Exactly how dusty/smelly/messy will the indoor chicks be?

[jenni2142]

I have 5 chickens in my house at the moment, they have been in here for several months. one because she is the wrong size to go with either of my coops and 2 sebrights because I hatched them in incubator too late to put them outside and the last 2 d'Anver hens because they were rejected by my sebrights outside. I built 3 cages out of pvc pipe and deer netting, they have multiple floors with peel and stick floor tiles. I put a little straw in their nesting area(cat hidey hole with shelf) and that's all. very little dust and almost no smell. their cages are swept/scraped clean daily and the mess is minimal. I tried before with bedding and the smell and dust were awful. they go outside daily to play in the 10x10x5 run(also of pvc & deer netting) and are quite happy in their cages, for now. I used the pvc and net because it is cheap, easy to build and move. I do use an odor absorber sold in the cat litter area.

 

[monarc23]

it can get gross if you have a lot in the same brooder but 8 or so in a big enough brooder, and as long as you keep the bedding dry and clean it once a week there shouldnt be any disturbing gross odor lease in my experience

 

[Sequin]

Like others have mentioned, each persons tolerance of smell and mess varies. But I have never been bothered by the smell and I don't recall any dusty mess either. Maybe some dust from cleaning the shavings, but not a whole lot from the chicks themselves. With only 3 chicks I think you will find relatively little smell or dust/mess. The older they get the more they scratch and fluff up the bedding, but again, nothing overly bothersome if you have a large enough brooder and a good system for keeping them until they are ready to move out into their new coop.

 

[Akane]

Between quail and chickens I have about 200 chicks in my house right now from 2days to 6weeks. I don't really find it a problem and kept some until they were feathered at 8 weeks because it was too cold outside. I also have some japanese bantams as house chickens and button quail in the house at all the time. They are less work and cleaner than the guinea pigs I used to have.

 

[Judy]

You got a lot of good tips. I had 51 in a spare bedroom on pine shavings for 3 weeks. The smell didn't bother me, and I never changed out the pine shavings, just added to them. I kept the window open all the time. But the dust was unbelievable.

Actually, there are a lot of recommendations on the web never to raise chicks in the house because of disease risk, but plenty of people do it anyway.

Another thought. They will want to run around and chase and and try out their wings way before 6 weeks. When I put them in the coop they were like mice, chasing each other everywhere.

I suspect they will wind up in your garage before 6 weeks! They will let you know if they are hot (lethargic, move away) or cold (piling on top of each other.)

 

[firedove]

I've got 28 - 4 week old chicks and 2 - 2 week old chicks all in my living room. They smell but as long as I keep the shavings clean it's not that bad. The dust is unbelievable though! There is a thick layer of tan dust everywhere! It builds up faster than we can get rid of it!

Unfortunately there is no power anywhere near our coop so we can't just hook up a heat lamp and kick them out. It's still below 30 most nights here. Plus my older hens would probably not like these little ones intruding on their coop and the little ones are too small still to have a chance against those girls. They are just too little to integrate right now. I hope they finish feathering quickly so we can see about getting them out there but for now, in the living room is the only option.

 

[SandRun]

have 10 Buff Orps. They were in an office/spare bedroom for the first three weeks. I had absolutely no problem with odor. I don't know if it makes a difference but I feed Dumor chick starter. TSC ran out of Dumor and I had to switch to a cheap chick feed from a feed store for a few days, and I did notice a lot of odor then. I've been back on the Dumor for about a week, and the odor is gone, again I don't know how much the feed had to do with it though. The dust was another issue. It was unbelievable, which is why they are now in my garage. It was on everything. My garage is about 25x27 and the dust covers everything.