DIY brooder

[Martha in missouri]

I am in the process of making a new brooder. So far I have a base and will add wheels to the bottom. I am getting 1/4" plywood 4x8 sheet. I want to have a wire lid and a door on the short side for cleaning. I have noticed all the plastic tub brooders. The chicks I got from cackle in the fall would have out grown a tub in no time. Coul you share your pictures of your DIY brooders? Thanks!

 

[mcdze]

chicks are nasty little critters .. i get that maybe you have a big operation but its not 'that' big if all your using is 1 piece of plywood to make it .. and that will be heavy and hold parasites and germs and hard to clean ... hence the tub .. when it needs cleaning take it outside and spray it out, they make big ones .. qall i got to say about it .. its cool to make stuff but dont make it harder ...

 

[jher77]

I have a piece of linoleum in mine. Pretty easy to clean. Linoleum is kinda expensive though. I used 3/8" osb. The price of osb has quadupled since I bought mine though.

 

[spartacus_63]

I made a brooder out of plywood that has a plexi-glass window in the front (the DW calls it fuzzy-butt TV). It is a little heavy, but it is on wheels. I painted the inside with a latex paint and I use a liner so cleaning is simple.
I keep chicks in this brooder for about three weeks, then they go to the brooder in the coop. I have up to 40 chicks in this brooder at a time. This set up works well for me. Living in an area where it freezes for months at a time, cleaning large tubs is not any easier than the set up I use.
One sheet of plywood used well can make a pretty good sized brooder.

 

[Sally PB]

I used an extra large dog crate for my brooder. I lined it with large sheets of cardboard to keep the chicks from escaping through the bars and to help contain the mess. It worked very well.

It was about $90, but will last a loooong time. I also used it to harden off plants for the garden when the chicks had moved out. It could work as a broody pen, or a "time out" pen, or an integration pen too.

 

[JeniferBehm]

DIY chicken brooder - step by step

 

[cmobley]

I use a large tarter bin like tsc.