What to put in a brooder? Other than the essentials

[Firsttimehens1234]

I’m getting my two chicks home next Friday, they will be 11 days when I get them home and I just brought the brooder.
I have all the essentials like food,water and a heating plate for them.

The brooder I bought for them is huge so I would like to know if there is anything I can put in there so they can have some fun or dosnt get bored.
Im going to add a sand bathing area and a roost area but what else or should I just leave it at that?

 

[cavemanrich]

You have things pretty well organized. Will you place some pine shavings on base floor, so chicks get an idea, to practice scratching ??
Make sure that water is not too deep. If it is in an open pan, place some stones, or marbles into pan to prevent drowning. I know 11 day old chicks are already bigger, but it's good to take precautions.

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

More chicken friends?

But in all seriousness, I recommend three babies at a time juuuust in case something happens to one of them. Or one ends up being male. Or too loud for the neighbors. BUT not a deal breaker. If that did occur, you can usually find a similar-aged buddy on craigslist. But we had that happen once, so now I add in groups of (at least) three.

 

[Firsttimehens1234]

You have things pretty well organized. Will you place some pine shavings on base floor, so chicks get an idea, to practice scratching ??
Make sure that water is not too deep. If it is in an open pan, place some stones, or marbles into pan to prevent drowning. I know 11 day old chicks are already bigger, but it's good to take precautions.

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

thank you for the answer, i Will be putting shaving in the brooder I will also take some of their old hay that they used with their mom to put in my brooder

 

[Firsttimehens1234]

More chicken friends?

But in all seriousness, I recommend three babies at a time juuuust in case something happens to one of them. Or one ends up being male. Or too loud for the neighbors. BUT not a deal breaker. If that did occur, you can usually find a similar-aged buddy on craigslist. But we had that happen once, so now I add in groups of (at least) three.

Thank you for the answer, I really wish I could do that, i wasn’t planning on getting chicks but my hen got sick and her last two eggs she layed i incubated and both hatched out.

if both of the chicks turns out to be hens the coop will reach its limt so I don’t think I can get more chicks unfortunately

 

[Cloverr39]

Unrelated, but the silkie hen in the photo is gorgeous! What color is she?

 

[neo71665]

Hang a feather duster in there

 

[Firsttimehens1234]

Unrelated, but the silkie hen in the photo is gorgeous! What color is she?

She is a red/brown silkie

 

[NatJ]

The brooder I bought for them is huge so I would like to know if there is anything I can put in there so they can have some fun or dosnt get bored.
Im going to add a sand bathing area and a roost area but what else or should I just leave it at that?

I think you've pretty well got it covered.

They like to scratch in bedding, dustbathe, run around, and practice jumping/flying (onto a roost, onto any other fixtures, off the things, etc.)

They might like having several things to get onto and behind-- rocks or bricks or lumber scraps or cardboard boxes can work fine, just make sure nothing can fall over on the chicks.

I find that normal chicks around that age like to practice using their wings a lot, so they would appreciate several things to fly onto and between. If your chicks are Silkies, they may not be able to fly, but they might still enjoy getting onto things and behind things. They can probably jump quite high even if they don't have good wing feathers.

 

[Firsttimehens1234]

I think you've pretty well got it covered.

They like to scratch in bedding, dustbathe, run around, and practice jumping/flying (onto a roost, onto any other fixtures, off the things, etc.)

They might like having several things to get onto and behind-- rocks or bricks or lumber scraps or cardboard boxes can work fine, just make sure nothing can fall over on the chicks.

I find that normal chicks around that age like to practice using their wings a lot, so they would appreciate several things to fly onto and between. If your chicks are Silkies, they may not be able to fly, but they might still enjoy getting onto things and behind things. They can probably jump quite high even if they don't have good wing feathers.

Rocks is a good idea, I will put some rocks and sticks in there. They are 75% araucana and 25% maran I think, so they can probably fly