We had originally planned to brood inside but after reading about the mess and smell, my hubby threw together an outdoor brooder at the last minute using materials we had in the garage. We set it on our patio table on the back deck and pushed it up to the windows in the living room. You can't see it in these pictures but it actually has a divider to split the brooder into two smaller, separate areas. We just used half the brooder when we first brought the girls home but upgraded them to the full double wide last weekend.
It has a flip top lid with a very sturdy lock
We used some parts from an old crib to make the mechanism to prop the door open. The rest of the crib parts are actually being used in our playhouse to chicken coop conversion (
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=446554)which is still a work in progress.
We gave them two different roosts. Two of our four girls can get up to them and they seem to prefer the natural tree branch one.
Their food and water containers usually sit on the wooden blocks in the corners but they were inside with the chicks while I took these pictures.
Here's the view from the top looking down into the brooder.
And, best of all, the view from my living room window. Chick TV all day, every day!
Here's Cindy and Betty enjoying their new digs.
