This is what I started with. A box from the dog kennel that I purchased that I will be using for the chicken enclosure. It happened to fit the rabbit play yard (the blue wire enclosure) perfectly. I found that this was a work in progress. I started with some pvc as you can see for low perches but as soon as I took the photo I realized they would most likely not roost right away and they would most likely fall off of these knowing that they like to sit with flat feet not curled.
I added a moisture barrier to the bottom of the card board by cutting a plastic dog food bag in half and laying it down on the card board then I use three bags of play sand from Home Depot. This is grit for the girls and I have found it is great because it does not get stinky. I can use a reptile scoop to sift the sand through and clean out the chick droppings and food that has fallen. I do this once a week and I get no stink from the brooder. I have this brooder in my dining/living room area so smell is a big issue for me. I do not want my house to smell like a barn yard. I started brooding these girls Sept 25th so we are entering cold rainy season in the Pacific North West, they will be in this area until about 5/6 weeks. At that time they will go to my unheated enclosed porch area until I have the coop set up for them outside. It is mostly built but I will be making sure it is warm enough for them before they go out. I have 7 chicks, I am keeping 4. The other 3 are going to a neighbor. In the photo above you can see my chicks about a week old. I started with both the marbles in the dishes of water and the nipple waterer. Once they were all familiar with the nipple I took out the marbled crocks. They get poop in them and they smell, they had to be changed out a couple times a day. The bin feeder is messy but at least it does not get poop in it. They climb in but they get knocked out so I have not found any poop in it. I raise it every day until they can eat but stop hopping in. That took about 2 weeks. I have the heat lamp secured by clamping it to a piece of wood that is secured with zip ties to the wire kennel walls and the clamp is also zip tied to the wood and the wire so there is no chance of slipping. The straw like bedding is from the Meyer Hatchery shipping box, I put that on top of a seed heater pad that is made for keeping seeds warm to help them sprout. It has no temp control but it does not get hot just stays nice and warm. They started to peck at it at the 3 week mark so it is coming out but was a great way to make sure it was warm and safe for them.
I did use a thermometer in there so I could check the temps. They like to lay next to each other but it is easy to observe it is not because they are cold the just like each other. They are not huddled together and they are not always right under the heat lamp. I started with 100w bulb. The lamp I got has a dimmer switch so I can turn down the heat by turning down the lamp. I have also raised it as they have gotten taller.
They will be three weeks old tomorrow. I added a roost today for them. 4 of the 7 were up on there within the first hour. I also added a brite tap waterer to the brooder. I added it when I took out the marble filled crocks. I gave them a week with both nipple waterers then took out the small one just to make more room in there. The brite tap has two nipples and I have found it is enough for my 7 chicks. They do drink a lot. I will only be keeping 4 so I will be using this in the big outside coop but I will attach it to a 5 gallon dispenser.
I will add a video of the final setup here. Its currently loading onto youtube so I can link it.
Feeder Fix... this is keeping them from tossing the crumbles out.
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I keep them in my room for the first week (mommy want to be close to her babies!) and then they move into the guest room in a refrigerator box until they are four weeks. At that point I wait until they seem pretty impervious to cold, and they go to grown camp. Aka they get free range of my garage... at night I Iock them in a dog crack. 
