Indoor baby chick raising.

[hypedanish]

My family has been keeping a small flock for about six years now, so I’m not new to raising baby chicks, but I’m looking to crowdsource ideas on how to keep them indoors in the cleanest way possible. I have eight babies coming in the mail this week. I’ll be using a brooder plate and keeping them in a bedroom in my house for a while due to the cold temps. I have used large rubbermaid tubs before, which works fine until they start trying to fly out lol. I have also used one of those foldable pop-up playpens and might go with this unless someone gives me a better idea. This seems to work pretty well, but still gets a little messy with the bedding ending up everywhere. Obviously I know that some mess is inevitable! Give me your great ideas!

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I stopped brooding indoors to avoid the mess. I’ve brooded in the garage, on my back porch (outside) and currently in my can house. If I can I use appliance boxes because they are huge and can be thrown away. I have also used wire dog kennels with cardboard taped around the outside to keep little ones from getting out. I don’t brood in my house anymore because I did it once and it grossed me out so much.

 

[NatJ]

I have used large rubbermaid tubs before, which works fine until they start trying to fly out lol. I have also used one of those foldable pop-up playpens and might go with this unless someone gives me a better idea. This seems to work pretty well, but still gets a little messy with the bedding ending up everywhere. Obviously I know that some mess is inevitable! Give me your great ideas!

Maybe a rubbermaid tub with a cover? That would probably keep the bedding in a bit better.

You still need ventilation, so for a "cover" I am thinking of something like an oven rack, or a barbecue grill, or a baby gate. Any of those can be laid across the top of the rubbermaid tub to keep chicks in. It's just a matter of getting a suitable size or combination of sizes. Or a piece of hardware cloth, and fold the edges down to make it stay in place (be careful, hardware cloth has sharp edges and I always get poked if I do something like this.)

My biggest concern with rubbermaid tubs is the size. Even the biggest of them can start to feel pretty small when you have chicks living in it for weeks. I would aim to get them outside as soon as possible.

I’ll be using a brooder plate and keeping them in a bedroom in my house for a while due to the cold temps.

What kind of temperatures are you expecting?

Sometimes you can move them out sooner if you provide more heat out in the coop. For example, a heat lamp makes too much heat for a small indoor brooder, but can be just right for an outdoor brooder in some weather. Or you might be able to use a space heater to warm their general area enough that the brooder plate can be used there.

 

[debid]

8 chicks are going to generate a HUGE amount of dust and waste in short order. What is the plan to move them in with the adults?

I ended up brooding near-coop in a second, small coop to ease integration after a particularly bad experience. If my coop were larger, I would have sectioned some of it off instead.