Build a Low-Cost Mobile Brooder Box

By Mother Earth News Editors
Published on October 30, 2012
article image
Illustration By Elayne Sears
This mobile DIY brooder box design works for broody hens or mail-order chicks and for both indoor and outdoor use.

We’ve designed a secure, lightweight brooder box that is relatively easy and inexpensive to make for indoor and outdoor use. You can house a broody hen on her eggs, or use the box to raise mail-order chicks from a hatchery.

The frameless wire cage is made from 1-by-2-inch welded wire (not poultry netting) and is about 3 feet wide by 4 to 5 feet long by 2 feet high. The wire sections are attached using J-clips. The lid has folded-down, 4-inch sides for added security. A large plastic tub set inside the cage serves as a weatherproof, easy-to-clean shelter, with a low-cut door for the mother hen and her chicks to go in and out. To raise chicks without a broody hen, secure an electric light bulb inside the tub (be sure you use a bulb size and placement that won’t melt the plastic tub).

Read more: Raise Your Best Flock Using Broody Hens

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