i'll build a brooder and trying to determine the bill of materials

scatteredeggs · May 17, 2011

I am making specifications to build a brooder that's 5' Wide, 5' deep, and 45" tall, including the legs. Wall will be 30" high. Floor and walls will be 7/16 OSB. Roof is slanted, hinged.

i have a bill of materials/plan for a chicken house with dimensions 32"X30" and 45" high and trying to extrapolate from there. The latter chicken house is using 2X2s for legs and side support and 1/2" plywood for floor, sides and nesting boxes.

i've been reading threads and viewing pictures of (coop) constructions and seeing a lot of 2X4s and 4X4s being used as posts and wall supports.

again, i am going to make a brooder, a 5'X5'X2.5' (flat) box sitting on legs. it will contain chicks up to 3 weeks only, feeders, waterers and a lightweight 3'X3'X18" hover (made of 1/8" plywood and 2X2s).

here's my question - do i need to upgrade the 2"X2"s to 2"X4"s or anything greater?

i'm a woman, with no carpentry skills. this will be my second piece of construction, first was a compost bin made from discarded railings, put together and covered with hardware cloth.

thanks in advance for your future comments.

patandchickens · May 17, 2011

Quote:You would be much better off making it 3-4' wide and 8' long. Not only will this make simpler use of your plywood, which comes in 4x8 sheets, but it will avoid most of the "can't catch the chicks!" problem you'll otherwise tend to have. 5' wide is just too far for you to really reach very effectively. Even 4' will be a challenge with almost four foot high walls, believe me (personally I'd go with the 3' width for that reason)... you REALLY don't want to have to deal with 5' wide! And 3x8 gives you virtually the same square footage as 5x5 does.

here's my question - do i need to upgrade the 2"X2"s to 2"X4"s or anything greater?

Need, no probably not as long as you are careful never to lean your full weight into it and you construct it well. HOWEVER it will almost certainly be cheaper for you to just go ahead and use 2x4s, because most places the only 2x2s you can buy are either really TERRIBLE quality (either super split/warped/twisted, or finger-jointed) or are fancy stuff that will cost you much more than Yer Basic Two-by-four.

If you wanted to rip down 2x4s into 2xNotquite2's you could, I suppose, but I can't see any particularly good reason to, and just USING the 2x4s would be a better idea IMO.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

Barred Babies · May 17, 2011

Quote:This is SO true. Mine is 3 x 3 x 7 and easy to reach in, I couldn't imagine it being any deeper! Now since my doors are on the front I still have issues catching them. I always get someone to help get them to one side and that makes it MUCH easier!!

Dogfish · May 17, 2011

Simpler yet.

Go to home depot, buy a sheet of 4'x10' OSB. Have them make a 4x4 piece and then 4 pieice 18"x4'. The first cut is free, 25 cents or so for each additional cut. You now have the floor and 4 sides. Buy three 8' 2"x2"s. These will be used to attach the side to the floor. Use a the three or four feet you have left to keep the floor of the brooder off the floor of your garage. With OSB, screws, and 2x2's, you might be into this about $20.

As far as using 2x2's for anything structural, don't. But once, cry once. Rebuilding a poorly built structure is a pain.

Best of luck.

I added separation panels to make the brooder expandable with some scraps I had left over.

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