Brooder size?

[JML72]

Hey all - I have 3 full size chicks, 3 bantam chicks, all 2 weeks old plus a couple of days. I have them in a 30 gallon rubbermaid tub with a wire top. I want to move them to a large wire dog crate I have so they'll have a lot more room, but they could easily walk between the wire.

Here was my thought - I can put hardware cloth around the crate so they can't squirm through the wire bars. However, I'm concerned about drafts on them (they're inside in the guest bathroom - not exposed to wind or anything). Should I block the bottom half of the crate with cardboard or something? Or are they past the point of really worrying too much about that issue?

Thanks!

 

[JML72]

And the other question I forgot to type out - are they ok in a tub of that size for the indefinite future? Next week I'll be out of town for a week, and a non-chicken person will be watching them (instructions are "keep them clean and dry and food and water check 3 times a day") and if I need to move them to a bigger brooder (the dog crate referenced above) I'll do it this weekend, to give them time to get used to it before I leave them in someone else's care.