Cover for brooder?

[blessedmamato3]

We're making a brooder 4x4 out of OSB and will be keeping it in the garage. We get field mice in there, so what can I cover the top of the brooder with besides hardware cloth?

 

[Wildflower_VA]

Hardware cloth is probably the only choice to keep mice out but allow for plenty of ventilation for the chicks. Field mice can get through a really small hole.

 

[blessedmamato3]

Thanks! I won't be able to get any until after the chicks arrive. Think they'll be ok if I elevate them while I go to the feed store?

 

[chicken_noob]

I just built a new brooder today. It's 3x4 and 2'tall. I divided it with a 1' tall board that has a small door in it. Filled 1/2 with sand, bricks to place their food/water on. And inside the brooder in that 1/2 I have a 60w light. The other section I put pine shavings in it, a lil roost and a few handfuls of grass clippings. And I used hardware cloth on a 2x4 frame for the lid. This allowed me to place a heat lamp in that section that sits on the wire. The hardware cloth makes it possible to hold my lamp..allows me to easily view and watch the chicks.. plenty of ventilation along with keeping mice out (tho I have never seen a mouse here..not saying they aren't around) just my 2cents.

 

[Wildflower_VA]

Quote:
That would probably be okay. It would probably take the mice a while to find the chicks and feed (what the mice would want to get to) after they come in the garage. Don't forget you will need a metal can with a tight lid to keep the mice out of the chicks feed if you plan to store it in the garage.

 

[Chocobo]

The screen off of a window is what I used.