How big should my brooder be?

[jettgirl24]

I'm going to be hatching another batch of chicks when my pre-ordered Silkie eggs get here (YAY!). I'll be setting 24+ Silkies plus 6+ eggs from my flock. Provided I have a good hatch

this will be by far my largest batch of chicks yet. The most I've had in the past is 8 chicks so obviously I will be needing something larger than the rubbermaid container I was using before but sadly I won't yet have my brooder coop built as we don't moving until June.

What size would you guys recommend for 20 - 30 chicks? Any ideas for cost effective materials to build it out of? I should note that I need it to be as secure as possible as I do have a cat. I also have a snake who should never be out of the tank near the chicks but he has escaped a coupel of times and turned up in various places (including coiled around the electric burners of my stove one time

). This is why I liked my rubbermaid brooder with the locking lid and hardware cloth bolted to it for viewing..

 

[FMAFarms]

We've got just under 30 chicks coming in mid-March, and we're using a 44-gallon galvanized washtub. We thought about the Rubbermaid big tote types, but we were concerned that the heat lamp might cause it to melt (something the owner of our Farmer's Supply store told us). If you're interested, do a search for "galvanized stock tanks" at Tractor Supply or Amazon. Good luck!