Ideas for what to put baby chickens in.

[Chickenlover614]

My family and I are getting 25 new baby chicks here pretty soon. I was wandering who had an idea of what we can keep them in until they are old enough to put in a coop. We already had raised 6 and we put them in a cage and kept them like that. But we can't find a cage big enough for 25 chicks.

 

[BonRae67]

I just read yesterday about someone getting the big moving boxes from Lowes or Home Depot d making them into rooms cutting go through doors and putting the boxes together so they had like a little roomed house. They put the heat source in one box. Food and water in another and you can expand when the get bigger. I thought that was a great idea.

 

[Jedwards]

You could build one out of 2x4's. Are you planning on keeping it indoors/outdoors? A lot of people also use those large tube like tractor supply does.

 

[red horse ranch]

Grocery stores get a lot of their vegetables in large cardboard boxes. If I remember right they were about 4'x4'. The produce manager would save them for me if I let him know in advance. I used to always use them when I had large orders of chicks. Now I have 4 wire dog cages which I pick up at rummage sales. I line them with 12" high cardboard and hang a light inside. Each cage will hold 12 to 15 chicks in the beginning and I will use as many cages as I need for the amount of chicks. I have these cages set up in the living room so I can watch for problems. And the chicks are very entertaining to watch instead of TV. When the chicks are two weeks old they go out to the brooder in the barn.

 

[Chickenlover614]

I am planning on keeping them inside our garage. But I am looking for something that is hard and won't deteriorate like cardboard.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I built a brooder modeled after one that is posted on the coops pages. I think the only way you will be able to get something that will not deteriorate rapidly and is large enough for 25 chicks is to build a large brooder.

 

[btguy]

check craigslist for a 150-200 gallon long and deep (not tall) aquarium, occasionally you find one that wont hold water being sold for reptiles cheap. i know i sold my 125 with a cracked frame (solid but couldn't be trusted to hold 125 gallons worth of water without support from the frame) for $20. other than that i think 21hens-incharge is right. you will have to build.

 

[Folly's place]

I use big stock water tanks. You might find leakers on CL. Building one is good, or if you're in a warmer climate, set them up in part of the coop. You can start them in a big dog crate as long as larger facilities are available in a week or ten days. Mary

 

[triplepurpose]

Large cardboard box always does the trick for us: cheap (well, free actually), simple, and you can fold it up and compost or burn it when it's done. You can tape or staple two or more together if you have a lot of chicks and make it in whatever shape or size you need. I put a sheet of plastic, a couple trash bags, etc underneath, then line the bottom with newspaper and use shavings, leaf litter, or similar for bedding. A desk lamp with a clip and a flexible neck in one corner gives warmth, and some towels or blankets over the top keep it in, more or less covered, depending on weather temps. A little waterer and a feed tray completes the outfit.

 

[ChickenGoesRuff]

For the first two and a half weeks, I had 28 baby chicks in a clear Walmart plastic Christmas tree tote (about 1'×4'×1'). I put a small grate on top to keep them in. I only lost two to a virus and then moved them to a 4' cube box win the garage (average temp. was below 30).