What’s your chick set up?

[meganmtea]

Chick season is around the corner and we’re still trying to find the best set up for new chicks. We’re usually using a tub with a screened top and a heater but we’ve never found the best way to keep things clean. What does everyone else’s set up look like? Would love to see pics!

 

[debid]

Mine is outside next to the adult run. It's just a small coop with a hardware cloth enclosure that runs alongside the adult enclosure so they will see each other for weeks before having full contact. I use a heating pad that's on a wire frame for a substitute hen inside the building portion. It puts out enough heat to keep their water from freezing, too. I have a pop door cover for the first few days of homing and then give them access to their baby run. It's full surround hardware cloth so predators are not an issue. This means they don't have soil access so I have a big rubber feed bowl that I fill with dirt and grit for them.

It needs cleaned before they arrive, it doubles as emergency housing for an adult hen and was used for a few days when there was an egg eating incident. Oh, the white floor is a washing machine drip tray. The whole floor slides out to dump shavings and be washed, the building was sized to fit that. Electric comes in at the upper left corner where there is a hole just barely big enough to shove the plug for the heating pad through.

 

[Tookie]

Last time I had chicks, I kept them inside in a dog crate. I used a brooder plate and puppy pads. It was in June so I kicked them out at a few weeks old.
Puppy pads are nice and easy to clean up, and aren't like pine shavings getting everywhere. The only thing is the chicks do get messier feet.