Baby Chicks

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bmarshall61

bmarshall61

In the Brooder
13 Years
Jan 11, 2007
57
49
31
Anybody ever tried this? I have order about 50 baby chicks for 2/17/07 and have been perparing for them. I have a shed that is 6' X 16' long and have just poured a concrete floor for it. I recently lucked up on a roll of 3'X50' tar paper at a garage sale for $4.00. I plan to put the tar paper down over the concrete and cover it with pine shaving and will of course have a heat lamp for the first few weeks. Since this was a cheap cover, think it would be okay to do away with the shavings after about 3 weeks and let them grown on the tar paper, since it was so cheap and has good traction, I can change it out as needed, wash it or replace it. Anyone know of a reason why this might be harmful to the babies? Any ideas will be appreciated.

I live in East Texas so by the time I receive the chicks spring will probably be only a couple of weeks away. Our last freeze is usually around 2/14 each year.

bmarshall61
 
so, since i have had no replies, nobody has ever used tar paper to line the nursery??
 
Sounds okay for the winter. Our Texas summers may not work with it. Does it get kinda gooey when it heats up? Sounds like a nice coop. Where are you in East Texas? My hubby was born in Big Sandy...
 
I am in the Big City of Coldspring, just off Lake Livingingston, County seat of San Jacinto County, population just over 600.

I am only going to use the tar paper for flooring cover over concete after the first couple of weeks on shavings. My brooder is 6' X 16' - just trying to figure an easy clean up and the tar paper was cheap. It will not get that hot in my brooder building. They will be in their house 24'x16' chickenhouse by the time the weather heats up.

Chickens are my hobby. Thanks for the response.
 
The birds will scratch down and tear the tar paper. They also may try to eat it. I would check out what is in the paper before putting it down.
 
I'm a newbie in Texas. I was wondering when the peeps can go outside? The coop should be done mid-March and the weather plenty warm by April. We picked up the chicks last weekend, and from feathers I guess the birds are between a week (the youngest) and several weeks for the oldest. Everything I've read says fully feathered...when's that? My last chicken was a pet rooster when I was 12 or 13.
 
OK, I'll be the first to say it, I don't think using the tar paper is a good idea. Chicks are very susceptable to any kind of chemical poisons. The paper has been treated with a petroleum product of some type, which can be very hazardous to them especially if they eat it. Then there is the question of how heavy the fume load will be when the tar paper begins to warm from either temps or the heat lamp.

There is also the higher fear of fire using the heat lamp since it is combustible.

Here is a description of what tar paper is:

Tar paper is a heavy-duty paper used in construction. Roofing felt is one type of tar paper. Tar paper is made by impregnating paper with tar, producing a waterproof material useful for roof construction. It is sold in rolls of various widths, lengths, and thicknesses (3 foot wide rolls, 50 or 100 feet long and "15 lb" and "30 lb" weights are common in the U.S.), often marked with chalk lines at certain intervals to aid in laying it out straight on roofs with the proper overlap (more overlap for flatter roofs). This bitumen based material is sometimes applied in several layers with the help of a torch and additional hot tar, but is more often applied with staples or roofing nails and used as underlayment for asphalt, wood(a.k.a. shake), or other shingles, or even gravel, since tar paper itself isn't particularly wind- or sun-resistant. More modern roof waterproofing materials include PVC and TPO (thermoplastic polyolefine) membranes which provide increased protection against leaks.
 
Last edited:
i agree with robin, most of the tar paper i have used for construction was fairly nasty and had a heavy petroluem smell. Not sure that would be good with chicks.
 

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