Took this from a web site.
I have tried various methods of brooding chicks. I started with the usual newspapers, which stink, and then wood shavings. All are fine until they start kicking the shavings or newspaper into the waterer and then it sucks up all the water and makes it wet, cold and they have no water!
Then I started using play sand. Bought a bag at the Lumber Yard. Works great and sinks to the bottom of the waterer if they kick it in and does not absorb it all. However, it is very dusty and I brood all my birds in the house, at the time, in the other bedroom. It was great for the chicks though, the heat lamp made the sand nice and warm for them, and they had their grit. Some people have said that they had issues with the babies eating the sand and not the food and then dying. I have never had that issue. To clean I had bought a metal pasta strainer (Colander) and would fill and shake to get the poo out to dump. You had to wear a mask though. Periodically adding sand as needed.
I got tired of it, so then started to just use rubber shelf liners and washing the poo off.
Then I went to a friends house to see his set up and he told me he always just uses chick starter. It is not bad to allow chicks to come in contact with their poo, in my opinion, it gives them a bit of a resistance to whatever they might get into when they get older. I bought a 50lb bag of starter last year. I put about 1/4 to a 1/2 bag in the bottom of the brooder. Works about the same as the sand, its nice and warm on their feet and I do not have to worry about them running out of food. Yes, they do poop in it, but, they will dig through it. Every week, I clean out the top layer of the feed and poo with a dustpan and broom. It does waste some feed, but, a 50lb bag lasts the whole season I have babies in the house. I also just use regular light bulbs in the brooders. I put two in each cage, so in case that one burns out, they have a backup. I also place the waterer on a 12" ceramic tile to try to keep it cleaner.
I have tried various methods of brooding chicks. I started with the usual newspapers, which stink, and then wood shavings. All are fine until they start kicking the shavings or newspaper into the waterer and then it sucks up all the water and makes it wet, cold and they have no water!
Then I started using play sand. Bought a bag at the Lumber Yard. Works great and sinks to the bottom of the waterer if they kick it in and does not absorb it all. However, it is very dusty and I brood all my birds in the house, at the time, in the other bedroom. It was great for the chicks though, the heat lamp made the sand nice and warm for them, and they had their grit. Some people have said that they had issues with the babies eating the sand and not the food and then dying. I have never had that issue. To clean I had bought a metal pasta strainer (Colander) and would fill and shake to get the poo out to dump. You had to wear a mask though. Periodically adding sand as needed.
I got tired of it, so then started to just use rubber shelf liners and washing the poo off.
Then I went to a friends house to see his set up and he told me he always just uses chick starter. It is not bad to allow chicks to come in contact with their poo, in my opinion, it gives them a bit of a resistance to whatever they might get into when they get older. I bought a 50lb bag of starter last year. I put about 1/4 to a 1/2 bag in the bottom of the brooder. Works about the same as the sand, its nice and warm on their feet and I do not have to worry about them running out of food. Yes, they do poop in it, but, they will dig through it. Every week, I clean out the top layer of the feed and poo with a dustpan and broom. It does waste some feed, but, a 50lb bag lasts the whole season I have babies in the house. I also just use regular light bulbs in the brooders. I put two in each cage, so in case that one burns out, they have a backup. I also place the waterer on a 12" ceramic tile to try to keep it cleaner.
