Cleaning the chicken brooder

[jatsma]

Should we clean out the wood chips completely or just put more wood hips on top. And our chicks are on chicken starter and I read they don't need grit until they eat bugs and stuff is this true?

 

[kbky1973]

Just put on more chips. Deep litter is the way to go. I do this myself. Stir them up every other day , add some.

 

[kbky1973]

Feed a little chick grit on top of the starter feed along. Gets them ready.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

They are likely pecking a bit at the wood here and there, so five them grit to be safe. That's better than impacted crops!

 

[donrae]

For cleaning, go by smell. If it stinks, clean it out all the way. If it's not stinky, just not really fresh, you can add some chips.

This also depends on how large the brooder is and how many chicks are in it. And indoors or out. Folks brooding inside, in those small plastic totes, will want to do a full clean out much more often. Me, brooding in large livestock troughs in the garage, don't clean out as often.