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

[quackingdom]

I voted "they live outside from day 1" because that's what I usually do, but if I do have chicks inside in a brooder, I use rice hulls. I live near a rice processing plant, and they let us take the hulls almost for free. Rice hulls are a great alternative to pine shavings.

 

[TXChookstead]

Learning so much! Thanks for starting this thread.

I have used puppy pads initially, packing paper (past the first couple of weeks), then graduated them to pine shavings. But the pine shavings...ugh...so much dust. (Hoping to brood in the hoop coop once it's built, but right now they are inside.) Next experiment: sand. I have it ready to go once the current brood of ducklings is just a bit older.

I'm really intrigued by lots of things I never thought of before, though: stove pellets, hemp, etc.

For those who use sand, what is the dust level like?

 

[3KillerBs]

I voted "they live outside from day 1" because that's what I usually do, but if I do have chicks inside in a brooder, I use rice hulls. I live near a rice processing plant, and they let us take the hulls almost for free. Rice hulls are a great alternative to pine shavings.

Nothing like something locally abundant and CHEAP.

But the pine shavings...ugh...so much dust.

While some beddings may be dustier then others, the majority of the dust associated with chickens comes from the chickens themselves -- skin flakes and feather dander.

My cockatiels used to completely cover my desk with grey and yellow fuzz in just a few days between cleanings with no bedding at all in their cage. Chickens are a lot bigger and a lot dustier.

 

[ThinMintTheChicken]

I use FarmStraw for my chicks and chickens. It works great!

 

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

For brooder, with hen and chicks ... Multiple things -
Tarp
Sand mix with dirt
Straw or hay
- Tarp on base, sand and dirt mix on top of that then topped with chopped straw or hay. .. and I have just tried pine shavings and found it terrible for hens nest as the eggs kept sinking in and she couldn't keep them warm as they were stuck half sunk into her nest of shavings. I ended up putting chopped straw on top of shavings and that worked well so the eggs didn't sink down.

 

[stealthmayhem]

I use Flaked Pine shavings after the first week in the brooder. Prior to that, I use a shelf liner. I do not use shavings the first week because day-old chicks will eat ANYTHING.

 

[DavidReaves]

As I read responses, I'm adjusting my answer! I'll be adding puppy liner on top of my puppy liner and flaked pine shavings. I have the brooder on a concrete floor, so I was planning on using puppy pads on the bottom, then flaked pine as an absorbent on top of the pads. The pine shavings are also a little insulation from the concrete and help hold the warmth. With some of the other comments, y'all have helped me to decide I should add a puppy pad on top of the shavings for the first week, or two, if I have slow learners on their food. Hatch is due Friday night or Saturday!

 

[ElimAcres]

I use paper towels with flaked pine shavings underneath for padding and warmth. I like the paper towels the first 3 to 4 days because I can scatter chick starter all over it to encourage babies to eat. After about day 4 they have learned what food is and where to find it in their feeder (added about day two) and then I find it too difficult to keep the paper towels clean so I switch over to pine shavings. They are then on pine shavings from there on out. If I have it available, I will put shredded paper from old bills and junk mail under the paper towels at first but I don't always have that on hand.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

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

Exactly, I didn't want to select just one option as I use several, very similar to yours. Start with paper towels for a few days under and around MHP. Then I put flock fresh or equivalent (shorter timothy flakes,) under and around MHP. And add both pine shavings around food and rest of brooder. I even use old t-shirts on top of MHP and sometimes I put puppy pads under the entire thing just to be able to roll it all up and dump in compost. There is no "one" brooder bedding in my world, lol.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

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.

Exactly, I didn't want to select just one option as I use several, very similar to yours. Start with paper towels for a few days under and around MHP. Then I put flock fresh or equivalent (shorter timothy flakes,) under and around MHP. And add both pine shavings around food and rest of brooder. I even use old t-shirts on top of MHP and sometimes I put puppy pads under the entire thing just to be able to roll it all up and dump in compost. There is no "one" brooder bedding in my world, lol.

Edited it! You can now choose multiple.