How do you keep brooder bedding dry?

[Tarnia]

I just got my babies and put them in a 18" x 30" plastic tub for a starter brooder. Started with lots of shavings for the floor and put a small food dispenser in one corner and small water dispenser in another. Within about 30 minutes the water had leeched into almost all of the bedding.

What do you do to stop this??

 

[Kessel23]

What is a water dispenser

 

[fldiver97]

Place your waterer on a ‘platform’ so the little ones don’t kick shavings in the water. I used an old book once, another time a piece of a board. Just make sure the chickens can either hop up on the raised surface or that they can dip their beaks in to drink when standing on the ground. Are you using an open bowl/dish for water or one of the waterers made for chickens? Very young chicks can drown or if they have enough room to get into the water they can get chilled quickly

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Place your waterer on a ‘platform’ so the little ones don’t kick shavings in the water. I used an old book once, another time a piece of a board. Just make sure the chickens can either hop up on the raised surface or that they can dip their beaks in to drink when standing on the ground. Are you using an open bowl/dish for water or one of the waterers made for chickens? Very young chicks can drown or if they have enough room to get into the water they can get chilled quickly

X2, raising the waterer, and even better creating an actual platform, is a key step. Even as day olds they can hop up on raised areas

 

[llombardo]

I have switched to flax bedding for the chickrns, ducks and baby chivks. It's super absorbent. Still a battle to keep water free from them kicking it in. I always end up with the ones that kick and scratch like crazy.

 

[blackdog043]

Yep, a platform works great for keeping bedding out and the brooder dry.

 

[Tarnia]

Place your waterer on a ‘platform’ so the little ones don’t kick shavings in the water. I used an old book once, another time a piece of a board. Just make sure the chickens can either hop up on the raised surface or that they can dip their beaks in to drink when standing on the ground. Are you using an open bowl/dish for water or one of the waterers made for chickens? Very young chicks can drown or if they have enough room to get into the water they can get chilled quickly

Thanks!