Bedding suggestions

Dalluge56 said:

Thanks for all the info!!! That is a great idea about using a cut out bin to take them outside. As for breeds, I was looking at the dominques, buff orpingtons, silver laced Wyondette and either an Easter egger or golden comet. what breeds do you have or recommend for layers?

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My pullets have just begun to lay, but after laying less than a week, my white leghorn gives me an egg almost every day. She is also very sweet and lets me pick her up. I have a mixed flock of Plymouth rocks, EEs, Orpington, wyandotte, australorp, red sex-link, RIR, favorelles, and Sussex. The Australorp also laws well, but she is not incredibly nice to people, and mean to the other chickens. Good Luck!

I do paper towels over sand the first two weeks. The sand gets sifted with a reptile substrate sifter (like a cat scoop only made from mesh) as needed, depends on how many birds are in it. I remove the chicks during cleaning time which gives me the chance to look everyone over and handle them a little.

Pine shavings bog down the compost pile (when raising a big group). I do like the scent of it, easy enough to clean up after by dumping it all and adding fresh. The downside I've noticed is loss of feed. Chicks don't start really digging for their food in the bedding until they're several weeks old. They also tend to throw feed out and won't readily search for it unless the feeder is empty. Then they'll hunt through the bedding for it. You can curb some of that feed loss by doing zone cleaning, and only remove the shavings from the poopiest areas, like from under the heating element. With the sand the feed stays visible on top and they don't "lose" it so easily.

As far as breeds go, Dominques lay well and can be quite hardy, Buff Orpingtons are typically very friendly and docile as well as good layers, Silver Laced Wyandotte... depends on the line but they can be pigs at the feed pan and intermittent layers. Easter Eggers can take a while to begin laying. Because the breeding is inconsistent, so is what you can expect from them. Golden Comets are very productive and typically friendly. Their eggs are pretty consistent in quality, given their heavy production breeding.

When I say a breed is friendly, I mean that because they naturally come to you on their own without having had a very hands on upbringing. Some chickens come around to being a pet if you seek them out or bribe with food, but truly friendly breeds do it on their own, recognizing you as part of the flock. I have a group now (34) that I haven't gone out of my way to handle much, but most of the Orpingtons, Deleware, and Isa Browns come up freely and interact with us. My husband has different favorites than I do, one of his will sit on his shoulder and be super cute, but won't do it for me. LOL

CoopintheWoods said:

When I first got my flock as chicks, I used pine shavings. Other chick-raising tips:
For the first week or two, put marbles in the water. Even in small, shallow waterers, very small chicks can still drown.
Use a red heat bulb. It often helps keep chicks from picking at each other.
You can give chicks as young as 1 week cooked spaghetti as a treat. They love it!
You can give older chicks clumps of grass, roots and all, hung in the brooder.
When they are about 2 weeks old, you can make a chicken-wire box or cut the bottom out of a storage tote and let them go outside. even in the box, keep an eye on them!
Handle them often. It will make them nicer as adults.
It may be worth it to get them a swing made for small pet birds. Mine were able to fit in it up until about a month of age, and some of them loved it.

Just curious, what breeds are you getting?
Also, welcome to BYC! It is a great place to ask questions and learn about poultry.
Good luck with your chicks!

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How long do you need to use the red light? I was originally going to just use a ceramic heat bulb until I saw this.

I never use a red bulb, they are always 250 watts which is too hot. I use a 125 watt. Crowding and boredom causes chicks to start pecking each other. Getting them outside or into a bigger area can help prevent it.

How long do you keep them in the initial brooder until they need the additional space?

I try to raise mine when it's a bit warmer now so they can go outside on some grass during the day. When I used to brood when it was colder I noticed at about 2 weeks they need extra space and stimulation, perches, mirrors, or more room, and than again at 5-8 weeks they seem to need more again. I have with past batches kept them solely in the brooder and they started pecking each other around 7 weeks. I moved them to the coop and they stopped thankfully.

I kept mine in the brooder until I ran out of space. Half of them were 4 weeks and half were 6 weeks.

We're going to be getting ours at different ages. Has anyone had a problem with having various ages in the brooder?

Depends on the age difference, and whether they were me together before.