The last one I used, was the best. It's on sale:
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/retriever-2-door-dog-wire-crate
Of course, I had to put up cardboard (or coroplast if you prefer) most of the way around, and hardware cloth in the front, to keep the shavings/straw in it. I brooded inside with some smaller heat bulbs--75-150 watt.
I've brooded outside too, but after the mail order chicks stabilized. I had to put gopher repellent on the extension cord, because a critter chewed through a cord once!
You can provide some extra draft protection, like cardboard or a tupperware bin on its side with bedding in it and a heavy rock to stabilize it, and they should like that for at least a month. My first experience was chicks straight from TSC to the outdoor coop/run/brooder, and that worked well. If you go that route, make sure that the chicks are using the shelter/heated area as planned though---I went to check on them and had to quickly revise it--they were afraid of the ramp to the heated area!
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/retriever-2-door-dog-wire-crate
Of course, I had to put up cardboard (or coroplast if you prefer) most of the way around, and hardware cloth in the front, to keep the shavings/straw in it. I brooded inside with some smaller heat bulbs--75-150 watt.
I've brooded outside too, but after the mail order chicks stabilized. I had to put gopher repellent on the extension cord, because a critter chewed through a cord once!
You can provide some extra draft protection, like cardboard or a tupperware bin on its side with bedding in it and a heavy rock to stabilize it, and they should like that for at least a month. My first experience was chicks straight from TSC to the outdoor coop/run/brooder, and that worked well. If you go that route, make sure that the chicks are using the shelter/heated area as planned though---I went to check on them and had to quickly revise it--they were afraid of the ramp to the heated area!
