Stinky chicks lol!

mrsherrm

In the Brooder
7 Years
Jan 9, 2013
15
0
22
What do you all use in the bottom of the brooder to keep the chicks from becoming covered in poo? Can I use cedar chips? We have about 30 chick, in a huge rubber water trough. They are about to outgrow it, but it will have to last for another week or so since its so cold out. Anyways, if y'all have suggestions in how to keep it a little cleaner that'd be great!
 
Cedar is very bad for chickens. We always use pine shavings. We only had 9 chicks, in a plastic tote type thing, and they still got stinky if we didn't change the bedding every day. You can't do anything to keep the smell down because their poop has a lot of ammonia in it. You just have to change it daily or every other day.
 
You might have better luck with pine shavings. The poops tend to get absorbed and covered up with it pretty quick, so it dries up quick and the chicks stay cleaner. I've always used pine shavings and I just sprinkle a fresh layer on each day and then totally strip it all out once a week. How often you do that will depend on the actual size of your brooder. With 30 chicks it's going to be often!
 
Ventilation can help. If you can find a way to change out the air in the brooder room often without chilling your peeps with a draft then the stink won't accumulate in stale air and the droppings may dry out faster. Gotta make sure you keep the girls warm :)
 
Keeping them warm is the main issue, it's 40* out and WINDY right now... Hoping it will really warm up next week so they can spend some time outside. :)
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom