How Do You Clean Your Brooder?

[LinckHillPoultry]

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[bamadominaker]

You guys are so funny.

We all realize we are talking about POOP.

I look at it like this, I don't really care to have it on my feet or hands but the chicks don't seem to mind so if at the end of the week I can scrape out the piles and add fresh shaving then I do. Personally I would not want to be around POOP that long, but we have a toilet, they have the whole world.

So, seriously do what you feel is best for your situation. There is a lot of information in this forum and if you tried to everything everyone else is doing it would take you forever to get it done.

Bama

 

[silkiechicken]

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Well, the first two weeks or so they don't make the place that bad, unless of course I have like 20 in it....

But by then, I just let them all out, move it over, and shuffle them back in, or let them go back in on their own.

Or... sometimes I just put them all into 5 gallon buckets, move the brooder, and put them back in. Or a duffle bag, or a box, or temp circle of chicken wire.

Depends on the weather and so on. I'm not too worried about chicks getting out from their runs and such as they don't go far, and if they did, they'll see the adult flock and high tail it back in fear of the monsters with big eyes and beaks looking straight at them.

 

[Chickaroo!]

Wow! I never expected to get so many replies! Thank you!

I only have 6 chicks so I guess it'd be safe if I cleaned it out completely (replace all the shavings) about every 2 or 3 days?

 

[cluckychick]

I mix it up everyday and take away any obvious piles. Once a week I move chicks to a temporary box and shop vac the whole thing and put down fresh

 

[playmeasong]

Our chicks arrive next week!!! I had to ask a question though: can you compost the pine shavings and poop with ordinary vegetable scraps from your kitchen? Has anyone done this, and does it compost well?

THanks,
Jen

 

[Chickaroo!]

I'm not sure Jen, but I've been giving my father-in-law my chicken's poo and sometimes it has shavings, etc. mixed in with it. He's been composting it to spread on his veggie garden he's putting in this summer.

 

[mmajw]

I clean it out totally as well as to not keep in any bacteria that may grow in shavings.

 

[Mrs MIA]

We have ours on 1/4" hardware cloth, with a scrap of linoleum underneath. Sometimes I just lay newspaper down (about 10 sheets thick) and just remove one sheet of newpaper at a time every few days. With the linoleum, I just slide the whole thing out, dump it in a bucket, and slide it back under... done!
For a few chips, the shavings are nice - when you have a lot of chicks... they turn into a poop factory, and wire is a lot easier. My 6+week olds are on 1/2" hardware cloth with dropping pans under them. Friends and neighbors like the "clean" (w/o shavings) droppings for their compost/gardens.

Well, so do we, for that matter.

 

[gumpsgirl]

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Here's a link to a thread I opened up yesterday about that very question!

Enjoy your chicks when they arrive!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=48431