plastic tote duckling brooder ventilation question

[MakeshiftAcre]

I'm brooding four new Khaki Campbell ducklings in a plastic tote set next to a radiator for heat, moved further from or closer to the radiator according to thermometer readings and duckling behavior. Right now the lid is just set loosely on the tote, propped up an inch or so by a stick of wood, but I would feel better if I could lock the lid to slow down the murder and mayhem if the cat were to slip into the room. But how ought I ventilate the tote? I'm thinking several holes drilled into the sterilite along the top edge on the radiator side, and a few holes drilled into the sterilite along the top edge on the opposite side? Has anyone else tried this?

 

[MakeshiftAcre]

Lost one of the ducklings for no evident reason, and I'm afraid it may have been due to insufficient ventilation. So, to answer my own question, no hole drilling, just a sheet of hardware cloth laid over the top of the tote and held down by a milk jug full of water to slow the cat down for those few critical seconds.

 

[Mrs.H]

When I used totes for my chicks, I cut a huge square in middle of lid and attached hardware cloth, chicken wire or you could even use screen. I used short nuts n bolts to attach it to the plastic lid.
You could also do this to the front of the tote too

 

[Amiga]

I had hardware cloth over the top of the giant Rubbermaid tub for the first few weeks till they outgrew that.

 

[AQUDuckFarm]

We use totes for brooders the day our ducklings and chicks come out of our incubators until they're about 3 days old and can be moved to our larger brooders! We cut out the entire inner of the top of the tote allowing the edges to still snap on. Then staple the top with chicken wire and place a heat lamp on top of it! It allows us to use heat lamps and keep our dog away from them! Good luck! If you Google homemade brooders you'll be able to find examples very quickly in the images section!