Best Bedding for Brooder?

[Abriana]

@MasterOfClucker So if they do eat a wood shaving, but they have grit, they should be fine? Sorry to be bothersome, but I just don't want to start off with a mistake Also, how often do you change the litter? I am going to probably have 12 chicks in one big brooder.

take the chicks and put them in a safe place. take a plastic bag and put it in a cardboard box or trashcan and use a shovel to scoop the bedding into the bag. then take it and throw it in the trash, or dump it out in a place that no one goes, or compost it. Then put down new shavings and replace waterer, feeder, and chicks. I put a sheet of plastic under my brooder box just in case the water spills so my basement floor doesn't get gross. And the chicks should be fine as long as they have grit. My chicks would taste a few shavings and i never worried about them and they all are fine, happy hens and roosters. I've never had a problem with shaving eaters, and i don't think you should worry too much. Just watch them. they probably won't eat them like their food, but always make sure they have food because if they get really hungry they might resort to eating shavings. Good luck!

 

[dunnmom]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking the merits of pine shavings. I used them with success as many others have. The main issue I had with the shavings was keeping it dry. My chicks would nearly bury their waterer in shavings every day, sometimes twice a day. Not only were they not getting their water until I changed it out, but it caused it to leak out into the surrounding bedding. Flies and gnats really liked that stinky wet bedding. It wasn't something I felt comfortable leaving that way, so I was constantly fussing with it. My chicks turned out perfectly fine, though. Chickens aren't as picky (or OCD in my case) as us humans about their living quarters.

 

[Coturnix Quail]

I used pine and it was my first time ever. They did pick at it here and there, but they turned out to be fine. I just put some paper towels over the shavings for a few days, but like other people, I started having problems with my water. No matter what I did, they would always end up kicking pine shavings in, but to make it even worse, the pine shavings would transfer water from one and other and make the whole brooder wet!! That was a pain, but after I slipped them in the coop, I barely have to deal with pine unless it's in the actual coop, not the run. (I just put them in the coop so they still have grass, but when it gets dirty I'm going to use sand.) Hope this helps!

 

[RonC]

I always hang my feeder and water so they are adjustable as the chicks grow. Keep them just high enough the smallest chick can still eat and drink. Keeps the food and water cleaner and less soggy bedding.

 

[Hoodoo Hens]

Interesting reading. FWIW, my brooder was a big plastic kids pool like you get in front of Wal-Mart. We had a large cardboard box that we broke down and used inside the perimeter of the pool and it turned out to be just the right size. For the first couple of days we just put paper towels down, nothing else. They were fine. They don't need a pillow top mattress.

After a couple of days they were eating out of their feeder so we moved to pine shavings. For the first week only a couple of inches, then about 4 inches until we moved them too the coop at about week 6/7. I had a dozen hens in there just fine. Yes they get shavings in the water but I don't know what you're going to use that they don't kick or scratch bedding into the water and feed unless you can use a nipple waterer.

Changing bedding was easy with a dustpan. As they got bigger I used the flaps of the box folded over a screen door that was laid across the top. Worked fine keeping them in. Since they were also trying to roost on top of the waterer and my heating panel I fashioned some small roosts out of scrap 2x4's and 2x2's and also stuck some tree branches from the raised heat panel into holes in the cardboard box. I should have taken pictures. They loved to roost even at 3 weeks and it kept them off the waterer.

In any event, pine shavings worked well for me in the brooder and they quickly learn what's food and what's not.

 

[NorthTexasWink]

In all honesty, I'd say the BEST bedding for YOUR brooder is whatever keeps YOUR chicks clean, dry, warm, and safe. Affordability and availability are also very important. Easy cleaning and sweet(er than ammonia) smelling is a big plus. Environmentally friendly is another bonus, including the ability to reuse it several times.

In short, whatever works for you the best is YOUR best brooder substrate.

 

[Bluechick2u]

After many times of using pine shavings, I moved to sawdust pellets used as stall bedding (wet with water to turn it into loose sawdust) after the first week. First week is paper towel only. Water and food on paint tray with roller grating cover, to avoid smelly sawdust poop mess. Had so much better results that I never went back to shavings.

 

[Abriana]

I always hang my feeder and water so they are adjustable as the chicks grow. Keep them just high enough the smallest chick can still eat and drink. Keeps the food and water cleaner and less soggy bedding.

Thats a good idea. I need to try that. My chicks are always like, "Hey, look at Mom, she down here again cleaning our water out. Next time, lets bury it even deeper. It'll be so fun!" I'm down in the basement cleaning out the water almost every hour. By the way, i love you avatar.

 

[Fields Mountain Farm]

I use my empty paper feed sacks. Cut the unopened end of the bag, cut bag in half lengthwise, open it up, cut to size or fold. Roll it up and burn or toss it when it needs changed.
It works well for me and i find it easier to change in the brooder I have set up. Do what works...

 

[Bluechick2u]

Thank you! That was Saffron, my favorite naked neck, she sadly didn't survive the harsh winter last year. I saw the roller grate over the paint pan trick on utube for keeping baby ducks from turning a brooder into a cesspit,

. Homesteady has alot of cool posts for chickens, ducks, etc. I just needed a universal brooder for all birdie babies, his idea worked for me.