I Cant stand the stink and am ready to give up!

[ChickenToes]

Use pine shavings. I had over 30 chicks in my brooder and only had to change the shavings every 4 or 5 days.

 

[orcasislandchickens]

Yes pine shavings realy help. Not all pine shavings are equal. There are small fluffy curly white ones that if you can get them are best. Then there are some that are a little more woody. They are still ok, but not as fluffy and pretty. A bale lasts a long time. DO NOT LET THEM SELL YOU CEDAR. Cedar shavings are no good for chicks. My husband told them he wanted shavings for his wife's chickens. The girl at the feedstore convinced him cedar would "smell cleaner" . I didn't harm him in any way un but I made him make a second trip to take them back and get the right ones.

 

[RickiHupp]

Quote:
LOL just had to laugh!!

 

[EliteTempleton]

Quote:
So did I.

 

[jonbanks]

i kept them in my garage ... put a light in your brooder to keep them warm put them in the garage

 

[Guinea Goonie]

If you have any kind of encloser that is outside your home, even a basement, you can set up a nice enclosed brooder with a good light sourch to keep the chicks warm. I use clear storage containers that I buy from the dollar general store or one like it. You can enclose them with a light source and change thier water, food and shavings. Don't forget about them though !!

 

[lovemychix]

Quote:
So did I.

funny!!

 

[jenni2142]

Walmart sells an odor remover in a small tub next to the kitty litter. only costs a few dollars and works wonders.

 

[Akane]

If your using an absorbent bedding like shavings and they aren't over crowded they shouldn't really smell at all. No more than any other caged pet and I find a dozen chicks smells less than 2 guinea pigs. I lay paper towels over the shavings for the first 2-4 days and then remove them. Then I clean my brooder when I upgrade them to a new one which can be 4weeks later and no one has noticed a smell in my house aside from what your just going to have with indoor pets. But I have tons of space for them. My bantam chicks didn't even really use half the space in their brooder before I moved them. My current very large standard chicks are going to be 2weeks soon and they just started spreading out to the whole brooder. I'm moving them next week to a 5x7' pen downstairs to feather out for the winter.

The same rules apply to any caged pet. If there's a lot of smell you have too many in too small of area, you aren't cleaning often enough, or you aren't use the best bedding.

 

[ChooksChick]

Another thing to check is that your feed may be so meat-based it makes their poop smellier.

If you can find a starter formula that is grain-based rather than porcine (pork) or *animal protein*, you'll notice a difference within a few days.

It's amazing how smelly the poop is when it has a lot of animal protein.