Dog crate for brooder?

[Jiaramos]

Is a medium size dog crate big enough for 4 chicks? 30" L x 19" W x 21" H.

 

[Blooie]

I did exactly the same thing. They will outgrow it fairly soon, but it works well when they are little. Tried to upload a video of my setup with the chicks in it, but apparently you can't upload video here.

Actually you can upload video. Upload it to You Tube first, then you can highlight and copy the URL. Next, come here and click on that little movie film icon at the top of the reply box. When the box opens, click in the blank box, paste the URL, then click Embed. You’ll only see the URL in your post until you actually post it. It really takes longer to explain than it does to actually do.

Okay, that said, if I have chicks in the house, I use a large wire dog crate. I only keep them inside under Mama Heating Pad for a day or so, until I know they eat, drink, and know where to get warm. I also watch for shipping stress if they were mailed or hatching stress if they came from my incubator. Then outside they go along with their Heating Pad cave. My outside brooder is a large dog X-pen. I ran hardware cloth partway up the sides on both the inside crate and the outside brooder. It works extremely well for us.

Our littlest granddaughter Kendra enjoying the Silkie chicks their first day here. I think you can see the hardware cloth zip tied to the crate.

Chicks in the outside brooder. Again, hardware cloth.

Silkie chicks using the portal doors cut into the side and one end of the outdoor brooder pen. The hardware cloth does a superb job of keeping them safely inside until I open the portals at around 3 weeks for integration. By the way, the Silkie’s new friend is Tank, a Light Brahma, and you can kinda see other Silkies heading for the portal to join them.

 

[WickedChicksNH]

I used a dog crate when they got to thr point they could get out of their bin

I put the heat lamp above one side and made sure the other side was cooler incase they got too hot under the lamp they could move

Tricky thing about dog crates it they will be able to get out between the bars for quite awhile even if you think they are bigger than the space they will get out

 

[rosemarythyme]

I would say that's good for about up to 2 weeks, after that they'll need more room. Make sure they can't squeeze out any of the openings.

 

[Zinjifrah]

Thanks! If I wrap cardboard around the bottom portion of the bars, do you think that's enough to keep them in?

If there is any space between the cardboard and the bars, which you think they won't be able to get into, they will - and get stuck. I had a chick somehow cram herself through a half-inch gap - large fowl, not bantam, and a few weeks old - and get stuck back there. She sprained her hock, not sure what else she did, but she's finally healed up now.

 

[beccaWA]

I used a dog crate when they got to thr point they could get out of their bin

I put the heat lamp above one side and made sure the other side was cooler incase they got too hot under the lamp they could move

Tricky thing about dog crates it they will be able to get out between the bars for quite awhile even if you think they are bigger than the space they will get out

I did exactly the same thing. They will outgrow it fairly soon, but it works well when they are little. Tried to upload a video of my setup with the chicks in it, but apparently you can't upload video here.

 

[blackdog043]

It will be fine for a couple weeks, but will end up being to small. I used a dog X-Pen and a 36 x 24 dog crate for my coop brooder, with the mama heat pad. I attached chicken wire to the x-pen but used cardboard for the crate. The chicks were two weeks old when I attached the crate for extra room. The cardboard in the door was for integration at 4 weeks, the chicks can get back to their safe place, if they felt threatened by the big girls.

 

[PupsNHens]

I've used an extra large (40") wire dog crate as a brooder and it worked well. I elevated it so I wasn't always leaning over the chicks. The side crate door allows easy access to all corners of the crate (no leaning half-way in to reach the far end). I put cardboard part way up along the walls and doors on the inside to try to keep the bedding in (they will still manage to scratch some of it out as they grow). Then I wrapped the outside with plastic chicken fence. I attached both the cardboard and the fencing with zip ties. The fencing is important because the chicks will get out through the bars when they are little.

 

[Spartan22]

Are you talking about as a brooder? Or as their containment? For a week or 2 might work, but since it’s summer (depends on where you are) in couple of weeks will be better to have them in the coop and their run.

 

[Jiaramos]

Thanks! If I wrap cardboard around the bottom portion of the bars, do you think that's enough to keep them in?

I would say that's good for about up to 2 weeks, after that they'll need more room. Make sure they can't squeeze out any of the openings.