Do baby chicks need a "house" in the brooder?

[newchickmom09]

I just looked threw I have no idea how many pages of the brooder pics but my eyes hurt a little now.

I noticed that not really any of them have a house or hut or something that the chicks can go into. Are you not supposed to have something like that? Are they just supposed to be open with only the waterer, feeder, roosting sticks, and bedding? Also what kind of bedding is good (pine shavings, straw, hay, any small animal bedding)?

Is this everything I need in my brooder:
waterer
feeder
bedding
roosting sticks to sit on
thermometer
heating lights (are white lights ok or do you need red also)
& chicks

 

[danielle82]

Hi! I'm new to chcikens myself, hopefully someone who actually is knowledgable will chime in on this! LOL
I'll tell you what I have though. I do not have a house type thing for them, I don't think they need it. I have my light in there (lately its been hot in the house, so a lot of the time I don't need it) but when the light is on, they go under it when they are cold, and they leave it when they don't want it. I don't have a roost in there, I don't think they roost that young, they just pile on top of each other when they sleep (think mama hen and the babies, she lets them all go under her to sleep) If I'm wrong on that, someone please correct me!
Good luck with your ccickies! What kind are you getting?

 

[TXmom]

No, you don't need a "house" in the brooder. You could put something in there, but it's not necessary. I put a small cardboard box on it's side and they climbed on it and sometimes went in it. I also put a 2x4 "ramp" up to the box. It was all just for fun, not necessary. Just a warning...whatever you put in there, they will poop all over it... They are little poop machines.

I used pine shavings in my brooder. When they were very young, I put paper towels on top of the shavings, and changed out the paper towels every few hours. After a few days, I just let them walk around on the shavings. It stays cleaner that way...the poop gets churned into the shavings regularly. I also used a red light, never a white light. White light is OK, but red is a little better because it's not as bright and won't encourage pecking.

Shortly after taking this pic, I had to move them to a bigger brooder...they grow soooooo fast!!!

 

[Critter Crazed]

I'm all new to this too but I thought I might be able to help! I don't think you need a house in your brooder. I don't have one in mine but maybe it's a good idea! I'll have to look into that. Give the chickies some privacy.

I don't see a downside to that except overcrowding due to lack of space in the house.

I used aspen shavings for the first week or so but my chicks kept sneezing so I called a chicken expert and they said that any kind of pine or aspen shavings are really bad for their respiratory system because of the smell or something.. I don't really remember all of it. So I switched to hay and everyone has been great! They LOVE the hay and I haven't been hearing that many sneezes. Just a few here and there. Hopefully the hay worked.

So I would use hay. They love to pick at it and it's a pain in the butt to get all of those wood shavings out of the waterer. They fling them in the waterer on accident when they try to scratch around for food.

I think you're all set!

 

[TXmom]

You have to be careful with hay too. If they eat much of it, it can bind up in their crop. I've read many stories of that here on BYC. I don't think there is a PERFECT bedding...but mine have been raised on pine and they're fine. Just my experience....

 

[Critter Crazed]

Quote:
Oh, really? Thanks for the info!
I have seen them try to eat it but the hay is just too big for them to swallow... yet. They just run around with a piece of grass or something and play keep away. Lol I love that.

I'll have to keep an eye on them!

 

[newchickmom09]

Thank you everyone! I have a small card board box I was going to put in there for them, nothing fancy. I just didn't know if it was going to hurt them any from not being in the light all of the time. I guess if they get cold they will just go right under the light but I have a thermometer so we are going to try and keep the temp set just right for them. I guess I will jsu have to see how they are, I might just want them completely open so I can always see them and know they are ok.

To answer your question Danielle82 we are getting Easter Eggers, Wyandotte (silver and gold), and Australorps.

I'll put up pictures of my brooder when we have it all done!

 

[KareyABohr]

Here is my little baby "Brooder". I use this for a week and normally it is in the house or garage.
It is just a rabbit nesting box with a solid front and a light bulb in the top. I like blue light bulbs because they seem more calming. After a week they go into a cattle waterer that no longer holds water with a heat lamp hung up above.

Hope this helps. Really anything dry and warm will work. Don't try and over complicate things, Chickens were brooded in winter next to wood stoves for hundreds of years with broody hens in root cellars! LOL

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

We did the "box within a box" approach not by plan really, just that when they first came home, the larger box seemed so big. Having the smaller box inside turned out to be very useful when transporting the chicks and cleaning out the brooder - for the first few weeks I could put them in one area or the other while I cleaned things out. Believe it or not, at six weeks they STILL choose to sleep all four together in the small box. Very cute. And crowded!

I only use paper towels (need to buy stock in Kimberly Clark!) and pine shavings. Of all the things I put in the brooder for them, the small box of playground sand has been the most popular.

 

[rancher hicks]

Has anyone who posted here read any books on chicks and brooders? If not why? It just seems to me that some newbies aren't doing their homework before getting started.
One, the books I've read all say to use newspaper covered with paper towels for awhile.
Two, most experts here (I'm not one) and the books say not to use hay or straw in the brooder.
Three, I've read not to use "roosts" for chicks as this can cause a "dent" in their breast bone as it is soft.
Forth, these are chickens not toys. They don't need "houses" or play things in the brooder. They are not like rabbits or guinea pigs.
Fifth, they are fragile. Little kids should not be handling chick unless your ready to deal with an injured or dead chick.

Please if your a newbie go to the public library and check out some books on chickens/poultry before you get chicks. If you haven't do it now. I know this sounds hard but some of the problems I'm reading about could have been avoided by reading about chickens first.

Believe me I know. I lost some birds to a coon cause I got some bad advice.