5 chick brooder beddings tested - Here's the best!
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- Опубліковано 7 лип 2024
- I put 5 different bedding materials in my chick brooder and let my chicks pick which material they liked the best. You'll never guess what they chose!
Below are affiliate links for the exact bedding materials I used below:
Aspen shavings - prf.hn/l/62GxJdV
Hemp - prf.hn/l/6WLQb9k
Shredded paper - prf.hn/l/rpOpqq9
Chopped straw - amzn.to/3vGx2Iu
Camping tent chick brooder - • Camping tent chick bro...
Toxic pine shavings article - www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/...
Video content
00:00 - Introduction
00:31 - Pine shavings are TOXIC
00:53 - 5 safe brooder beddings
01:10 - How I tested all 5 beddings
03:34 - Cleanest and dirtiest beddings
05:16 - Least and most dusty beddings
06:19 - Easiest and hardest to use beddings
08:14 - Cheapest and costliest beddings
10:20 - Chicks' FAVORITE bedding!
12:53 - My favorite bedding (but NOT my recommendation)
13:20 - My final recommendation for chick bedding - Домашні улюбленці та дикі тварини
I use sand in my coop. I use a scoop to get rid of the poop, the same one made for cat litter.
I can replace the sand when it becomes old, and put the old, used sand in low spots in my yard and driveway.
I picked up the sand at a garden materials supply. I have a trailer, put a tarp on it, and had them put
the tractor-scoop of sand on that. Folded the tarp over, and drove home. Shoveled the sand in the run
and saved some for the coop. I spread it out in the sun on a tarp to dry.
I use sand beneath their roost...easy to poop-scoop, cheap, and this system works for me.
A tent 🤔😊. We have week old chicks in a tote. I've been racking my brain on which bigger brooder for these babies. What a novel idea. And thank you so much for testing out and researching bedding.
The clips of the dustbathing chicks were sooo cute! 😍
What a fantastic idea! Thanks for conducting the experiment.
Great video! Thanks for the detailed comparisons
Thanks so much for your research and conclusion. I hate the pine chips and now have something else to use. If I can find them. I believe the chicks will be happier too. Great job!
Such a thorough video, wow! I guessed paper since it looked so fluffy.
Really great video. Bursting with real information. Light years ahead of most of what's on UA-cam.
Thanks for your kind words, Christian.
Great video! One thing to add is sand is great at being easy to clean but lacks the ability to be composted later once it has been enriched with poop.
Great experiment and info!
thanks for putting in the work!
I would have guessed sand, as I have tried it as bedding before and the chicks seemed to like it.
I typically use the pelletized sawdust horse bedding because it's easy to find, portable, absorbent, and can be dumped into a compost pile when you change the bedding.
I'm looking forward to seeing what other things I can learn from you! Two bedding types seem a bit much for the tote brooders I use. Maybe you can talk me out of those, too?
This is great! Thanks for sharing.
Best chick bedding video yet. Thank you. You earned my subscription as well
2:29 omgg that little hop and sit on your arm was adorable ❤❤ also I love your tent idea!
She is precious - the tent has been an incredible success!
I love chopped straw. I get the large bag at tractor supply store for $14. I also love the hemp but it's a little pricey.
My chicks are now 3 weeks.. and our screened in tent is fantastic. We gave had it for over 20 years and was about to give it to Goodwill when the need came up to expand the brooding area. plenty of room to run around and even enough for some downed branches from the yard.. 🙏🙏🙏🙏
I bet they love those branches!
I plan on using hemp, but may add a corner of shredded paper for chicks to enjoy. Will also include a dust bath. I want to keep whatever brooder I choose, in the house for a week or so, then move the entire brooder to the coop (warm weather of course) and slowly increase the size somehow until they have the full coop as the brooder. I will block access to nesting boxes and the run. I will spend as much time as I can with them while they are young. And I want to introduce them to a swing while very young. I've heard that's the only way usually to get them to enjoy it. It's going to be a year or two before I can get any. Can't wait.
Love your videos and your course. Keep up the great information!
Sounds like you have a great plan, Susan! I love how you're planning so far in advance too. I have a new course coming out later this month (or early Feb) on raising chicks you might like too. :)
Thank you for your time and effort! P.S. My guess was hemp.
And here I was all prepared to put large pine shavings in my brooder because that’s what everyone said to use! I’m so glad to you shared this info. Definitely don’t want to do anything that will encourage respiratory issues in my chicks. I bought Hemp for the coop and plan to use the deep litter method for that. I had planned on using contractors sand and pine pellets in the run, to keep it dry, even though it will have a solid roof. But for the brooder…I am now leaning towards contractors sand or just go ahead with the Hemp in there as well. Hmm…I still think I’m still confused and not sure what to use in the brooder. I like the idea of sand and no moisture… but I already have Hemp purchased. 🤔 I’ve also been concerned about the heat lamp & shredded paper or any kind of shavings. Actually I have a red light heat lamp as well as a reptile heat lamp…supposed to be safer, because I’m really afraid of the heat lamp to be honest. I needed up ordering a brooder plate as well. Help!
