bedding in brooder--what to use?

[S0rcy]

I used two old blankets for the first week and a half. Each night one went into the washer and the other went into the brooder, the next day I'd change them.

After a week and a half I put in pine shavings.

 

[sandhillchick]

What if I used the shredded paper from my paper shredder? Just a thought....

 

[wefanjr]

Miss Prissy, doesn't DE kill bugs also, I use cedar with my grown chickens not my chicks

 

[Hiedi]

Hi everyone! I am new to the forum. Thanks for letting me join.

I got six baby chicks a couple of days ago (3 Barred Rocks and 3 Rhode Island Reds). They are about four or five days old. I want to eventually use pine shavings in the brooder because this seems to be what most people use, but I am concerned about the chicks eating the smaller pieces. Right now, I have them on shavings, but I have paper towels covering the litter. Someone told me that the chicks will probably try to eat the shavings so I am concerned the chicks will end up with impacted crops. Is this possible?

 

[hensonly]

Hi,

I'm brand new to chickens though I've raised a lot of other baby animals...one of the best things I've ever found for under them is the incontinence pads they use on hospital beds. Not the disposable ones, but the washable kind. They're pretty waterproof (unless they stay wet a long time, then they will soak through), they absorb liquid and pull it away from the babies, they're not slippery, and they are made to be washed in hot water with lots of bleach and dried in a hot drier.

My chicks are two weeks old and I just put litter in their brooder, but I think I'm going to take it out - the pads are SO much easier to clean and also to see the poops. And the litter keeps getting scratched into the waterer. Ick.

The only thing I've had to watch is that I use pads in good condition so there aren't strings for the chicks to eat or loose stitching to get toes caught in. I've used them for years for litters of puppies, for sick adult dogs, in cat carriers on vet trips, etc. They are excellent.

For the chicks, I put several layers of newspapers down in the brooder first, then one large incontinence pad, and now that they're big enough to get on top of the feeder and waterer, I laid a baby gate across the top of the brooder like a roof so no danger of them flying out. I'm new to chicks, so if any of this sounds dumb, please tell me - but so far it's worked very well.

 

[PAJerry]

I got mine last Monday and have been using old bath towels, changing them every evening. Since the floor is linoleum, I didn't want to take a chance with deformed legs, especially with the big (eventually!) Orpingtons. I plan to switch them to pine shavings in a few more days. They seem to like running around on the towels.

 

[Davaroo]

Brooder bedding can be almost anything, as long as it is absorbent and non-toxic. Some ideas that have worked for me come from the old books:

Dry sand
Clean, dry earth
Straw

I have also taken a look around my own house and used:

Finely chopped leaves
Grass clippings
Fine mulch from my neighbors yard.
I havent treid kitty litter, but I'm sure it would work just fine.

If you can access shredded paper (maybe you know someone in an office), that works quite well. Of course, you can just use pine shavings.

 

[Hiedi]

Well, I have had my chicks for almost 1 1/2 weeks now. I have tried using the pine shavings several times, and they immediately start eating the pieces as soon as I put them on it. Yesterday, I pulled a long piece out of a chicks mouth because it was sticking out the side of its beak. I was using paper towels, but they started tearing off pieces and eating that too. Right now, I have them on old bath towels that I have designated for the brooder only. I change the towels once a day. I thought about trying shredded newspaper. (Hiedi scratches her head)

 

[Davaroo]

Maybe you need to change the way you present the feed to them!

 

[Hiedi]

Quote:
Can you give more detail? I am not really sure what you mean. I give them constant access to food all the time.