Exercise Pen with Tarp as Brooder

[Miss Lydia]

I bought puppy pads at Sams club. I have used towels too you may get by with 2x a day with puppy pads but with 10 I am thinking 4 at least but I am a clean freak with my brooder and coops. I don’t use shaving at first because they will try an eat anything till they learn where their feed is an what’s not to eat.Towels are nice because they help with traction an can be washed an reused. After a couple weeks thick pine shavings can be used.

 

[Madi131]

I used one very similar. I just put the tarp under it, I didn't clamp it around the sides. We switched out tarps about twice a week. Right now I'm using a brooder I bought from buchiets that was on sale. It doesn't have a bottom. So I use those cheap plastic table clothes for the bottom. I have some pine shavings in the bottom. I have 10 silkies in there right now, but they're only 3 weeks old so I can get away with changing it out once a week. For ducks, well our ducklings were nasty. They still are. Don't get me wrong I love our ducks, but their poop is like water. You would probably want to clean it a few times a week. Just so they aren't sitting in their own poop.

 

[DuckyDonna]

I do the puppy pads too but I put them on top of pine shavings. Clean up is a snap and I use a kiddie pool for a brooder especially with 10. I hatch when the weather is warm though and I'm in Georgia!

If I were you, and I realize I'm not, I'd schedule the delivery for May sometime. When I hatch I start the beginning of May so they hatch the beginning of June and by that time our weather is nice and warm so I don't have to worry with heat lamps and such but for a day or two.

 

[chickens really]

Hey Hey! I've been checking out different brooder solutions on here and I saw this one:
View attachment 2021845
I have one of these baby gate playpens and several tarps. Those of you who have done this and just unhooked the tarp and took it outside to clean off, did you have more than one tarp and swap out when you were cleaning one? I'm trying to envision where the ducks would be when cleaning out the tarp. If I have more than one tarp, I was thinking that I'd unhook one, move the gate over to a clean one, re-clip it, and then hose off/clean the other one. I'd just keep swapping it out. Does that make sense? Any other suggestions? I'm so new to this and trying to find the best solutions. Thanks!

That's just fine.

 

[Dougdilman]

That's just fine.

i like it alot too! The wife is going to kill me when she sees that setup in the house