Raising chicks for the first time is super confusing. So much to learn!
Hemp is a great choice for the brooder and coop. Infrared reptile heat lamps are safer than the other type, but I much prefer the brooder plate. I have a pre-recorded video course on raising chicks that will answer all these questions for you in detail. You can take it for free here - www.thefeatherbrain.com/mama-hens-guide
Very good, thank you for your efforts, everything I needed to know
Good Info, thank you for sharing.
For the first week my chicks have just clean dry wash cloths, no shavings at all. After the first week regular wood shavings are fine.
Holy smokes, just read the article you provided regarding pine bedding. Scary stuff! My 18-month-old Orpington recently died from some kind of respiratory infection. I'm still waiting for the results of the blood tests and the necropsy. I only used pine shavings when for the brooder.. now I'm wondering if that may be the cause! Thank you again for all the great info.
So sorry to hear about your poor Orpington. I wouldn't expect death on pine in that short of time. It's typically a longer-term problem, but not much research has been done specifically on chickens and some pines are worse than others, so you never know. Again, so sorry you lost your chicken.
Thanks. Great research....Tee in New Mexico
Thank you for this video and the time you put into the research for us. Thanks to you, we have an 8'x8' tent set up for our 12 chicks and based on your video as well as a few others, we went with hemp bedding. We are two weeks into their growth and they have been sneezing and there is dust all over. My family is also having a hard time breathing even though we keep the door closed to their room to keep their room temperature regulated. We went with My Favorite Chicken hemp bedding and the smell is fine and they do love foraging in it just like you said but I just dont think this is the best long term option for my chicken babies. I bought 2 of the 33lb bags but only put in 1 bag in the tent to start. I have just returned the second bag and bought some aspen shavings instead. I hope i have not done too much damage to their little lungs. Thank you again for your videos. I should have went with the paper from the start!
So sorry to hear that about the hemp bedding. I didn't have that dust problem when I used it (except when putting it in or cleaning it out).
@@thefeatherbrain just finished removing the hemp and putting in the Aspen shavings. Everyone is happy and dust bathing in it right now. The dust is zero and even though the smell is a little on the chemical side, my family says they are breathing better and I'll take it. Going to put that used hemp bedding around the base of my fruit trees so I think overall we are back on track to raising happy healthy chickens. Thank you again for your videos and online course. Proud to say I am one of your new students!
@@chippants Great to hear things are better with the aspen. And so thrilled to hear you have used the tent and are giving your chicks the best lives possible. :)
We love hemp more than any other type of bedding by a mile!
Who can afford hemp??
Great video. I think I’ll have at least 3 different beddings to have that variety.
Your chicks will LOVE that!
@@thefeatherbrain i noticed your dividers for the different bedding. Did these have some type of bottoms or was the tent floor the bottom?
@@johnford3761 No bottom - my husband just threw some 2x4s together to make the dividers.
We use a product called PDZ with great results. We have used it for over 5 years. It was developed for horse stalls. My coop is just steps from our patio and there is NO smell! The only problem is that it can harden over time when used in the run making it harder to change out.
what a fantastic video
Thank you for all your hard work. However I’ve always used large pine straw from TSC. I’m good with it AFTER the first seven days.
I use sand also and it's really keeps the chicken clean and dry up the feces quicker
The only thing I have available here is pine shavings and coarse unprocessed straw, so I'm using homemade coconut fiber and coir, so far I love it, it ties up so the chicks don't get any in the water or the food, and it has stayed super clean compared to the pine shavings, im going to test dry banana leaves chopped up. Now I have tested something that amazed me, I used dry decomposing grass clippings with a bit of pure black compost as bedding in a slightly smelly coop, it was instant magic, the smell left and all I did was sprinkle some on top.
Coconut fiber and coir are things we don't have in Idaho - honestly, I don't even know what coir is. Love the compost tip!
@@thefeatherbrain it's also called cocopeat, it's super absorbent and used to mix with soil as water absorbent ammendment.
I use in my run now as my chicks are on their way to adulthood. They are 4 months old. I put shredded wood chips! They are free and dumped on our property, but when the sun is hot, they dry nicely on top and I can scoop the dry stuff into the coop. It has a mixture of all kinds of wood and their is also dead leaves. The smell is cut right down and they have plenty to peck and search for bugs. Works for me and it is free.
