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

[Shugercube]

I’m still super new to this, but right now I’m using pine shavings for my 3-weekers. It’s affordable and seems to keep up with the mess just fine- I’ve been emptying daily. I don’t like that it ends up in their food and water though…

I’ve been reading a lot of research on using sand instead- it’s antimicrobial properties, that it’s easy to scoop without having to dump the entire thing every time, that it doubles as grit, and if it gets kicked into food or water it just goes to the bottom without making a huge mess or contaminating anything. I’m interested to see how many folks here use it, and if their experience lines up with the things I’ve been reading.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

You have "sand" twice in the poll also, please add "Flaked Pine Shavings"

Oops, thank you! I couldn't seem to remove the second 'sand' one, but I added the flaked pine shavings.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

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.

 

[Cloverr39]

I use newspaper, but I heard it's slippery and can cause splayed leg, so this year I'll use paper towels, puppy pads or shavings.

 

[rosemarythyme]

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.

 

[Silkie Princess]

Puppy pads always worked best for me (for chicks under 6wks old).

Tried straw for my chicks (now POL) but it was far too aromatic and our house smelled like a stable. Sand is good too.
Maybe I'll try pine shavings next (for older chicks)

 

[Weeg]

I use wood stove pellets and love them! They work wonders for keeping the brooder clean with ducklings. I use puppy pads under that, so a little bit of both I guess. For young chicks I would probably want to either wet the pellets, and let the heat lamp dry them before putting the babies in the brooder. Then the pellets would expand some and not be so hard and slippy.
Or use a more solid surface, shavings, puppy pads, for the first week, then make the switch.

 

[Weeg]

I use wood stove pellets and love them! They work wonders for keeping the brooder clean with ducklings. I use puppy pads under that, so a little bit of both I guess. For young chicks I would probably want to either wet the pellets, and let the heat lamp dry them before putting the babies in the brooder. Then the pellets would expand some and not be so hard and slippy.
Or use a more solid surface, shavings, puppy pads, for the first week, then make the switch.

I do want to try sand though, I love that idea!

 

[Stipenvlerk]

My ducklings walk on real fine gauze and for the first week or so I put a cloth over it so their feet are protected. After there is only cloth in their sleeping space. If they get bigger they go outside on the meadow

 

[bangarain]

I use paper towels for the first week, layered so I can just remove the top one or two as needed. Then, when they’re bigger, I use pine pellets and flake shavings with PDZ mixed in, and offer a small tub of sand so they can dust bathe if they want!