How do you clean baby chicks feet?

[TwoCrows]

You can lay a towel down over the wire in a couple places. Here is a pic of one corner of the brooder. I had just cleaned the brooder and laid a clean towel down, so that is why it looks so clean!

And you can add some snuggly places for babies all the while keeping most of them on wire...


And then as they grow you can do away with the towels completely...




Wire really is sanitary to use. It is easy to put in your brooder. As DC said, start with 1/4 as hatchlings, ( you will need to lay down paper towels to sprinkle feed on for those first few days.) and then at 3 weeks or so you can move up to 1/2 inch. I used pvc sliced into 2 inch pieces to support the wire. You can see some of them in the last pic.

 

[Sill]

TwoCrows where do you get coated wire like that? I've never seen it for sale.

 

[TwoCrows]

That sure is some nice wire isn't it! I found a roll of it at an Ace Hardware many years ago. I don't think they carry it anymore, but I think they will order it. I have used much of it and only have a tiny bit left. So I use it sparingly and use and reuse it, worship it, Hahahahaha!

Call around to the hardware stores. Even look on line. You might find a place that sells 25ft rolls that can be shipped to you.

Good luck!

 

[yallapilko]

I love the photos. Fantastic! Those three chicks all cuddled up! I'm going to try some towels and cuddly toys too. A couple of years ago I did try chicks on wire, but it was depressing to look at. I think I'll definitely give towels a go. Thanks guys!

 

[Hbarth12]

I know i love the baby chicks to

 

[TwoCrows]

Wire can seem kind of cold and harsh. But quail chicks are very susceptible to cocci and illness. Far more than chicken chicks. But they don't know the difference yet of wire verses bedding. If you keep the wire cleaned off, it is a very clean environment. You can wipe it down once a day to get most of the crud off and remove the wire and clean it when it gets really bad.

Put some pine shavings down in the bottom underneath the wire to absorb the poop and smells. Paper towels with baking soda helps too. This is the only drawback to wire is it looks messy underneath and needs more clean up. So over the years I found that putting shavings beneath to catch all the poop kept it smelling better and looked cleaner too.

 

[yallapilko]

I can't help thinking that wire is the best for cleanliness, it seems to be true. But I think that you have got it right by giving your chicks a cozy area to rest their feet. Generally I hate the idea of an unnatural environment devoid of any greenery and dusting areas for adult quail. It's nothing more than battery farming. So if I did try it again, it would be in combination with a dust bath and feet resting areas. When I tried wire the smell did get to me and I do think that your idea of putting shavings underneath the wire to absorb the poop smells is spot on, along with wiping down the wires daily.

 

[dc3085]

I can't help thinking that wire is the best for cleanliness, it seems to be true. But I think that you have got it right by giving your chicks a cozy area to rest their feet. Generally I hate the idea of an unnatural environment devoid of any greenery and dusting areas for adult quail. It's nothing more than battery farming. So if I did try it again, it would be in combination with a dust bath and feet resting areas. When I tried wire the smell did get to me and I do think that your idea of putting shavings underneath the wire to absorb the poop smells is spot on, along with wiping down the wires daily.

There are more reasons to keep game brids over wire than not. I understand it is your opinion that wire is not as cozy as having bedding but for many people it is the safest option or the only one. I know you think that it is forcing the bird to live in an unnatural environment, but however you slice it an unnatural environment is sometimes the only way to raise exotic pets safely. Quail are from arid climates where there is dry well draining soil that is completely without the bacterias, diseases, and for the most part parasites that we commonly see around caged birds. Now that you've removed them from their climate and brought them somewhere that is always pretty much the opposite climate, you'd be much safer from disease keeping your birds on wire. Not to mention all of the parasite migrators you are exposing them too that they wouldn't have normally contacted like city vermin such as rats, rats, ants, slug, termites, etc. All of those things can easily host multiple parasites and because of the way we keep our cities they are all more in contact with your birds than they ever would have been in the wild.

You feel like it's cruel to keep gamebirds over wire with no bedding. I feel like it is the safest most responsible method to care for an animal that we have removed quite far from it's natural environment. You have to look at both sides of the coin.

Just to give you an idea here is a list of common poultry diseases and parasites.

Disease index

Internal parasites

I keep my birds both ways but as you can see the "dirt floor" cages are completely artificial and the "dirt" is sterilized sand which I go to great lengths to keep clean and dry. I can tell you that over the life of a coturnix birds raised on soil are exactly the same as birds raised on wire. They don't have the mental faculty to tell the difference.

 

[Hbarth12]

Aw these chickens are so cute