Anyone ever make a lid for their stock tank brooder?

[doughouse]

I'm preparing a 110-gallon stock tank to be used a brooder, but we have cats so I'm trying to figure out how to rig up a lid for it. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions? Photos of lids you've made for your stock tank brooder? Any thoughts at all would be appreciated!

 

[casportpony]

We made a frame using wood and stapled hardware cloth to it. I will take some pictures of it later.

 

[SnapdragonQ]

Sorry, I don't have pictures, but I've also stapled fencing to some boards long enough to hang over the ends and used clamps around the tank edges.
I've also just used the plastic chicken wire (kind of like the snow fence kind) and clamped around the edges. But that was for keeping birds in, not cats out. Having some kind of frame, like the boards, keeps the wire from falling in if something gets on top.

 

[Chickenlover24333]

I’ve also made a wooden frame with chicken wire stapled on but for keeping the chicks from flying away. I’ve sometimes used a large baby gate to keep my cat out.

 

[BGcoop]

We used a piece of plywood over one half and a piece of scrap hardware cloth for the other. Heat lamp above the hardware cloth. The hardware cloth was large enough to fold over the sides a bit and we tucked it under the plywood. No special framing used. Maybe a little less pretty to look at this way, but it did the job as one night the cat accidentally got locked in the basement with the chicks. All chicks were perfectly fine the next morning.(sorry, i don’t have any pictures)

 

[NFLchicks]

We just made a lid for our stock tank this weekend. It may be excessive for just keeping your cats out, ours is outside on our front porch so it needed to be as predator proof as possible. We screwed the 2x4s into the stock tank walls then connected the top frame with hinges and a lock on the other side.

 

[SnapdragonQ]

We just made a lid for our stock tank this weekend. It may be excessive for just keeping your cats out, ours is outside on our front porch so it needed to be as predator proof as possible. We screwed the 2x4s into the stock tank walls then connected the top frame with hinges and a lock on the other side.

Nice lid! In the past I've keep the stock tank brooder in the garage, but here I don't have one and have wanted to put it on the covered porch. A lid like yours would keep quite a few critters out.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

This one takes a bit of luck, but I picked up a huge old window screen for $3 at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and use that over my brooder.

 

[casportpony]

We just made a lid for our stock tank this weekend. It may be excessive for just keeping your cats out, ours is outside on our front porch so it needed to be as predator proof as possible. We screwed the 2x4s into the stock tank walls then connected the top frame with hinges and a lock on the other side.

Very similar to mine, except mine does not have hinges.

 

[Counting chickens]

I'm using this same tank, so this is a great idea. I currently just have the hardware cloth draped over the ends, but need something more permanent.