broilers wire floor

[BirchHatchery]

i got 30 chicks in my brooder their crapping and makin bedding wet realy quik their 2 weeks old going on 3 I was wondering if they can be raised on wire floor until their featherd enuff that they don't need lamps then I drop them on the floor?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yes, they often are raised on wire for the reason you mention. You might even get some plastic bins from Walmart to put under there so you can remove the poop easier. I do something similar in my brooder and grow-out coop for my dual purpose chicks.

One potential problem with wire is that not all wire is made the same. Some can have tiny sharp points where the wire was welded that can injure their feet. If you can find plastic coated wire, you can overcome this potential problem. Not all wire has that pointy problem but some does.

I'd get wire with at least half-inch openings. With my dual purpose, somewhere around 14 weeks the poop gets big enough that it won't fall on through. I don't know how soon that will happen with your broilers they grow so fast.

 

[BirchHatchery]

i just wanted to make sure it was not going to be to hard on the breasts they probly only be on the wire for week -2 weeks at the longest. I figured it be better then laying in wet manure filled straw

 

[Coralietg]

We had our Cornish on wood shavings for the first 3 weeks. Now they are in a chicken tractor. Their sleeping area has a floor made from 1/2 inch hardware cloth. There has been no issue with the poop backing up, and no damage to their feet that I have seen.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

I brooder my chicks on 1" wire with no problems but they do seem to enjoy spending a lot of time standing & laying around on the piece of cardboard I put in there from when they were little.