NEVER use a kiddie pool as a brooder.

[jeremy]

Trust me. It's cute for like the first week, or two. You get to be really close to your babies, seeing them develop right before your eyes. But before you know it, when your chicks are a month old and decide that hopping out of the brooder and pooping all over your bedroom floor is their favorite past time, the cute factor quickly disappears.

All of my chicks I'm sure think they're names are a few choice four letter words...

 

[gritsar]

Which is why we built a tall draft guard around our kiddie pool brooder. Sure it kept the drafts out, but it also kept the chicks in.

 

[Fort Orpington]

Ewww...that wouldn't be pleasant. We used a kiddie pool for 35 chicks last year, but after the first week put a ring of 2ft tall chicken wire around it. And then after that, we made a top for it because it doesn't take long until they are able to fly. Ummm....why would you have them in your bedroom? They create a tremendous amount of dust. We had ours in our workshop for all of 6 weeks and the layer of dust on everything was pretty thick.

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
Which why I built a 4 x 3 x 2 wheeled cage that serves as a brooder-growing cage.
It is also the sort of thing one keeps out of the house, being made of wood and wire. Im one of those that reckons out-of-the-house is where chickens belong.

 

[kathyinmo]

Jeremy,
You have month old chicks in your bedroom? OMG, that would be enough to make me go crazy in itself! You silly man!

Hope all your chicks are doing well for ya!

 

[scrambledmess]

Too funny! So you have bleep, bleep and BLEEP...

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
And, "OH bleep!"

 

[jeremy]

Quote:
It was sort of an emergency situation, the chicks all of a sudden were here and the brooder wasn't ready. So the kiddie pool was only suppose to be temporary... I should have added that they are in the guest bedroom, not where I sleep. I made that mistake last year and decided that I didn't want to be covered in pine dust every morning when I woke up. L0L.

Quote:
Tried that. I used cardboard presentation boards (like for school projects) and made a circle around the entire thing. The chicks still jump up on the side of the pool and then flap up like crazy until they reach the top of the cardboard... then they go over...

Quote:
Yes, this is very true. I could never have "house chickens", I would go insane! We are building a more permanent brooder this weekend (as soon as Home Depot opens tomorrow!) and moving the chicks to the garage.

 

[prncssprplfrog]

Mine have been in my room for 3 weeks now. I switched to a red light which saved me a LOT of missed sleep. Even a 42 gallon rubbermaid tub can be flown out of if left uncovered & that's 2 feet high. I ended up with a chick on my bed peeping at me. They are going in the shed on Sunday when I have the time to move them. I will move the newborns up in my room until they get a bit older because NY weather has tanked again & I worry even though the shed is insulated.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

You have month olds in your bedroom. You sure are brave. We got chicks early in Feb. one yr and had them in the basement for three months. OMG the dust they created was unbelievable. It was all over everything.