Hubby wonders if I'm cleaning the brooder too often

[NightingaleJen]

Here they are happily playing in the coop. I thought they'd like the colourful box, and maybe even run through it (I having torn the top and bottom flaps off). Reality: They pecked and pecked at all of the colours before leaping atop and crushing it. Then they pecked and pecked at it some more, fluffed about in the coop, and then all went to sleep on top of it.

Not sure if that's a win or not, really.

 

[gtaus]

Not sure if that's a win or not, really.

Count everything as a win, it makes life with chickens more enjoyable.

I tried a number of chicken toys for my chicks and they really did not care about anything I had to offer. I put a mirror in their brooder and they could care less. I guess my girls are not very vain. I put some plastic "cat" toy balls with bells inside them and my chicks would not even peck at them. They just seemed to be annoyed that they had to run around those stupid toy balls. Unless it was something good to eat, my chicks had really no use for toys.

What my chickens do like is a big tall pile of leaves. They will happily tear it all apart in almost no time. Same thing with a pile of grass clippings. But in both cases they look for bugs and other good things to eat. They do enjoy scratching and pecking any pile. They also enjoyed the pallet compost bin I put in the chicken run. It has a half top and half front. They enjoy jumping on the half front, up to the side piece, or perching on top of the compost bin. The half top provides nice shade on a hot day and sometimes I will see them all resting in the compost bin under the shade of the top piece.

I used to throw kitchen scraps into the compost bin in the chicken run, and they loved that. But over time the chickens scratched up all the grass in the chicken run down to bare dirt. I just decided to make the whole chicken run a deep litter composting system. Now all my kitchen scraps just get thrown into the run wherever I want the chickens to scratch up the area more. I throw all my leaves in the chicken run in the fall, all my grass clippings get bagged up in the summer and dumped in the run, and I throw a layer of wood chips in the run every few months. All that stuff they love to scratch and peck and turn into compost for me. I will be "harvesting" my chicken run compost this fall and put it out into the garden to winter over in place. Should provide a nice jump start for the plants next spring.

 

[RRM]

@RRM, do you put the sand in your run, too?

Yes, we use sand in the run and in the coop also.

 

[NightingaleJen]

What my chickens do like is a big tall pile of leaves. They will happily tear it all apart in almost no time. Same thing with a pile of grass clippings. But in both cases they look for bugs and other good things to eat. They do enjoy scratching and pecking any pile.

This is so true! And since we are in the woods, it is all too easy to give them a small pile of leaves to tear into. They love it. Now, with the colours beginning to change a bit, they especially enjoy finding the yellowest leaves and running away from each other, peeping madly. (Funny, I thought they'd prefer the reddish ones, but...it's only August.) It's hilarious!

Nice "compost run" idea. That's not a bad one at all!

Thanks, @RRM! We have pondered that. Of course the local coffee shop is a roaster, too, and they have chaff...we've considered tossing that in. Maybe not as fun for the birds to dig through, though, and almost certainly not as simple to keep clean. I'd worry about it kind of matting down when wet, too.

 

[LizThumm]

He claims I work too hard...

Our twelve, week old on Monday chicks have a brooder in the coop that is about 8x3 with an elevated feeder and two elevated waterers. Every other day I round the chicks up into a towel-lined box, remove all the (large pine shaving) bedding to the compost pile or just toss it into the run area, scrub everything down with soapy vinegar, wipe it all dry, then reassemble the brooder before adding new shavings, putting everything back inside, and putting the chickies back in.

Every day, I wash and refill the waterers, remove and replace any wet bedding beneath the nipple waterer, remove/replace any noticably dirty bedding throughout the day, and wipe away droppings on the frame edges of the brooder (it is built into the coop; still not sure if deeper litter is okay at this point). View attachment 2263630

Thoughts? We are both curious.

I have three chicks and a small house and run. I change the roost about twice a week and the hay downstairs I add hay two to three times a week then once every two weeks or depending on rain I change the hay. The roost is lined with pine. Anyway I clean their water everyday and do check it twice a day to get the rubbish out.

 

[RebekahTN]

Thoughts? We are both curious.

It depends on how much YOU enjoy doing it. It's more than what is needed, but if you are loving spending the time with them, then do it. I would say you could go at least a week spot cleaning like you are on your "off days" and a deeper weekly cleaning. Personally, I go longer than that between deep cleaning. I empty out all the shavings about every week or so and deep clean between each batch. However mine are usually only in the brooder areas for 4 weeks or so depending on their size then they move up to a bigger grow out pen that is outside for a few weeks, and then down closer to the big chickens but in a separate area (chicken tractor) so that they can see the big chickens but the big chickens can't get to them.
Then there are the hen raised babies that are out there with the big chickens from day one acting like the rule the barnyard because their parents have told everyone to leave them alone and they mean it.
It's funny to see day old chicks running the barnyard while 12 - 14 - 16 week old chicks are still being babied in the house or in the grow out pens.

 

[RebekahTN]

My chicks are now 2 weeks old and they seem to be on top of the plate a lot - I wonder if they are warming up their feet or if they just like being on top to play.

The top of the plate doesn't get hot or even warm, so I don't think they are warming their feet. They are just playing I would say, and getting a better view of where they can jump/fly to. Mine like to use it as a launch pad to get into trouble. I have one of those nipple waters (GREAT and highly recommended for less water mess). They like to jump on top of the waterer and then launch them self out of the brooder. When they start doing that it's time to move to the grow out pen.

 

[RebekahTN]

I do this to trap the heat coming off the plate instead of it all just going out the wire bottom. The tiles probably wouldn't be necessary if I brooded inside.

I assumed you were using them to keep the pine shavings from falling through the wire when I read your first comment rather than to try to trap heat. If you go back to the manufacturer's website or in the paperwork that came with it, it will explain better than me how the heat from these work. It doesn't really put off enough heat to make a difference in the air around it. What it does is the bottom of the plate itself gets hot and the chicks go under it and their backs are against the heat plate or near it and they get the warmth from that. If you put your hand on the heat plate it will feel hot to the touch, but if you put it even just a few inches away you will not feel "radiating heat" coming from it or on top of it.
They recommend having 2 of the feet lower than the other 2 so the chicks have an option as to how close to the heat plate they are and to accommodate different sizes in chicks. They will huddle together under there as well. I have been using them for several years and LOVE them much better than heat lamps.