Should I replace my brooder?

[featheredroots]

As some of you already know, we lost all our chicks last week to what we assume was a vitamin deficiency.

I was just going to clean the brooder and leave it outside for a few days before getting it ready for the new batch coming next week, but my husband thought maybe we should just replace it with a new plastic tote, just incase we're wrong about what made them sick. I hate to get rid of a perfectly good brooder, but I also don't want to lose more chicks. I'd love to hear other's opinions on what would be the best way to go.

 

[Wyogirl]

What kind of a brooder do you have??? I would just spray some bleach water, let it sit out and it should be good.
Maybe a picture?
Ayda

 

[featheredroots]

What kind of a brooder do you have??? I would just spray some bleach water, let it sit out and it should be good.
Maybe a picture?
Ayda

Sorry the pics not great, but it was the best I had. It's just a plain plastic tote with the top cut out. I was thinking that I could leave it right in the tub, and fill it with hot bleach water and also soak all the feeders and brooder scoop at the same time. Then I'll spray the tub, and brooder top with bleach water also. I know bleach fumes can be toxic to chickens, but I'm hoping a week out in the fresh air will rid the tote of any lingering bleach smell.

 

[cockadoodle]

Brooder looks fine to me, probably better than mine. Just curious, what makes you think vitamin problems? I haven't seen your other thread, so maybe there's more info there.. Anyways, good luck and I agree with bleach, spray bottle, mist it down, maybe wipe it down too with some paper towels, etc,, repeat, let it sit for an hour or so and really rinse it out well, should kill anything in there to the point of being able to eat off it yourself. I'm not a fan of plastic totes myself, but it certainly has worked for a ton of people.

 

[Dutch552]

Spray with bleach water and scrub it, then allow the bleach water to DRY-this is what will kill any harmful pathogens that might be on the plastic. Then rinse it out with lots of clean water-like in the bathtub or garden hose and dry it out with some paper towels. Throw some chick saver in the water for your next batch to rule out the vitamin theory.

 

[featheredroots]

Brooder looks fine to me, probably better than mine. Just curious, what makes you think vitamin problems? I haven't seen your other thread, so maybe there's more info there.. Anyways, good luck and I agree with bleach, spray bottle, mist it down, maybe wipe it down too with some paper towels, etc,, repeat, let it sit for an hour or so and really rinse it out well, should kill anything in there to the point of being able to eat off it yourself. I'm not a fan of plastic totes myself, but it certainly has worked for a ton of people.

Thanks.

I'm not a fan of plastic either, but we needed something with a lid that would fit in the tub to keep the dogs and cats from harassing or possibly eating all the chicks. This seemed to be the best option, and worked great for the first two batches of chicks, so I was hoping I could keep it.

I'm still so new to chickens that I only know what I'm told, the advice and opinions I received here, and from the guys at the feed store, was vitamin deficiency. The feed store guys also thought that because we were using galvanized food and water dishes that it could have been heavy metal poisoning, and that a deficiency could have caused the chicks to be unable to remove the metal toxins. Again, I really don't know, it's just another theory.

I'm going to clean the brooder and dishes(plastic, no more galvanized) thoroughly, get new feed, a new bag of bedding, and start adding vitamins to the water right from the start. Hopefully things will be ok this time.