Switched to sand in brooder...

[naadarien]

I use peat moss in my brooder.  It's great - no smell, absorbent, and you can put it right out into the garden.

Excellent idea ....

 

[Mrwinchester]

i was not happy with the sand in my brooder, it became damp and i had a strong ammonia smell . I just could not get it to dry out. the amount of sifting sand and the damp smelly sand was to much. next time I'm going to improve my brooder design and possibly switch bedding hopefully have better results . First two to three weeks were fine and easy to clean but as they grew and the ambient temperature rose it got worse every day, eventually i put them in the coop and run ready or not. Yip not a fan of sand in brooder but am loving it in my run and coop. M.W.
.

 

[Sharon Bee]

I li
I like this idea. How is it working out?

This is working out really well. They are 3 1/2 weeks old now and love their brooder. I also have laid a piece of chicken wire over top as they can leap now chasing bits of fluff, etc. I still have heat lamp on as it has turned chilly here. They seem content and come running for my hand as they had their first taste of meal worms. I also gave them a little plate of bird gravel because i read that they need grit if eating other things besides crumble.

 

[Sharon Bee]

Excellent idea ....

What if they eat it?

 

[naadarien]

What if they eat it?

That is probably a question for RavenWood, since he/she likely can explain any reaction her flock has had, but how is peat moss harmful?

 

[tatsmom25]

I switched by chicks to sand when they were 5 days old. They love it, it smells soooo much better than the pine shavings we used last time. It also gives them something to do digging and pecking in the sand. They are cleaner and don't gunk up their waterer and food with shavings. I'm loving it.

 

[DLV58]

Hi Everyone!

I bought my chicks at 1.5 wks old,
the first week I had them on paper towels.
I wanted them to see>learn what their food was.
I switched to just sand first for about a week and
noticed a smell. I read about PDZ from BYC and
started to use it with the sand, it does work!
The smell has been reduced amazingly!
If you get wet spots just stir up the sand/pdz and
it dries out quickly