Raising chicks in your house

[beeayer]

I am interested in raising 50 birds inside my house, i live in the city so dont have much space. once they start to feather out i will put them in a coop with a light, but dont want to risk putting them out there to young.
does anyone have suggestions that would make raising a lot of chicks in an apartment easier?
thanks!

 

[silkiechicken]

A big air filter and all in one room with the door closed. They will make A LOT of dust. Mine all go out at 2-3 days old in an out door brooder. At the end of 6 weeks when I take the heat out, there is a 1/8th inch of dust on everything... no kidding.

They will grow much faster than you expect and everything will smell like chickens. Lots of cleaning will keep the smell down. The key to doing it would be to keep things contained and protect all carpet.

 

[Teach97]

wow...um...gas masks...lots of newspapers and constant changing

If you have a coop large enough for 50 birds you could make a space in it for them when they are little

 

[Ms~Silkie~Girl]

First of all i wouldn't raise that many if they were staying in my apartment, it will probably smell. If you want lots of chicks you might wanna try like 15-25 chicks. Also keep them in a brooder with a heat lamp and a top, so they can't get out.

 

[silkiechicken]

Ms~Silkie~Girl :

First of all i wouldn't raise that many if they were staying in my apartment, it will probably smell.

Actually, it will smell.

Had 12 inside for two months my first year of chicks and you could smell them though out our entire 4,400sq foot 2 story house... little birds but stunk up the whole place even with daily litter changes. Of course... you stop smelling them after a while and you're friends will notice.​

 

[Mahonri]

Oh yea. They STINK. My last hatch lasted inside for about 4 days... then they were in a makeshift brooder on the back lawn. Then it rained for a full week so I had to move them under the back porch. STINK!

At four weeks, they are back on the lawn... I have a tarp to go over the brooder if it rains again.

 

[TXmom]

You will need a huge brooder for 50 chicks...they grow so fast. I have had up to 16 chicks in my living room in a 4'x4' brooder, and they got very crowded by about 6 weeks old. In fact, at about 3-4 weeks I let them go outside to the coop and run for most of the day, then bring them back inside to sleep because the nights were cold. You would need to put them out permanently much earlier than that if there's 50 of them.

I would definitely suggest a good air purifier in the room, and lots and lots of pine shavings. Even though shavings can be dusty, at least they will control the smell pretty well.

 

[Chook-A-Holic]

Someone here at BYC recommended to me a while back about the Cozy n' Fresh pellets from TSC.(safe for all animals) They do work. I kept 22 chicks in the house for almost 5wks. and the only way that anyone knew that there was chicks in the house was the dust and the noise. They have a fresh air smell and not an odor masking per-fumy smell. I was really impressed and so was the DW. I have since made a HEPA filtering apparatus that I will try out my next hatch to combat the dust.

 

[BeardedLadyFarm]

I kept up to 7 chickens in the house at a time this spring. I couldn't wait for a warm day to drag the brooder outside! Chick poop seems more frequent and more fragrant than adult chicken poop!

If your coop is ready, I would set up your brooder in the coop. 50 is a lot, especially for in the city. I've had up to 14 in the middle of Philadelphia. Not so bad once they're outside, but it's a little gross in your own living space.

Maybe you've already ordered your chicks, but I would wait until the weather warms so they don't have to spend anymore time inside than necessary. Late April or early May would be ideal.

 

[Kimiko]

Pine shavings and air purifiers. I had 18 (don't ask, long story) in my bath room for 6 weeks. I set 2 HEPA filters on high on either end of the brooder area. Scooped daily and cleaned everything out 2-3 times a week. No one complained about smell. They do make quite a bit of dust-but the air purifiers coped with most of it (you'll need to clean the filters every 10-14 days or they get clogged).