The brooder was a snap to make. I wanted something that was reasonably dog proof since I planned on brooding these in the house with the weather so cool. I figured the container would be sturdy enough to at least deter the dogs. The chicks are out here in my office area where I sit all day, so they aren't left unattended when the dogs are loose in the house. I also wanted something that would be easy to clean, but also would contain the pine chips since these guys are in the house and I didn't want chips kicked out all over. My other brooder pen worked great, but was messy. Mess (and heat) wasn't an issue with that one because they were brooded out in the kennel when it was 90 degrees outside.
I bought the largest rubbermaid container they had a Lowes - it was about $17.
I took a really sharp utility knife and cut the holes out of the side and top. That was the most difficult part by far - those rubber maid containers are TOUGH! The lid will serve two purposes - to keep the dogs OUT and the chicks IN when they start to figure out what their wings are for.
I bought 1/2" long bolts, nuts and the appropriate sized fender washers. The bolts came in a pack of 10 with the nuts included. 10 for $1.87. The fender washers were around $7 for 20.
The wire is hardware cloth. I just cut to size and drilled holes around the edges of the cutouts through the container to fit the bolts. The washers have to be larger than the grid of the hardware cloth.
So, total cost was less than $30. If you already have the container hanging around, it would be even less than that.
The size of the container is 3.5 by 2 feet approx.
I figure it will be large enough for at least the first few weeks for these 10 silkies. Only issue so far was that my brooder light was WAY too powerful. Even suspended about 8" from the top of the container, the 250 wt red heat lamp was hot enough to melt the lid a little bit.
I've since replaced it with a regular 100wt bulb, which is perfect temp for the furry babies, but not hot enough to melt my container.
