bottom covering for brooder?

[Birdman18]

Hi,
Does anyone have any ideas as to what I could use to line the bottom of a brooder. I do know that the surface should not be slippery so I don't want to use newspaper. What do you think about using old towels or some kind of rag maybe, that you can get around the house?
I'm expecting a hatch in about a week and a half and just wanted to ask.

Thank You!

 

[Campesina]

I used paper towels for the first week or so.
Then I put in shelf liner (it's kind of rubbery but not slippery) and covered that with pine litter.
The litter can be changed and the shelf liner can be washed
Good luck!!!

 

[Campesina]

Sorry...Old towels sound just fine as well.

 

[Birdman18]

Thank you Campesina!

I will start looking for some old towels.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I've used paper towels on the bottom of the brooder for the first week or so both times I've had new chicks. You have to clean them pretty much daily, but since I understand that little chicks often try to eat the bedding while they are still learning about what is good to eat. After the first week or so I switched to pine shavings. They are harder to keep clean, but it worked OK to use the kind of scoop you might use to clean a cat box to remove at least some of the poop.

My the way, chicks poop LIKE CRAZY! OMG they are poopie creatures!

 

[A.T. Hagan]

I favor kiln dried pine shavings for brooder bedding. Have done about 200 chickens and turkeys this season on shavings. The same the year before and the year before that. Works great, never had a problem. Makes wonderful mulch around my blueberries afterwards.

 

[Hazard]

After the first couple of days on paper towels (just pick up and throw away) pine shavings are your best bet. They absorb, the chicks turn them all up so they always apear fresh, their cheap, and like mentioned above, simply put them in your compost (or trash bag) and your done. I should also mention that I have a large piece of cardboard under the shavings to protect my basement floor. That too can be composted or thrown away easy enoough.

A real towel is going to be a MESS for you to handle and then wash in your washing machine every couple of days.

 

[zooweemama]

we are doing papertowels with a few pine shavings on top to help cover the poop. so far so good! i am try to protect the bottom of the brooder (the tray) also so i will keep lining with the PT's no matter what but i liked the combo of the PT and shavings.

 

[Campesina]

Quote: X2 !

 

[zooweemama]

X2 !

I am so accustomed to ducks and their poop ways. As ducklings it gets flung everywhere. Up the side of the brooder and it runs down, on each others face and heads- it gets everywhere and it's wet and sloppy and I've never seen anything poop so much. So far I feel like I am on a vacation with the chicks pooping tiny little piles. Which drop on the floor rather than fly through the air and land on whatever is closest. hehe Birds poop a lot. Way more than lizards or dogs. I have a lizard that poops 3 times a week or so!