Has anyone used this or similar as brooder

[NNYchick]

I was looking at hatchtime brooder and thought these rabbit hutches might work. I use mama heating pad so I could set this up in the enclosed area. I like all the doors and that it’s raised. How many bantam chicks would you put in each level of this up 2-3 weeks.
I like to have them in the house the first couple weeks sit with them and get them use to me hands. Then I move them out to the coop brooding area.

Or I saw the tortoise enclosure I could put on a table.

 

[brandonstokley]

looks fancy. I just use a big plastic tote. in the past I have used a card board box in the spare room

 

[Brooks_]

The tortoise one has me interested. Got a link?

 

[Iluveggers]

Dog crate or tent work really well, not sure how cheap those brooders in your pics are!

 

[NNYchick]

The tortoise one has me interested. Got a link?

Sorry I can not figure out how to copy the link from the Amazon app but this is what it’s called. Tortoise Habitat Tortoise House​

 

[NNYchick]

Dog crate or tent work really well, not sure how cheap those brooders in your pics are!

I’ve used dog crates and the octagon dog tents. But I’m Looking for something that will last year to year and easy to clean. The dog crates and pens are a pain to clean out every day. I’m kind of over climbing around on the ground to clean these things or get to the chicks. I would like one of the tower brooders like hatchtime or producer pride but they are expensive or even better have my husband build me something like the rabbit hutch but to my specifications- he says he is done with making chicken stuff.
I was thinking a couple of the rabbit hutches would work similar to the tower brooders but add my mama heating pads to them. This would allow me add the multiple hatches to but wondering if anyone else sees any downsides to using something like this.
The price isn’t too bad about $100.

 

[Iluveggers]

I get it about not crouching & reaching around! I put my dog crate on an old table, and it worked GREAT. Two doors, too, so double access sides.

 

[rosemarythyme]

The hutches are very similar in style to my brooder. I don't have bantams so not completely sure what would be a good number to house, but for standards the rough calculations would be 1 sq ft per chick by 4 weeks, 2 sq ft per by 8 weeks.

Here's how I set up my hutch style brooder for outdoor use: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/short-on-time-recycle-a-prefab-brooder.73985/

 

[NNYchick]

The hutches are very similar in style to my brooder. I don't have bantams so not completely sure what would be a good number to house, but for standards the rough calculations would be 1 sq ft per chick by 4 weeks, 2 sq ft per by 8 weeks.

Here's how I set up my hutch style brooder for outdoor use: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/short-on-time-recycle-a-prefab-brooder.73985/

Great article. I do the same thing and have a couple different setup I use in my coop but wait until between week 2-3 only because I find them more friendly when they can imprint on me those early weeks. I also like to sell a few and I feel better about watching them closely till they go to their new home so I know they are eating, drinking, active and healthy. My flock has done great with chicks in the coop and integration goes smooth.

This hen was a little put off that little intruders moved into the corner that she was laying in but she never bothered them. She did find her way in to lay in her corner but left the chicks alone.
This was my inside setup last year. It’s difficult to climb in to gather chicks or clean.

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

Here are my thoughts:

Rabbit hutch:
- pros: side doors are less scary to chicks, 2 levels means you could have two age groups or chicks and ducks, chicks and quail, etc at the same time
- cons: wire sides means the bedding and chicken dust will escape, floor space per level is slightly smaller than the tortoise house, so more chicks total but fewer per level

Tortoise house:
- pros: glass sides mean less mess, slightly more floor space on the one level so a bigger single batch of chicks is possible,
- cons: only one level (one batch of chicks), you enter from the top which can scare chicks

Also think about how you prefer to clean - sweep from the sides vs dump out from the top, etc. And look at the materials and see if they seem durable. MDF doesn’t do well if it gets wet for example, so that can be a big “con” if one of them is made of that.