Sawdust in Brooder?

[vegaschick]

Wondering what to use as the substrate for a brooder. Have a lot of sawdust, have some newspaper and also have a bunch of pine shavings. Which would be best?

 

[ChickenMama18]

Quote:
We started with pine shavings...but when they start scratching it gets in their water so we switched to paper. The good thing about the paper is if you put it in layers you can just remove a few off the top to clean it daily!

 

[Megs]

i started off with sawdust but it was humid with the water dish (wich was quickly filled with sawdust) and stunk quickly, i have been using paper towels (small brooder) and its much better.

 

[Gonzo]

Yeah, sawdust isn't the best thing to use... I would start with paper towels, then after a week switch over to the pine shavings. The sawdust is really messy, and small enough for them to eat it.

 

[felidaet]

I used pine shavings last year. This year I am going to use pine bedding pellets. Some of our local feed stores use these and they work great. They are much cleaner then the shavings.

 

[Karen Glatz]

"We started with pine shavings...but when they start scratching it gets in their water so we switched to paper."

I made a water bottle with a 20 oz soda bottle and a chicken nipple. Drill a hole in the bottom of the bottle and screw the nipple in, don't forget the o ring. Hang the bottle by the neck to anything handy (a dowl across the top of the brooder box, a paper clip holding it to the side - what ever).

It took about 5 seconds of 'pecking' at the sliver lever with my fingernail to teach the 2 day chicks to use the water bottle. They thought it was fun.

After that you don't have to worry about shavings or poo in the water it's always clean. Put a shallow bowl filled with shavings under the water bottle, buried to the rim in the shavings, and that will keep the rest of the shavings dry. Just empty it every day or two so it doesn't get too soggy.

Another thing I found helpful was to buy a couple of small bird cage dishes - the kind with two screws sticking out of a ring and a plate to screw it to the other side of the bars. The bowl hangs in the ring. I use large cardboard boxes to brood. Push the screws through the box at a handy height and attach. You can move it higher as they grow. I make a mash of starter crumbles and warm water and put it in the bowl. They LOVE it. If the bowl is the right height they won't walk in it and the sides will keep shavings out better than the little feed dishes with head holes that get messed up so quickly. You can even put thick sticks around the bowl to give them something to stand on as they eat, which will also keep them above the shavings.