Conveyor belt for adjustable brooder box?

[Howling hills]

I’ve got a heavy duty roll of conveyor belt and was thinking I could unspool a large loop of it and use it as the walls for a brooder. I could uses a scrap plywood floor, and cover it with hardware cloth fencing. The thick conveyor belt is 16 inches wide so that would make my brooder 16 inches tall. I have a large shop so space isn’t an issue. I’m planning on hatching up to 82 chicks at a time next spring. Is this brooder design a good idea or a a bad idea?

 

[Percheron chick]

Wouldn't be my first choice. First the rubber off gases and stinks up the joint. They will quickly outgrow a brooder that is only 16" tall. By 3 weeks that brooder is too short for my liking. If you keep all of them in one group you would have about a 10' circle for that 3 week age group.

 

[lyleg5895]

It would work in a pinch but if you've got the time then I would suggest building a brooder or buying some big plastic totes. 16" would be fine except you'll be adding bedding regularly and that adds up quick. We usually lose 8-10" of height from floor to top in our brooder by the time they're old enough to integrate. Also, that doesn't sound terribly secure. A mouse (or something larger) getting in the brooder can cause a lot of trouble.