What to do with this litter?

[HELPPLS]

Cool. We need to get brooder box ideas. I hate to build a small wooden box. I know we would like to try our hand at Cornish X and I want to have something that is enough room for any breed of bird we get. We have a few different breeds and I have 1 chick that isn't feathering much, much slower than the rest and is easily bullied. We lost which kind was which in picking them out. It is also smaller than the rest of them and growing slower. Its active and eats well and seems healthy but very docile and doesn't challenge any of the others very much. Like the runt of the litter, so to speak. I hate to brood it by itself but if it doesn't start catching up soon then I may have to do that. Its already a weenie and I'm afraid if I take it out of the group for a couple of extra weeks and then put it out with the rest when it is ready, they will beat it up. My others will easily be ready to go out in a couple of weeks with a small light on. Thank you for all of your advice. I did just the pine shavings with no PDZ and no DE and my head isn't killing me today so I think that helped. Thanks.

 

[backintime]

I live wayyyyy up north in northern Wisconsin and keep my chicks in a refrigerator box (turned sideways, with no top - entails quite a bit of cutting and duct taping to re-design the box for use on one side!) in an unheated garage as early as April or May, when nights can get down to 30 or 40F.

I hang a heat lamp in the center of the box, and drape blankets over the two sides -- well away from the heat lamp -- and it stays quite toasty in there! I also put a few small holes in each side of the box to allow more air exchange. The high sides of the box eliminate drafts, keep the chicks in, and the blankets can be moved aside in the daytime when the garage heats up. I use clothespins to clip the blankets to the box, so they don't accidentally get moved towards the heat lamp or fall into the box.

If you MUST keep them indoors, what if you put them in a refrigerator box (which would prevent them from flying out) and then threw mosquito netting over the top, except for near the light? It might keep most of the dust and shavings in, but would still allow plenty of airflow. You could take the netting outside and shake it daily to get rid of accumulated dust.

You can cut a drop-down door in the side of the box so you can access the chicks whenever you want - and when you're not around, the "door" can be stuck back into its closed position and clipped with clothespins or tape.

I like a big fridge box, because if you hang a heat lamp in the center, or even to one side, it gives them plenty of room to move away from the light if it gets too warm.

I line my fridge box with an old shower curtain or plastic first, to keep the bottom from getting damp and falling apart. Then I put down a THICK layer of shavings - at least 4 inches. I use a kitty litter scoop to pick up poops that accumulate on top, and stir the shavings once daily to break up wet clumps and keep the bedding more fluffy and dry.

I have also used pine needles as bedding for broilers after 2 weeks of age, and it worked GREAT - better than shavings, as it didn't seem to absorb so much moisture and if raked/turned daily, stayed quite dry. And best of all, it was 100% FREE, so I didn't feel guilty changing it often! I put a thick layer of pine needles in my layers' outdoor run, too -- it gives them something to scratch around in and provides good drainage when it rains. A thick 8-inch layer packs down to around 3 inches after the hens romp around on it a few days, but it's still quite airy with spaces between the needles, and much nicer for me to walk on than "poo-muck." Seems easier to rake out the run when the poop is mixed into something.

As you can see, a big part of chicken ownership is poo management. You'll get used to it, and you'll find a system, and it won't seem so overwhelming.

Good luck!

 

[olefarmer]

I just completed building a 4' x 4' x 2' high brooder. The floor is 1/2" mesh about 3" off the floor and I have two slide out drawers which I will line with newspaper each time I clean it out. That way the chicks can do their business and most of it should drop into the drawers for easy removal. The idea came from researching byc and I used a couple of different designs to come up with what I thought might work best for me. My chicks will be started out in the attached garage then when it warms up here in central Canada (which could be June) then I'll move the lot to the chicken house. Hopefully by then the new 2-room coop will be built and insulated and panelled so that all future chicks will start out in the separated brooder area from the hen house.

 

[Bob1313]

I have been told meal worms are not good for baby chicks. Too much calcium. We start our chicks out on paper towels. old bath towels, etc. Replace them every couple of days and throw the dirty ones in the washer after shaking them out.

 

[Bob G]

There are a couple of things I've learned in my very short time keeping a flock:

(1) Don't use newspaper around your chicks/chickens. The newsprint (ink) is not good for them and they can't get traction on newspaper, and

(2) Sand is plentiful everywhere, but you have to call a construction company, or garden center, or a trucking company and ask them to bring you WASHED construction sand. You might as well have them bring you a truck load if you plan on using sand in your runs because you'll eventually use that much any way.

Just my two cents worth.

 

[sassychicken79]

Is there any particular reason not many people seem to use straw? It is cheap here and a bale lasts me weeks. I clean my coops every other day and replace with fresh straw as I live where it is really HOT and the daily cleaning keeps the lovely chicken smell down. Curious....

 

[debid]

Is there any particular reason not many people seem to use straw? It is cheap here and a bale lasts me weeks. I clean my coops every other day and replace with fresh straw as I live where it is really HOT and the daily cleaning keeps the lovely chicken smell down. Curious....

It's cheap anywhere wheat is grown. If you live far from such agricultural areas, perhaps it isn't? And straw bales aren't as easy to transport as the tidy little plastic wrapped bales of pine shavings. I wouldn't stick a bale of straw in my car trunk but pine shavings in plastic? Sure.

That said, I use chopped straw (straw run through a wood chipper) and it's wonderful stuff. I use it like most use shavings -- stir a few times and then change it when it's no longer absorbing the droppings. This spent litter does wonders when mixed into our heavy, clay soil. But, not everyone has a wood chipper. And, since I know the chopped straw works so well for my purposes because it isn't too quick to break down, I'd think whole straw would be take a relatively long time. What do you do with it all?

 

[sassychicken79]

LOL- The guys at the feed store love me and the crew of kids- we have them put the hay bales in my mini van. I rake it out of the coops and pens and put in cans. The Garbage Truck takes yard debris and such once a week so I rotate out cans of it every week and they take it to be turned into compost and mulch. I use some of it in my compost pile as well but it does take forever to break down. I should look at getting a wood chipper.

 

[sassychicken79]

Of course I have put all sorts of things in this mini van that most people wouldn't so I guess hay bales are the least of my worries.

 

[Bob G]

When I rake out the old straw, I put it on the compost pile. But this time when I rake it out will be the last time because I'm switching to sand from here on out. The sand seems to absorb liquids and odors better than straw and it can be scooped just like kitty litter, using the same plastic tool. The residue is then put into the compost pile, too. I can't afford a chipper and the recurring expense of straw, although small, adds up over time. I'm a senior citizen on a fixed income so I need to keep my expenses to a bare minimum all the time, so sand it is.