WHere is your brooder???

[ArcticFox]

oh yikes! I had not thought of the dust around my brand new pc. Hmmm,

maybe I should move the little critters...

 

[Jolyn]

Mine are in a large card board box in my master bathroom. Mine haven't gotten too stinky. I add more shavings every couple of days and give it a stir and then i clean the entire thing out once a week.

 

[love-my-wolves]

Quote:
How about hamster?!?! My 16 chicks, in their brooder that was cleaned out once a week, smelled like NOTHING compared to my daughter's hamster, LOL!!!

Yes, the dust was what made me move them out at 4 weeks. Could not stand the dust anymore. In the future, I'll brood in the coop.

Hah! Cats, hamsters, wouldn't beat the ferret by a long shot!!!!!
My chicks are in the living room, cats and ferret in front room. I'm obsessive about smells, so no one smells anything when they walk in. My chicks are 6 weeks old, and come inside at night. No smells. But, I think I'm odd, as I have never had a dust issue. Weird, what did I do different??? Steph

 

[onthespot]

The main thing for managing the smell is managing the water. Change it often, keep it high enough that it is shoulder level to the birds, up on a brick, or an upturned plastic bowl, whatever it takes to keep the water as clean as possible, also, not right next to the food. Make it as NON dump overable as possible. Wet bedding mixed with bird poop and rotting food will stink WAY worse than a few li'l ol baby chickens and their dry little poops.

 

[55885100]

i have 12 and the only time the brooder smells is when your nose is in it.

 

[S0rcy]

My brooder was right next to the kitchen and got cleaned out at least once a week. By 6 weeks that area kind of began to get stinky. I was relieved to get them into the coop!

 

[dreammaker8482]

I have one brooder in the living room, one in our mutli-purpose snake/chicken/turtle/cat room, and ducks in the bathroom. Granted our house is rather small, so I had to get creative. Besides all the peeping, pine shavings on the floor, and the gigantic rubbermaid totes everywhere, you can hardly tell they are there

!!! I change all my bedding daily since mine are so very messy, so there is only a hint of chicken. Hope this makes you feel better!!

 

[Break an Egg]

I have 3 brooders going at once.

I have 4 ~ 7 week old EE's in a big huge tub.

I have 4~ 3 week old silkies in a big tub that I used for the EE's.

And I have 2~ 2 week old NHR's in a big cardboard box that my daughter's diapers come in.

I thought there was something wrong with my silkies because their brooder was always really stinky compared to my EE's who were older. The difference was that I have the waterer on a block of wood. Now I have all the waterers on a block of wood and trust me it seems like the simplest thing, but it is worth it.

And all of the brooders are in the garage, they really like it next to the window.

 

[morelcabin]

Mine is in the henhouse...a 5x6 area with heat lights. I can't stand them in the house...for one I am a clean freak, and for another the dust just gets to me really bad. So they go out to the henhouse and are warm and comfy. I just got new chicks in yesterday... day old barred rocks, with a couple of black sex links. It was cold and rainy...32 degrees, but they are good:>)

 

[wingnut1]

Mine was in the family room -

I KNOW!!!! C-R_A_Z-Y!!! *laughing*

I started with a mid-sized dog kennel and a heat lamp -- and at about 2 weeks moved them into a rabbit cage I found online (critter cages - I think) - and they went out to the coop at 5 weeks or so.

I enjoyed having them close by so I could watch them, and laugh at their antics. But I admit I was very happy to move them outside when their feathers allowed!!! Tough to keep up with the flying baby down and all after a while!