diamondsilkies
Songster
For as long as I've raised chicks, I've always just used terrariums with heat lamps or brooder plates inside the house for my brooders. I have multiple large terrariums, so with big batches of chicks I've just been making multiple brooders. However, this has always come with some issues, some of which I've solved, but not all.
I've been looking for a bigger, easier setup and just the other day I stopped by a feed store I don't normally go to since they were the only ones in town that had room for roosters and I had a couple that I was having trouble selling. I stopped by the baby chicks (of course) and ended up buying a couple (I only got one out of my last hatch and he needed some friends). They were using a horse trough with wire bent over the top for a brooder, which is something that never occurred to me for some reason.
It just so happens, I have an empty horse trough out on the back porch that we were using for a red eared slider enclosure up until several months ago. It has some rocks in the bottom, and could probably use a good cleaning out, but I think it would work really well for a brooder. The porch it's on is screened in but with very flimsy screening, which my cat has torn several large holes in. It's mostly unused, and just has some plants and this empty horse trough. Here's the issue. I can't put it in our garage (which is used as a pottery studio with little room for a horse trough brooder) or any other indoor space. We do have bobcats and coyotes in the area, but they've never come up on the porch. Then again, there's never been any tasty baby chicks waiting on the porch, either.
I could re-screen the whole porch with sturdier screening. I have a whole roll of unused chicken wire that I could use if needed. My dog and cat would have to go through the porch, so I would have to put in a dog door as well. I'm sure this would be predator proof enough, and I wouldn't mind doing it if there wasn't another option.
My question is, could I somehow fashion a predator proof lid to go over the top of the horse trough to save some time and materials? Bobcats and coyotes are really the only predators that we have out here that would go after chicks on the porch. The only snakes we've ever seen on our property are king snakes, which eat rattlesnakes. Those are quite frequently found in our backyard, but they've never tried to go after my chickens before. That being said, I don't think they could get into the coop if they wanted to. My cat leaves my chickens and chicks alone, so I don't think him walking through would be an issue at all.
Anyways, I thought I'd see if anyone had any ideas for making the horse trough itself predator proof before I go and renovate the whole porch. If not, I don't mind putting in the work as long as it keeps my chicks safe. I'll try to remember to get a picture of the area in question tomorrow. Thanks in advance for any input you may have and sorry for such a long post.
I've been looking for a bigger, easier setup and just the other day I stopped by a feed store I don't normally go to since they were the only ones in town that had room for roosters and I had a couple that I was having trouble selling. I stopped by the baby chicks (of course) and ended up buying a couple (I only got one out of my last hatch and he needed some friends). They were using a horse trough with wire bent over the top for a brooder, which is something that never occurred to me for some reason.
It just so happens, I have an empty horse trough out on the back porch that we were using for a red eared slider enclosure up until several months ago. It has some rocks in the bottom, and could probably use a good cleaning out, but I think it would work really well for a brooder. The porch it's on is screened in but with very flimsy screening, which my cat has torn several large holes in. It's mostly unused, and just has some plants and this empty horse trough. Here's the issue. I can't put it in our garage (which is used as a pottery studio with little room for a horse trough brooder) or any other indoor space. We do have bobcats and coyotes in the area, but they've never come up on the porch. Then again, there's never been any tasty baby chicks waiting on the porch, either.
I could re-screen the whole porch with sturdier screening. I have a whole roll of unused chicken wire that I could use if needed. My dog and cat would have to go through the porch, so I would have to put in a dog door as well. I'm sure this would be predator proof enough, and I wouldn't mind doing it if there wasn't another option.
My question is, could I somehow fashion a predator proof lid to go over the top of the horse trough to save some time and materials? Bobcats and coyotes are really the only predators that we have out here that would go after chicks on the porch. The only snakes we've ever seen on our property are king snakes, which eat rattlesnakes. Those are quite frequently found in our backyard, but they've never tried to go after my chickens before. That being said, I don't think they could get into the coop if they wanted to. My cat leaves my chickens and chicks alone, so I don't think him walking through would be an issue at all.
Anyways, I thought I'd see if anyone had any ideas for making the horse trough itself predator proof before I go and renovate the whole porch. If not, I don't mind putting in the work as long as it keeps my chicks safe. I'll try to remember to get a picture of the area in question tomorrow. Thanks in advance for any input you may have and sorry for such a long post.
Wow that is a great looking brooder you built 
