What to put on the floor of a brooder!!!!

MarkRainbolt

Songster
Apr 30, 2022
184
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Saint James Missouri
I know this has been discussed extensively in the past, but I can’t seem to find the threads. I thought about just leaving the floor of the brooder uncovered with out any type of covering the floor is plywood and the brooder is attached to the coop off the ground. Aka: pine shavings, news paper, or even cardboard. Was wondering what your thoughts would be on leaving it uncovered ? Leave your opinions weather in favor or against, and your pro’s and con’s. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Mark
 
Cleaning plywood from little chicks is gonna be a pain.
I use paper towel indoors...
Currently my week old chicks are in an outdoor brooder with a "coop" inside the run. The bedding for both clutches of chicks is the bedding in the run (pine shavings) with new pine shavings on top...

Basically there is no bottom...ill pick up the brooders and they will have nothing to clean out...


If you have a bottom I suggest large pine shavings.
 
My brooder floor is plywood but I don't leave it bare as it would be hard to clean and I want a material for Absorbtion to keep the brooder dry and prevent coccidiosis. So when they are brand new babies I use pee pee pads with woodchips and old tshirts and towels cover the MHP. My brooder is good sized and I don't have to clean the floor every single day but I really make sure to keep it dry and replace wood chips often. Then when they are big enough that I open their run with bare ground, I don't use pee pads anymore, just wood chips. They also have a small roost area with a poop tray of sand (my soil,) and PDZ.
 
Newspaper is not ideal bc of the ink- I can’t reference that claim but believe seversl yimes mentioned on BYC as a less desirable option.
Cardboard, imo, can be slippery and raises injury potential in new chicks.
I layer thick absorbent paper towel on top of a layer of small pine shavings (cushion) until they definitely know how to recognize food and gain descent balance- about a week- then remove paper towel.
 
i wouldnt leave it uncovered, i guess gerbil cage pine shavings would be the easiest to acquire ... i make a run in the yard with my bagging lawnmower, dump it out and spread it on the garage floor till it dries .. perfect stuff .. good nest material also ...
 
i wouldnt leave it uncovered, i guess gerbil cage pine shavings would be the easiest to acquire ... i make a run in the yard with my bagging lawnmower, dump it out and spread it on the garage floor till it dries .. perfect stuff .. good nest material also ...
Make sure you are taking measures to prevent Coccidiosis introducing this much outside material in abundance. We usually don't take any measures to prevent it, but also don't do any outside exposure until they are 2 or 3 weeks old.
 
I raise my chicks in the run in a brooder that has no floor and sits directly on the ground. If you're planning on brooding outside in the coop, is there any way to remove the plywood from the bottom? My chicks are raised on the run's deep litter, with a bit of aspen shavings at the start just to give them a little more softness to snuggle into.

brood2.jpg
litter.jpg

The best part of setting up like this is there's ZERO clean up. After about 2 weeks I move the brooder to a different spot in the run, and the adults run into the old spot and scratch it up and get everything mixed back into the litter. That's "cleaned up."

Make sure you are taking measures to prevent Coccidiosis introducing this much outside material in abundance. We usually don't take any measures to prevent it, but also don't do any outside exposure until they are 2 or 3 weeks old.
Outside exposure can possibly prevent it, by allowing the chicks to gradually build up a tolerance for it.

Obviously any chicks raised by a broody are exposed to outside conditions from the start. I aim to emulate that by brooding outdoors as well. The chicks ingest some run dirt and bedding as soon as they start eating.
 
Outside exposure can possibly prevent it, by allowing the chicks to gradually build up a tolerance for
Exactly and a very smart strategy. I read about a lady who put clumps of dirt/grass in the brooder after the first week. I thought that was smart.

It may not be, but I feel like grass clippings as bedding may be an overload.
 
I know this has been discussed extensively in the past, but I can’t seem to find the threads. I thought about just leaving the floor of the brooder uncovered with out any type of covering the floor is plywood and the brooder is attached to the coop off the ground. Aka: pine shavings, news paper, or even cardboard. Was wondering what your thoughts would be on leaving it uncovered ? Leave your opinions weather in favor or against, and your pro’s and con’s. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Mark
We love hemp! It stays dry and keeps order down! We also use it for deep litter method in our coop.
 

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