brooder bedding

[NewChkinTown]

So I've been searching the threads and I can't seem to find a definitive answer to brooder bedding. I know it is mostly personal preference, but I like clarity. I have a friend who only uses newspaper in her brooders (but then I read it's too slippery), I google bedding and read that someone else uses plastic shelf liner and paper towel (paper towel is like gold right now, along with TP so I don't want to waste what stock I have and I don;t have shelf liner), more people on google seem to use sand (I research and find that most sand has silica, which is a carcinogen, so i dont want to use that). HELP.
Someone please lay it out for me lol. I read people like shavings/wood chips but that they are a pain to clean. I want/need something easy and simple to clean and use.

 

[Mamatomany123]

I just used wood shavings. But I also moved them outside to their coop at 2 weeks.

 

[DuckGirl77]

I've found shavings to be the simplest to keep clean since they're absorbent and stay clean for a bit longer than say, paper towels, because they get stirred up and dirt/food/droppings get mixed in. Shavings can also be spot cleaned and aren't slippery. The one issue with them is that the chicks kick them around into the food and water, so that requires some maintenance.
Paper towels are a pain because you have to use alot to keep it clean, in my experience, and that's much more expensive than wood shavings.
Since newspaper isn't very absorbent it would get nasty and like you said slippery - I wouldn't want to deal with that.
I don't know about sand, it doesn't sound too dirty but I feel like it could get too hot if you're using a heat lamp. I know some people use it though.

 

[NewChkinTown]

our local TSC carries this bedding. Not sure about it?
https://www.tscstores.com/78L-ULTIMATE-QUICKPICK-BEDDING-P33388.aspx

 

[ChickNanny13]

I start off with potty pads (not the gel type) for about a week in a plastic bin, keeping a close eye on their poop. Then switch to wood/pine shavings in my brooder which is in the patio until feathered then out to the Chicken House. While in the brooder I sprinkle PDZ under the layer of shavings, picking out the big poops & adding more shavings as needed.

 

[NewChkinTown]

I start off with potty pads (not the gel type) for about a week in a plastic bin, keeping a close eye on their poop. Then switch to wood/pine shavings in my brooder which is in the patio until feathered then out to the Chicken House. While in the brooder I sprinkle PDZ under the layer of shavings, picking out the big poops & adding more shavings as needed.

What is PDZ?

 

[drumstick diva]

I believe PDZ is something folks use in horse stalls to keep the smell down.

 

[Punkybrewster]

Dog pee pads then shavings when moved out to the coop

 

[DuckGirl77]

our local TSC carries this bedding. Not sure about it?
https://www.tscstores.com/78L-ULTIMATE-QUICKPICK-BEDDING-P33388.aspx

I'm not familiar with it but looks fine. When you get it I would just check that it's not sawdust, I don't think that's good for them. You want the flaky shavings that are absorbent but not dusty if that makes sense.

 

[50-45-1]

The main reason to put new born chicks on paper towel is that they sometimes eat the smaller flakes of wood shavings. For the first couple days it critical they eat starter feed. The newspaper is slippery and can leed to splay legs in those first days when chick joints are soft and vunerable. I use shavings after the first 3 days, then chicks are outside at 2 weeks old.