Brooder bedding?

[BrickWall Honey]

Do not use pellets made for pellet stoves, they often have binding agents added in.

I'm not aware of any binding agents used in pure wood pellets. Wood pellets are made using the high pressure of the press that causes the temperature of the wood to increase and the natural lignin plasticizes slightly forming a natural "glue" that holds the pellet together as it cools.

As 1Muttsfan says I would not use any pellets that had unknown or unnatural binding agents in them, which you may find with biomass or wood debris pellets. So your probably better off if your getting pellets to go to a pet supply or TSC livestock section.

 

[Secretlyspotted]

Oooo- that is a good idea about the plastic wrap. I will definitely do that!!

 

[ChickCrazed]

The pelleted horse bedding seems like a great idea! A lot less dust! I will have to pick some up!

 

[SwedishDude99]

I have heard that sand is a good bedding choice. I've never personally tried this, but has anyone else? I would be curious to know how much dust that would create outside of the brooder. Cleaning would be much easier, you could just scoop it like a litter box. The smell would also be extremely minimal.

 

[CarlieO]

I just went through this! I hatched some chicks and had them in a brooder in our basement. I used pine shavings. After 3 weeks our 3000 square foot house stunk of chick so bad! I had been cleaning the brooder frequently by removing the large soiled matter and replaced it with clean shavings. Our basement is completely closed off from the rest of our house. Our basement was covered in dust, too, from the shavings. I will NEVER use shavings again. We evicted them from the house last night and put them in the barn; they're only 3 weeks old but they're doing great.

I'm going to try drawer liner for my next hatch this weekend. I've read that people use that and all they have to do is take them out, rinse them off, and let them dry then put them back. It sounds much easier and much cleaner than shavings. I think I'll put puppy pads under the drawer liner to keep the bottom of the brooder clean.

Just wanted to share my experience and some ideas. Good luck!

 

[MrsBachbach]

I have heard that sand is a good bedding choice. I've never personally tried this, but has anyone else? I would be curious to know how much dust that would create outside of the brooder. Cleaning would be much easier, you could just scoop it like a litter box. The smell would also be extremely minimal.

I'm not sure sand is a good idea with chicks. I would be afraid they would eat too much of it and impact their crop or gizzard. I give parakeet grit (sand) to my chicks for the first couple of weeks, but only a little at a time because they literally tear into it and eat every last grain. I'm sure they would keep on going if I filled their cup up. I've seen them eat the finer stuff from shavings also which is why I provided the grit. Otherwise, they shouldn't need it if crumbles is all they ingested. But they always seem to find something to eat they shouldn't be. I've even seen them eat hay when they reach about three to four weeks old, so don't put them on that either! Major crop problems then. I would have to say, after using it a couple of years without serious problems, to use large flake pine shavings and give them chick grit a few times a week.

 

[MrsBachbach]

I just went through this! I hatched some chicks and had them in a brooder in our basement. I used pine shavings. After 3 weeks our 3000 square foot house stunk of chick so bad! I had been cleaning the brooder frequently by removing the large soiled matter and replaced it with clean shavings. Our basement is completely closed off from the rest of our house. Our basement was covered in dust, too, from the shavings. I will NEVER use shavings again. We evicted them from the house last night and put them in the barn; they're only 3 weeks old but they're doing great.

I'm going to try drawer liner for my next hatch this weekend. I've read that people use that and all they have to do is take them out, rinse them off, and let them dry then put them back. It sounds much easier and much cleaner than shavings. I think I'll put puppy pads under the drawer liner to keep the bottom of the brooder clean.

Just wanted to share my experience and some ideas. Good luck!

They can get smelly, no matter how hard you try. Make sure you provide a heat lamp for those babies outside or they will chill and die. It will only take a few nights and they will go downhill. Three weeks is not nearly old enough to be without a heat source. They have to fully feather out and that is usually at six to eight weeks old. Use some hot water bottles in a small enclosed area if you don't have an electric heat source.

 

[CarlieO]

They can get smelly, no matter how hard you try. Make sure you provide a heat lamp for those babies outside or they will chill and die. It will only take a few nights and they will go downhill. Three weeks is not nearly old enough to be without a heat source. They have to fully feather out and that is usually at six to eight weeks old. Use some hot water bottles in a small enclosed area if you don't have an electric heat source.

Excellent advice. They had a heat lamp in their brooder while in our basement and they still have it in the barn; in fact I lowered it even further down. The part of the barn they're in is completely 100% enclosed and free of drafts. I visited a breeder in our area last week and he puts his chicks (minutes/hours old) in a brooder in his barn and has never lost one. And he leaves the doors open on both ends of the barn 24/7. I figured, my chicks are 75% feathered out so I don't see why they can't go out now. We've been free from the deep freeze the rest of the US has been experiencing (thankfully) so it won't get too cold outside. Not much colder than our poorly-insulated basement.

I will certainly be checking on them religiously throughout the upcoming days and if I see any signs of impairment I will bring them back inside; reluctantly. It's been a learn-as-I-go and stalk-BYC-for-good-info trial and error experience for me up to this point as it was my first incubation and hatch. I'm certainly open to any and all advice and I appreciate yours! I will keep a very watchful eye on them in the coming days!!

 

[Faerie]

Would it be ok to just use paper towels for the bedding?

 

[Brookshire11]

My mom uses softwood pellets for cat litter and raves about it lol

I do layers of shelf liner and paper towels. Shelf liner on the bottom, a decent layer of paper towels, then another sheet of shelf liner.
I clean every other day: just peel the shelf liner off, shake it off in the trash, replace the paper towels, and lay down another shelf liner. Then I throw the old one in the washer with some bleach. I have my babies in the living room and really haven't noticed much of a smell yet. I'll have to change my method soon because they've out grown their current brooder.
As far as sand..I've heard the same about them eating too much. I also heard it's more likely to harbor E. Coli