How do I clean my brooder when it starts to get smelly?

[ChickForLife]

Okay, maybe I'll clean it now, Thank you all!!!

 

[Rainwing]

for my brooders i clean them daily, dump it all out into their run, and then i hose it down along with some dish soap, then i put new bedding. i have to do this because my family has pneumonia. not covid-19, just pneumonia.
at 2 weeks old or thereabouts when it was warm outside i'd clean the brooder while they ran around and played, instead of putting them in a separate box

 

[ChickForLife]

How much pine shavings do you need? That sounds expensive!!

 

[Friendly_Lurker]

I don’t clean mine every day but when they can’t stand on clean shavings then you need to change it.

 

[Rainwing]

How much pine shavings do you need? That sounds expensive!!

we don't have spare money so for the first week we used pine shavings and newspaper, then afterwards we used weeds and grasses from the garden as bedding, along with some dirt. they liked it for scratching and it kept smell down. smelled like fresh earth. the chicks are in the coop right now and they don't have foot problems from it. wouldn't do it if tapeworms are an issue but in my yard i've never had an animal get tapeworms.

 

[rosemarythyme]

My first brooder set up, I was doing a full clean out every 3 days. Once they got older, like 4 or 5 weeks, it was every day. I think that's about as long as you can wait before it gets unreasonably funky (this was a pretty oversized area too... 3 chicks in a bathtub.)

My current set up, I don't clean out at all. My brooder sits outside on the ground. To "clean" I simply move it to a new patch of ground, and the hens come and kick everything around. Voila! Cleaned up!

 

[Mamatomany123]

How much pine shavings do you need? That sounds expensive!!

1 bag of shavings lasted me until they were 6 weeks old. They're only $5 at tractor supply. Now 1 bag fills my entire coop but I havent needed to replace that yet and it's been a month.

 

[ChickForLife]

we don't have spare money so for the first week we used pine shavings and newspaper, then afterwards we used weeds and grasses from the garden as bedding, along with some dirt. they liked it for scratching and it kept smell down. smelled like fresh earth. the chicks are in the coop right now and they don't have foot problems from it. wouldn't do it if tapeworms are an issue but in my yard i've never had an animal get tapeworms.

When can I give them the sod, like how old?

 

[Rainwing]

When can I give them the sod, like how old?

2 or 3 weeks. make sure you know the plants that you are throwing in. i threw in a sprig of mint along with the leaves too. mint isnt poisonous.

 

[bluemtnwmn]

I've been using the deep litter method in my brooder. I currently have 17 chicks in the house and haven't had any scent issues. I add a small layer of pine chips every day. I did have to clean it out when my chicks were 3 weeks old but that was because the chips were about 6" deep and the chicks needed the head room since I also had to cover their brooder when they started trying to fly out. (My brooder is about 20" tall, maybe it should have been taller but it is what it is.)