The smell

[NCclucking]

I have 16 chicks that are 2 weeks old, they are pooping machines, any suggestions on how to combat the smell. They're in my back room til they are big enough to go outside.

 

[lazy gardener]

I use deep litter in my brooder. Simply keep topping it off every few days. But, after brooding my first batch of chicks inside, I swore I'd never brood chicks in the house again. Too much dander, too much smell, too much noise. Too much disruption of my living space. Too hard on my asthma. If your coop is built for it, you can easily brood your chicks right in the coop. I start them in the garage for the first 48 hours or so, then it's out to the coop with their heating pad system.

 

[jeria]

I'm using pine shavings and little order, they are in my laundry room. Closed off from the house due to my cat and 2 dogs.

 

[Folly's place]

Move them outside! Mine go into my 'coop annex' which is in my coop, separated by hardware cloth from the big birds, with their own heat source, food, and water, until they are five or six weeks old, fully feathered, and ready to go outside with the flock. The little guys still come into their are at night for another month or three, until they are bigger and integrating well. Mary

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

What are the dimensions of your brooder? Generally smell comes from overcrowding, wet bedding and/ or inadequate housekeeping. As noted above, brooding outside the house is a great way to go.....

 

[azygous]

They don't need to be in your house! Move them outside. There's no law that says you have to brood in a box in your house.

Click on the link below on the article about outdoor brooding. It has photos of what brooding outside in a run looks like. Tons of room and the smell and mess is all outside where it belongs. Lots of other benefits, too.

I'm also one who uses the heating pad system, and it makes brooding outside very safe and easy.

 

[peeper89]

to get ride of smell in house put chick outside!

 

[debid]

Ditto everyone who said brood outdoors in a secure coop. I also use the mama heating pad method which is perfect for managing temperature swings. The chicks get only as much heating as they need and a lot more chicken experience. If they're housed near some adults, it's the next best thing to having a broody raise them and makes joining the adults much easier.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I think everyone underestimates just how much dust and smell a few baby chicks can produce the first time they try brooding inside the house. They really do nothing but poop, eat and sleep. If you're not ready to move them out yet (i.e. coop isn't ready) you'll just have to keep cleaning the brooder as often as needed (bedding too soiled or wet) and put up with the mess that comes with brooding indoors, then put them outside once they're sufficiently feathered out and your coop is ready to go.

 

[feather13]

Thank you for this thread! We've always kept baby chicks in the house and it's unpleasant. We don't like to keep pets in the house at all because of the smell, fur/feathers, constant cleaning. We're lucky right now that we have a new enclosed patio, but I'm now inspired to put them in the coop to acclimate them to other hens. We have a small coop with a run inside the bigger coop, so they would be secure and not in direct contact with the older birds. We don't have electricity in the coop, but we can shut them up in the small coop at night and I think that will keep them warm enough since all but one are feathered already.