The smell

[ChickNanny13]

Yup, after learning of MHP any chick gets raised in my brooder which is enclosed & in my patio. I do keep them in house the first 1 - 2wk to keep an eye on issues & it's daily changes sometimes 2x of their disposable pads. Feeding them FF & having the Horizontal Water Nipple set up is a MAJOR PLUS. Cute goes only so far when having to deal with the dust! Smell not an issue with FF

 

[NancyNurseCxMama]

We had seven chicks in our office for eight weeks---we were working on the run and it took longer than we expected.
First a plastic tote brooder, heat lamp, etc. Cleaned daily at first and then twice daily. Not too bad, aroma-wise. First paper towels, then paper towels with pine flakes, then just flakes over newspaper (easy roll-up). Sweet PDZ sprinkled over all.
They graduated to the bottom half of an XXL airline dog crate with a perch. All heck broke loose with the testing of wings, chest bumping, leaping to the tops of the chick waterer and feeder. Feeling their oats. Poop fest---cleaned out major poop several times a day, water changed several times a day. Full cleaning every other day using white vinegar. All shavings dumped every other day followed by a few inches of fresh shavings and Sweet PDZ.
Honestly, not much of a stink at all. But the dust was INCREDIBLE!!!
My office furniture is dark---"Espresso." Hahahahaha.
I ended up having to vacuum it all and then covered it with sheets in week 2. It looked like a summer house closed up for the winter.
This was my first bunch of chicks as all of you experienced chick raisers could probably tell. I plead ignorance. Go ahead and laugh.
My chicks are eleven weeks old now, happy in their coop and run. I use Sweet PDZ in their poop trays and do a full cleanout of poop every few days. I swear that there is virtually no stink at all. And yes, they POOP. There is at least a Costco-sized bag of chicken-generated Tootsie Rolls in my bucket when I am done but NO STINK.
Would I raise chicks again? Yeah, I would. There was some sadness---we lost a sweet girl---but I loved raising those funny little girls. I would do it in that office, too---I go into it now and it brings back such memories, sad and sweet.
But oh the DUST!!
Note to self: Cover the furniture BEFORE you get the chicks!

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

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.

They are big enough 2 weeks ago...

Good luck

Gary

 

[ChickNanny13]

We had seven chicks in our office for eight weeks---we were working on the run and it took longer than we expected.
First a plastic tote brooder, heat lamp, etc. Cleaned daily at first and then twice daily. Not too bad, aroma-wise. First paper towels, then paper towels with pine flakes, then just flakes over newspaper (easy roll-up). Sweet PDZ sprinkled over all.
They graduated to the bottom half of an XXL airline dog crate with a perch. All heck broke loose with the testing of wings, chest bumping, leaping to the tops of the chick waterer and feeder. Feeling their oats. Poop fest---cleaned out major poop several times a day, water changed several times a day. Full cleaning every other day using white vinegar. All shavings dumped every other day followed by a few inches of fresh shavings and Sweet PDZ.
Honestly, not much of a stink at all. But the dust was INCREDIBLE!!!
My office furniture is dark---"Espresso." Hahahahaha.
I ended up having to vacuum it all and then covered it with sheets in week 2. It looked like a summer house closed up for the winter.
This was my first bunch of chicks as all of you experienced chick raisers could probably tell. I plead ignorance. Go ahead and laugh.
My chicks are eleven weeks old now, happy in their coop and run. I use Sweet PDZ in their poop trays and do a full cleanout of poop every few days. I swear that there is virtually no stink at all. And yes, they POOP. There is at least a Costco-sized bag of chicken-generated Tootsie Rolls in my bucket when I am done but NO STINK.
Would I raise chicks again? Yeah, I would. There was some sadness---we lost a sweet girl---but I loved raising those funny little girls. I would do it in that office, too---I go into it now and it brings back such memories, sad and sweet.
But oh the DUST!!
Note to self: Cover the furniture BEFORE you get the chicks!

PDZ is GREAT stuff!

 

[Folly's place]

I'd have been in deep trouble inhaling that dust!!! You can sit with the chicks outdoors, and not offend your lungs like that. Eight weeks inside? Yuck! Mary

 

[NancyNurseCxMama]

I'd have been in deep trouble inhaling that dust!!! You can sit with the chicks outdoors, and not offend your lungs like that. Eight weeks inside? Yuck! Mary

Yep, eight weeks inside! More than I thought it would be but it's over now, thank goodness!
I did a cleanup of the dust twice a day---sweeping, then damp rags followed by dry rags. Pretty amazing how fine that dust was.
Once I got the sheets on the furniture it was better but yeah....yuck!

 

[debid]

I'd have been in deep trouble inhaling that dust!!! You can sit with the chicks outdoors, and not offend your lungs like that. Eight weeks inside? Yuck! Mary

It really can't be good for your health to breathe that.

I put the first batch of chicks I ever had on our porch so I could visit them easily. I was using a heat lamp and it made me super nervous but mostly they were outside for dust reasons. But, after seeing the side-by-side brooding advantages, I just suck it up and brave the spring chill now. And the MHP doesn't need the level of monitoring that the lamp did.

 

[JaeG]

I keep caged birds as well as have brooded chickens inside - the bantams for longer than the large breed I have to say! Proportionally I'd say chickens are pretty average dust producers and they are growing feathers so all that casing from their pin feathers has to go somewhere.

We've had a cockatoo in the past and he was a dust machine! For their size cockatiels produce an awful amount of dust too. But it's what you choose to live with and control if you enjoy keeping them, just like dog hair or cat hair.