Cardboard box brooders?

[HorseFeathers]

We had cardboard brooders and they worked great. Connecting them works, but also ask your grocery store if they have any watermelon boxes. Those work GREAT and you can add them together if you need more room.

 

[wings]

I only will have 7 chicks, so I think the cardboard box will work fine.

 

[HorseFeathers]

Yes, but we only had 5 max and by the time they were a bit bigger the watermelon boxes were getting too small even!

 

[wings]

Quote:
Yeah, I guess I will eventually have to use a watermelon box. When will my grocery store in MA have them?

 

[HorseFeathers]

Hm.... Ours have them in the spring, Hannafords and Shaws. they may have them in winter too, I'm not sure...

 

[wings]

I'll keep my eye out for them.

 

[Cruiser]

Quote:
Yeah, I guess I will eventually have to use a watermelon box. When will my grocery store in MA have them?

I went to our local Sam's club & they had big "watermelon boxes" That oranges came in. They where happy to give me one.

 

[Love my Critters!]

I use cardboard boxes. I tape a trash back on the bottom of the box to keep water/messes from seeping through. When I change out the bedding, I just wipe down the plastic bag and put fresh bedding. I use the same cardboard box thru raising a batch of chicks. When they are ready to go out, I just throw it away. I have always done it this way, and never had any problems. Good luck.

 

[RendonRoo]

I'm using the rubber maid tub and about to go get another because my 5 day olds are outgrowing this one. If you want to go the cardboard route you might also try to get boxes that frozen chickens are delivered in(Ironic huh). I was thinking of them because they have a coating on them and wouldn't adsorb moisture and rot as soon. Good Luck

 

[ILoveJoe]

I used the big melon box from walmart last year. One lesson I learned is that baby chicks are messy and so when the carboard bottom fell out and all the wet and poopy shavings fell out into my shoes and in the doorway as I was attempting to drag the box outside to dump it...we then lined the bottom with heavy pastic THEN put the wood shavings on top.

Here is the box from last year, I used screening material to cover the holes in the corners. I also didn't use this box until the chicks were already a few weeks old. I first used a huge rubbermaid type container, but they outgrew that really quickly.

[last year in the mudroom/laundry room]

The one I am using this year is bigger around and I have been using it from the start. It is shorter and is called a 'feature box' I think it had Valentine's Day stuffed animals in it, but I was able to get it, a cardboard base and sides that come up around 4 feet high.

[this year in the soon-to-be NEW laundry room]