The last time I raised a batch of chicks, I just used a long, deep cardboard box and added the necessities. This time I started with a guinea-pig cage with newspaper on the bottom, but it became foul (no pun intended) too quickly. Now I am using an old rabbit cage (well cleaned) and it is fantastic!! The wire front, back, and top and bottom are all !/2 inch square wire mesh. There is a 2 foot square plastic tray that slides under the wire to catch the droppings. To clean, I just pull it out and hose it off. The cage is a 2 foot cube with two sidesections 1 x 2 x 2 and a square door to open between the two sides. What I love about it is that they get so much exercise. I put the food on one side and the water on the other side--they hop and fly back and forth all the time. They are growing so fast!! I have 13 one week old Austalorps in it . ChixNthings
I built myself a BIG 2 level brooder for my chicks & ducklings. It's 4ft x 2ft and about 2ft high on the sides of each level. I just started getting so many ducklings that i needed to upgrade! Mine's all wood construction but it's the right size to put a garbage bag (flat) in the bottom and then i use pellets over that, it's REALLY easy to clean too & i LOVE all the space the babies have. I also put the food & water on opposite sides and the light stays on one end. Hopefully (but doubtful!) the girls will slow down with the hatching and i can get it empty enough to paint it, it's still all 'raw' wood right now but it'll be much easier to clean once its painted.
