Bedding in brooder.

[lostnstars]

Hello,
I am new here and to raising birds of any sort. I currently work with things like parakeets and conures but in a very basic way. I did the bad thing and bought 4 two week old chicks without really preparing. I have been browsing information but really did no preparation.

Having said that, I'm not totally incompetent and have TONS of supplies. We are working on setting up a dog run in the side garden and brainstorming plans for a coop inside of it out of junk from the garage. I have spent all morning researching proper runs and coops and feel confident we can have this ready to go by the time the chicks are old enough.

My current question is this: Is it ok to use dog potty pads as the bedding in the brooder? I have no heat lamp set up as the room doesn't get colder than 75 and the chicks have seemed fine with that over the last 24 hours. My plan is to change out the pads twice a day and wipe down the inside of the plastic kennel with disinfectant wipes. I will also be changing the food and water once a day. Is this sufficient? The chicks are already two weeks old and getting some feathers.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC!

Yes, those doggy pads will probably work for now. But, as chicks get older, they will need something in which they can dig and take dust baths. So, you'll either have to switch the bedding or put a container of dirt or something in the brooder for them. And yes, your plan for changing food and water is perfect! Also, start the temp off at about 90. Decrease it by 5 each week so by the time they reach 1 month, the heat can be removed.

Best of luck!

 

[Y N dottes]

I would say yes, u can use those at the bottom of your brooder. I think it is a good idea to change them out about 2 times a day.
As for the temp, usually at this age the temp is recommended to be at 85, but I usually judge what is right by the way the chicks are acting. As long as they are not huddling up for warmth constantly they are going to be fine

 

[lostnstars]

Update on using the potty pads. Last night the chicks must have folded a corner of one of the pads into the waterer. The nature of a potty pad is to be absorbent and so it absorbed about 1/4 gallon of water into it. Leaving the chicks with no water until I checked on them in the morning. They were fine but I was worried about their hydration and the fact that they were sitting in soaked bedding all night. Two bad things for chicks from what I've read. Honestly I don't know how I haven't killed them in the 2 days I've had them. Oy.

So I don't recommend potty pads. I had them left over from an old dog that passed away in January. I have a big box of 50 of them that I got on clearance before she died so I thought it would be good to use them for this. Besides the fact that they are not cost efficient or eco friendly, they seem to pose a few health concerns to boot. I'll probably keep using them until my next day off in a few days and then I'm going to get wood shavings and use those instead.

Thanks for the responses!

 

[CalvinHobbes]

Regarding the wood shavings, I recently switched from shavings to the compressed wood pellets after noticing the shavings were really light and easily ended up in waterers and feeders when they'd scratch around, requiring me to go and clean those out every hour or two, sometimes even more frequently. I've noticed the little wood pellets don't end up in the water or food as much, and wish I would have used these from the start. One of my other concerns about the shavings was the chicks eating little pieces of the shavings - none of them got impacted crops from it thankfully but I've heard this can happen with the pine shavings too.

If you can do it, I'd very much recommend the compressed wood pellets. The feed stores around me carry 40-lb bags for $4.99 - not too bad, and easier to keep clean in my opinion than the shavings. A 40lb bag was just enough to give my 3x3 brooder a good cover.

They will still end up in the water and dissolve into what looks like sawdust from time to time but it's not near as bad as when I was using shavings.

There's also a good thread on here about construction sand that people really seem to like in brooders and coops that might be worth a read too: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/857447/why-i-love-sand-in-my-brooder

Maybe even line the bottom with the puppy pads then put the shavings/pellets/sand on top so long as they can't pull them into the water again?

Good luck!