Simple Chicken Brooder From an Apple Crate(or Wooden Box)

A chicken brooder is a very easy thing to step up and will allow your chicks to grow in saftey and comfort. I am going to show you how to build a simple brooder box from a apple crate.

Submitted by Powell Middle School for the Instructables Sponsorship Program.

Materials needed:
scrap wood in order to patch holes and cover slots in the box. I used 1 inch by 1 inch pine
A apple crate(or any decent sized wooden box. A box that would hold ten chicks would have to be around 4 foot by 2 foot
Heat lamp and light to keep the chicks warm( can be easily bought in any hard ware or farm supply store.
deck screws
drill with bit to fit screws
(optional plywood that would be used for a seperator

I used the 1 by 1 to cover up the slots on the edges of the apple crate to insure saftey for the chicks. Although I used 1 by 1s, any scrap wood can be used. I drilled the screws from the outside so the 1 by 1s screwed together better. You need to make sure the screws are plum to the surface of the wood.

In order to have different batches of chickes at the same time, I installed a sperator that could be removed when wanted or needed. Like the other 1 by 1s you need to drill the wood from the outside and until they are plum. You need to put slots big enough to go around any wood you used to patch holes. I only had wood at the bottom so that's the only slot I needed.

This simple step helps you build a perch to easily hang the heat lamp. Just simply put a piece of 1 by 1 on the top of your box and then screw the piece from the outside and make sure the screws are plum.

Note: These chickens in the picture are about fully grown. You should be able to fit much more than two chickens if you are using a apple crate.