Baby chick housing??

[amandawv]

where does everyone keep their babes? I have this group of chicks in my bathroom in a rubbermaid container BUT they are so stinking messy! Omg there is poo everywhere. I put cardboard down on the floor but they need something better? Can I see pics of your tots housing?

 

[jennifer08]

I used a old water trough and just threw a piece of fence over the top and boards to hold it down so nothing could get in or out! On the end I just lay plywood for easy access inside. They love it way better than the card board box I had them in at first in the bathroom! And its big enough until they get moved out to the big run.

 

[Blooie]

Mine start outside in the run right away. No brooder in the house for this old lady - did that once and swore I'd never do it again! So when I get my chicks, they are outside almost immediately. I have a pen out there for them right inside the run, so the Big chickens and the Little chickens get used to seeing each other from the start. They are on a dirt floor with some straw, dried leaves and pine shavings and I also toss a clump of sod in there. That helps build up natural immunities. Oh, and no heat lamp. They learn from their first day here that night time is for sleeping, not cheeping.


The Littles inside their outdoor brooder.


It's made of an old dog x-pen. That tall skinny box-like thing at the back was the brooder I used in the house last year. We turned it on it's end and were using it to store the metal can of chicken food until the Littles came. Now it provides 3 solid sides and a roof over their cave.


The Bigs in the run with the Littles. They are in the pen on the left.

 

[amandawv]

I highly considering taking the bigger 2. They are almost 4 weeks. My banty hardly has any feathers and is so tiny.

 

[Nupe]

You should have something down that will soak up and dry the poo. Only wet poo is stinky poo. I use pine shavings.Since I only have 4 chicks this year, I put them in a large dog kennel. The sides are wrapped with cardboard so it will hold a thick layer of shavings. Every day I add a few more handfuls and turn it over. Once it gets full enough to start matting, I dump it into the garden and start fresh. The chicks are about a month old, I've replaced the shavings once and still have more than half the bag left. I have them upstairs in a room I only use for storage. I have no problem with smell.

This is a still from my chicky cam. They're snoozing in a pile right now, only because I wanted a good pic of them bouncing around their jungle gym.

 

[Julia62]

Mine are in our spare bath tub. I have three that are now 5 weeks old. At first I used newspaper to line the tub with paper towels on top to make it non-slip and would just roll up the paper towels and switch it out. Now I am using puppy training pads and it is so much easier. They can't tear it up like the paper towels. I can scoop off poop a few times during the day with a plastic spoon (yes, I do this) and change them out morning and late afternoon. They are now spending a good part of the day outside, weather permitting. Reno weather is weird. They say, if you don't like the weather, wait 15 minutes!

 

[Osburnsa]

Mine are in the bathtub, as well. Newspapers down, covered with pine shavings. They're starting to occasionally escape, so I'll be making a top for it this weekend. We have no smell. All I smell is pine.

 

[prostar]

We're only a one bath place, so if we kept our girls (and maybe guy) in the tub we'd be stinky!

Here's what we got ours in (with hubs ziptying that heat lamp in like a boss)