Covering for kiddie pool brooder - week old chicks and older

[SusanME]

Hi! I'm a total chicken newbie. I picked up our first chicks- three day old Rhode Island Reds- just yesterday. They're in a large tote in the warmest room in the house, with a heat lamp, but I'm planning to move them to a 4' diameter kiddie pool in our (insulated, modern boiler room) cellar. I plan to criss-cross some old molding underneath 3" thick blueboard insulation, to get them away from the sometimes damp floor & to warm them, put the kiddie pool on that, and surround the kiddie pool with either hardware cloth or cardboard. I hope to do this Tuesday, which is when our brooder plate should, I hope, arrive.
I know I need to cover it to keep them in. I have quite a bit of plastic pea netting, 1" square I think? Provided I keep it away from anything hot, does that seem like a good covering? There may be some chicken wire in a shed, but the spouse says it seems to be really large mesh, so if I use that, I'd think I'd have to use a double layer, and I worry that might get heavy.
Any thoughts are appreciated!

 

[PetitePlume]

I use a similar set up! Chicken wire around the pool ( on the inside) and at night time I put a sheet on top. I live of grid so I fill up jars of hot water and put them in a box so if they are cold they just clim on the box!

 

[rosemarythyme]

That should be ok. The gaps are slightly large so I would worry that they might be able to jump up and somehow get stuck in it, so I'd stretch it pretty taut if possible, so the netting isn't soft and floppy and more liable to get something stuck to it.