# Brooder is ready



## rosco47 (Jul 6, 2015)

well, 21 chicks are set to arrive mid August so I needed to set up a brooder.
I was going to build one from scratch using lumber and plywood but I was at my local co-op and saw this big hard rubber tub. I could use this as a brooder and whatever else too when im done. and saved some coin...which Mrs Rosco is a fan of . since it is the dawg days of summer, I'm not sure how much I will need to use the heat during the day so I have a small fan ready as well. 
I built the lid from 5 pieces of scrap lumber, 1 privacy fence panel, and some hardware cloth. since this was all scrap it cost me just over a dollar total. most came from cull lumber section at HD and Lowes.
now we wait.....................


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Nice set up. Where are you going to end up setting it up when the peeps arrive? 

I shop at Lowes all of the time, I had no idea they had a scrap wood pile. Of course the hubs is not going to be all that happy I learned about it's existence.


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## rosco47 (Jul 6, 2015)

just ask for their cull lumber. usually every morning at open, they run the lumber aisles and gather all the stuff that people picked through and pull out anything that has any bowing or warping or bad knots or splintering. even plywood that has a busted corner. about 20% can only be used as firewood, but the rest is perfectly suitable for coops and such. 
typically cull is 75% off. depending on the store, sometimes they sell that day's cull as a pack and you have to buy all or none. but most stores will let you pick through. even picked up a couple busted bags of sac-crete for $1.

the brooder will likely sit under the shade of my back porch. I may build a little platform to sit it on to get it up further off the ground. and have a way of securing the lid to the top.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Your back will thank you for getting it up higher off the ground. Just make sure there's a step stool for the kids to stand on to watch the peeps. Can we say instant babysitter?

I wish I had known about that before so much of the remodeling had gotten done in this house. I can think of a dozen places even damaged lumber could have been used. sigh That's normal though, I learn about this stuff after the fact all of the time.


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## rosco47 (Jul 6, 2015)

robin416 said:


> sigh That's normal though, I learn about this stuff after the fact all of the time.


such is life


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