Sanitizing a Brooder

[RodNTN]

Okay, so I have a big wooden brooder that I raise chicks in at least once a year. I have kept one hen in it this year, just had a vent problem (had to do with egg laying issues, nothing contagious).
So what should I sanitize with? Is bleach water safe? I plan to keep chicks in it in March/April.

Thank you so much in advance!

 

[imnukensc]

I'd just spray it with bleach and let it dry naturally. It's not gonna hurt the chicks even if you were to put them in a couple of days later.

 

[jdw]

we bleach,pressure wash and then let the sun do its magic. we do several batches per year in our brooder 100 at a time. we also sanitize our tractors the same way in between batches. some might consider this excessive.just my 2 cents and knock on wood ,have had 0 issues

 

[lazy gardener]

Bleach is a wonderful sanitizer, as long as you let the bleach smell totally dissipate before using it. You don't need a very strong solution. Beware, bleach is very toxic to the microbes in your soil. If you dump the bleach water outside, do it where you won't be harming the soil life. To that end, I'd wash the brooder well, then lightly spray it with a bleach solution, paying special attention to the cracks.

 

[jdw]

we mix a 10% solution and used a sprayer as was mentioned. too strong of a mixture i understand is counter productive. we have a gravel area where we do all of our sanitizing . processing equipment, mobile brooder and the chicken tractors. and wait until the sun has dissipated any odor of cleaning solution, and have made the mistakes of performing the cleaning on good pasture . not cool

 

[RodNTN]

I'd just spray it with bleach and let it dry naturally. It's not gonna hurt the chicks even if you were to put them in a couple of days later.

Okay, thank you so much! Just wanted to make sure that it was safe.

we bleach,pressure wash and then let the sun do its magic. we do several batches per year in our brooder 100 at a time. we also sanitize our tractors the same way in between batches. some might consider this excessive.just my 2 cents and knock on wood ,have had 0 issues

Thanks!

Bleach is a wonderful sanitizer, as long as you let the bleach smell totally dissipate before using it. You don't need a very strong solution. Beware, bleach is very toxic to the microbes in your soil. If you dump the bleach water outside, do it where you won't be harming the soil life. To that end, I'd wash the brooder well, then lightly spray it with a bleach solution, paying special attention to the cracks.

Will do! We just mixed a bit of bleach in a spray bottle filled with water.

we mix a 10% solution and used a sprayer as was mentioned. too strong of a mixture i understand is counter productive. we have a gravel area where we do all of our sanitizing . processing equipment, mobile brooder and the chicken tractors. and wait until the sun has dissipated any odor of cleaning solution, and have made the mistakes of performing the cleaning on good pasture . not cool

Thank you!