Modify tub brooder- good or bad idea?

[PepsNick]

What I mean...

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Quote:
I actually made that one to use as a brooder for a egg hatching display at my county fair. But I did use it as a quarantine brooder for a couple of weeks at the house when I brought some chicks home from a swap. For a full six weeks brooding I don't think I'd try to keep more than 4 or 5 chicks in it. Those transparent plastic tubs just aren't real big.

You can't see them in the photo but there are vents on both ends just like the ones you see on the sides and top. Weather in early April in Florida is highly variable and it went over 90 two days at the fair so I wanted all the ventilation I could get while still keeping the chicks protected both from curious fingers and from potential predators that might have gotten into the livestock tent at night after the fair closed.

During the hottest parts of the days I'd turn the light off altogether. Outside temperature and the chick's body heat kept everything plenty warm. Come nightfall I'd turn the light back on.