I have used 18"x 26" large restaurant baking sheets. Got them used. They get so banged up in the restaurant that they want to get rid of them once they're beyond their usefulness. Two trays worked great for each level of my 2' x 3' cage.
Thought you might like to see the trays I'm using in action they do work very well for me. And for the price you can't beat them. A couple of pics of my brooding setup with them in use. Hopefully you can get a line on them for yourself. I built everything to fit them like it sounds like you're wanting to do. Nothing in box brooders right now collecting eggs for incubating now. The other cages are used for up to 4 to 5 weeks of age or fully feathered and not needing heat. Top cage has some excess males 5 weeks of age that will be moved out to an outdoor pen/aviary, and lower 2 pens have 3 breeding sets 5 weeks of age 1set jumbo browns 2 sets jumbo whites to be picked up/sold this weekend. Above the box brooder has a few that have some miner pecking wounds.
That's great. Yes that seems to be the largest size I came across for restaurant sheets/sheet pans/ trays etc., but I've only seen new stuff here and there. Are you in Canada? I'm curious where you successfully sourced used restaurant stuff? Did you just approach individual restaurants directly? Do you have any real issue with manure falling through between the trays upon removal etc.? Thanks
That looks great. Thanks for sharing this.
Yes, those are my brooders they have 175watt infrared heat bulbs in heat lamp fixtures mounted inside with dimmer light switches to control heat. Feeder troughs are from GQF water troughs from Wynola Ranch both exterior mounted. Waterers all gravity fed from water bucket on top tubed down to each trough. Both works very well just had to modify feeder troughs a little to mount on 1x2" wire. Side by side trays I just bent a piece of roof flashing on an angle to cover the middle edges of trays to keep clean same roof flashing I used as dividers attached to the wire and around exterior of cages to keep thing from spewing out of sides of cages. Shavings helps with smell but mainly to have manure just slide right off tray without scrapping and keeps trays clean. Never had problem with shavings in my compost or in garden but I lime my garden every year or so. I also use wood shavings/sawdust and also works and its free. You only need a very thin layer to cover trays.
The roof flashing is a great idea, both uses.
Its indoors now but have the wood brooder boxes insulated and that whole side of rack is insulated as to make it one unit sealed for heat and wind/weather as the cages above each brooder box is placed there for residual heat as they get older and need less heat. But whole rack was built to be outdoors if needed. Only changes I would do to put it outside is put more secure latches and build a slanted roof with a few feet of overhang front and back. But I do have a lean two roof overhang on one of my outbuildings and a roofed back porch/patio where I could also put it. As for lighting I do have a string of LED Christmas lights around my breeding cages on a timer for supplemented light for 14 1/2 hours for winter.
