Waterproofing bottom of brooder

[caj1985]

I have a brooder we are making out of table legs and plywood. Any suggestions as to a good material to apply to the bottom of the brooder and up the sides to make the plywood waterproof and easier to clean?

 

[caj1985]

Anyone?

 

[LAguy]

I used regular plywood on the floor / bottom of the coop I am building. Like you, I wanted to make it waterproof or at least not so likely to rot from moisture. Here is what I did - I saturated the bottom and edges of my plywood boards with penetrating epoxy. I've used this for years on anything I did not want to rot. (In a previous life I lived on my sailboat and did a bit of cruising) You can get penetrating epoxy at any marine store. Some paint stores will have it. If you can't find it, go online to www.westmarine.com. They will ship it straight to your house. Get the Gluvit brand or the GitRot brand. If you get the West Marine brand, you will have to thin it with acetone.

Penetrating epoxy is thinner than water and will soak into almost any wood. I've seen it soak about 3/8" into a mahogany board. It hardens and makes a solid seal - except for where you later punch holes.

Good luck with it.

Adrian

 

[Delilah1337]

I made my brooder out of an old desk and plywood. I used scrap linoleum that I got from Habitat for Humanity for the bottom, it was quite inexpensive and works beautifully. I stapled the linoleum to the plywood like you would do for a canvas and then added the sides. I don’t have anything on the side walls yet so it's just bare wood, but I find it the walls clean up easily with a damp sponge as needed. The babies have Pine shavings on the floor and when it’s time to clean I just scoop out the dirty shavings and add the new. The waterer was my biggest issue but once I set it up on a block a little bit off the floor the problem was solved. No more shavings in the lip and no more splashing around spilling water everywhere.
This is my first brooder but it has worked fantastically for me, I hope this helps you a bit. You can email me if you need any more help

 

[Tenmore]

I put a double layer of roofing tar paper in mine ..... I just pulled it out today to see how it did its been in there 9 weeks. Not even a water mark any where. Worked great. I really like the above mentioned linoleum and I just may update mine to that next year. And putting water up on blocked is a must in fact as the grow I raise mine higher.

 

[caj1985]

Adrian,

The penetrating epoxy sounds like a good idea. Is it non-toxic or something that the chicks won't be able to peck off the walls? I know the last ones I raised in a plastic tub loved to peck at any speck they saw or didn't see on the walls.

The linoleum is also an idea. Would the fake tile paneling like is used in bathrooms work do you think? I have a salvage close by where I can get a whole sheet of that for fairly cheap.

 

[LAguy]

I don't think I would put the penetrating epoxy anywhere on the inside. I did the bottom and edges of my floor. My floor sits on a frame and that sits on cinder blocks. I was not worried about the inside because I do not plan to put water inside unless I am washing out the coop.

 

[chfite]

Paint will work fine. Especially exterior paint.

Chris

 

[JackE]

I didn't do anything to waterproof mine, and this is the 3rd batch of chicks in there. We're raising chickens, not goldfish .
Jack