Official BYC Poll: What Bedding Do YOU Use in The Brooder?

[jreardon1918]

I brood out in my run, directly on the deep litter, with a sprinkle of aspen shavings on top just to make for a softer sleeping space under the heating pad.

I know this set up isn't for everyone, but I can't see setting up a brooder any other way. Nearly no cost (a few handfuls out of a bag of shavings is a minimal expense) and zero clean up. Even setting up is pretty easy: kick loose litter into a big pile, dragging the brooder on top of it, and that's about it.

Here's a decent look inside it, right after I "cleaned" by dragging it across the run.

View attachment 3069344

We too brood in the covered run. Deep bedding, no cleaning.
We are in SE Mass. At 10 days, they spend very little time under the MHP.

 

[DobieClose]

In the past, I’ve used pine shavings-they’re fresh and absorbent, and look nice, but are messy, and sometimes the chicks eat them.

Since this last hatch, I’m using puppy pads. I like that they’re easy to change, you can look for poop oddities easier, they’re no slip, and don’t get in the water.
Cons are that they’re expensive and don’t look nice.

Do you have change the puppie pads every day?

 

[Shugercube]

We too brood in the covered run. Deep bedding, no cleaning.
We are in SE Mass. At 10 days, they spend very little time under the MHP.

I need glasses… I thought that chick on the right was actually a hen wrapped in a white cloth with its head sticking out of it

 

[PioneerChicks]

I typically use pine shavings. Once I used pellets but wasn't a big fan.
If I'm hatching my own chicks I use paper towels for the first couple days to prevent splayed legs.
If I'm raising them out in the coop they have access to dirt too.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

For the first week or so (depending mostly on how quick I get tired of switching them out ), I keep mine on towels in the 'baby bin'. From that point until they move out to the coop, they're on pine flakes in the big brooder.

 

[Poodlemum]

Puppy pads the first few days and then pellets. I adore the pine pellets, but just can’t take the dust! We’ve switched to recycled paper pellet kitty litter and it’s been great. Minimal dust and pretty good at reducing smells

 

[jreardon1918]

Puppy pads the first few days and then pellets. I adore the pine pellets, but just can’t take the dust! We’ve switched to recycled paper pellet kitty litter and it’s been great. Minimal dust and pretty good at reducing smells

The dust from the outdoor inrun brooder, does not bother our senses. Not sure about the chicks or hens.

 

[Poodlemum]

The dust from the outdoor inrun brooder, does not bother our senses. Not sure about the chicks or hens.

We’re hoping to put together a permanent in coop brooder, but for now everything is inside. We’ve had chicks in the kitchen since the beginning of February Three brooders currently

 

[3KillerBs]

It would have been good to be able to check multiple options.

I checked "Flaked Pine Shavings" but I would have liked to say "Large Flake Pine Shavings".

And to note that I use paper towels on top for the first 3-4 days while they learn to eat feed rather than bedding.

Also, my outdoor brooder, which has no floor, is set up a bit oddly in that I lay flakes from a bale of straw directly on the ground to make a better thermal break then put shavings on top of that. But if I brood in the Little Monitor Coop I use only shavings.

What I like about shavings is that the poops dry out quickly then disappear down into the bedding so the chicks aren't constantly in their poop. When it seems dirty I can just stir it around and as they're coming to the end of their brooder time they're stirring it up themselves.

I use the paper towels for the reasons given but I'm always glad to get them out of there since they get so nasty.

 

[3KillerBs]

P.S. My brooder is MUCH larger than most setups: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/run-to-outdoor-brooder-conversion.76634/