awful heavy

That'd be fine, as long as you have a way of securing them. Maybe punch holes around the top of the box and use twist ties to keep the mesh in place?

 

[Kajoda929]

That'd be fine, as long as you have a way of securing them. Maybe punch holes around the top of the box and use twist ties to keep the mesh in place?

That was my thought
I have used pipe cleaners for a lot of things that needed held along the same lines

 

[Kajoda929]

I plan to...So far, they were flying out of the brooder they were in, but it was only two feet tall...This is three feet three inches, but being a cardboart box, I was thinking the mesh laundry bags you can find at the dollar store, cut in half, might do the trick without being too awful heavy

Also want to add, only a few of them were doing that. Maybe four? One was constant, but the others were on occasion. The one, I think, was using it as a way to say he/she(as I'm still unsure on the Cemani) is top dog, even though it's one of the youngest Lol