@@ritabeitz9598 my hen house is practically done, I haven't started my run yet, but you just gave me a idea. Thanks
@@MosaicHomestead I had pine shaving and one chicken started having respiratory issues..took it all out and used sand...contractors sand is dusty..im trying play sand next to cut down on dust.
Have you tried Espoma Sani-Care? It was originally formulated to serve as long lasting horse bedding, but it has now spread into the poultry world.
I haven't heard of it. Just googled it and I'm super-intrigued. I'll have to test it out in one of my coops. Thanks!
2NS sand is washed, and low dust. It's used in riding arenas, and we definitely don't want dust in there. I wonder if limestone fines would be ok for brooders. I use that as a base in my coop and run. It packs down nicely, and neutralizes urine. The hens still can dig into it to make dusting baths, though they don't get any dust with the limestone.
Also, what about deep litter method? Have you done a video about that? How often do you clean your coop if you don't use deep litter?
Well i use a combo of horse bedding hemp and paper pellets and shreds and a deep litter method for my ducks and chickens and so far its awesome. Sand is something i wouldnt use for my coop or brooder.
I've rescued and rehomed over 10 rabbits and 6 guinea pigs and pine shavings are toxic to them due to the oils and it being very aromatic so as soon as I hear that people use pine shavings for their chickens my soul leave my body for a few seconds. I also have a pet snake and most people use aspen shavings for their snakes which is very safe, I personally wouldn't use it on my snakes since it moulds easily and it doesn't hold humidity plus it's the same price as regular cocoo-fibre based bedding. I'm getting a pair of Silkie chickens as pets to keep free-range in my room and my grandfather is getting 3 chickens to keep outside in a coop and a large area of our backyard. When my grandfather had horses we kept hemp bedding in our tractor/horse barn and it worked wonders! It absorbed everything and didn't smell as bad, it didn't stay soggy and it was so much easier to scoop the poo up too. I'm thinking about buying paper bedding and hemp since paper bedding is warm and a bit cheaper and hemp doesn't mould. I get a discount on paper bedding since I have a guinea pig and we go to petsmart a lot.
Wondering if I can just buy bales of straw and send it through our chipper/shredder? Would that be suitable?? Thanks
What about Fir, my Daughter uses a all natural fir pellet, made for pellet stoves, that she adds a little water to, to break up and soften it, then lets it dry before use. I can't find anything on fir tree wood products, whether they are safe or not?.
I have a couple baby Sarama‘s that iam raising and they will be living in the house what would you recommend for low dust
We have screened and dust free pine shavings here... Australia..
I am brand new to chickens, so don't listen to me, but I wonder if different breeds (like from different parts of the world) might prefer different by way of their natural ecosystems....hmmm...🤔
I appreciate all of the scientific method you used in this!
Great hypothesis! Interestingly, scientists have found that behaviorally, chickens are nearly identical to their ancestors the wild Red Junglefowl (which are still the same species as domestic chickens). A chicken's true natural ecosystem is a forest (i.e., jungle) or forest edge, no matter where they've been domesticated. So, I hypothesize their preferences for bedding would be generally the same. But you never know until you test it!
What do you use for pen area muddy area ? I was thinking wood chips area and maybe some course sand area ?
what kind of sand can I add to our run for dust bathing?
A great video. Thank you for this. I have a lot of experience with adult chickens but I am new to the brooding world. Do you think your chicks started using the sandbox as a grit supply as well as for the dust bath as they were getting older?
Did you try deep bedding and layering the bedding and then turning it from time to time to create a compost in place?
I’ve seen people liking coffee grounds. Would be interesting to know how that compares. I think some use coffee grounds from their own house, which isn’t treated, and I think that must be different from the treated stuff
how you clean up and put the tent away at the end of brooding?
I guess shredded paper cause my chicks LOOOOVE it!!! So sad cause I only have a little less and will be trying others
Ahhhh I’m right!!! Lolol oh and my chicks are quail
Video was SO helpful 🥰 as I’m on my search for the best bedding - thank you!! About to have a lil setup with a few different kinds, just like you ♥️ guess we’ll see what my guys like the most!
I'm curious if you'll have the same results. :)
has anyone combined sand and shavings -not only in brooder but coop? Do you have a link or suggestions for the course sand you used in your experiment?
Me 🙋🏻♂️
What is the name of the hard plate that is warm, thst is flat on the ground?
Can you use paper you shred yourself or does ink play a factor ?
I use horse bedding for my coop. It is virtually dust free and made of pine. No issues whatsoever. Easy to clean and absorbs moisture from the air quite well.
I personally wouldn't use pine. I have guinea pigs and I've rescued and rehomed over 10 rabbits and over 6 guinea pigs and pine is toxic to them since they have sensitive lungs. Birds are very very sensitive to pretty much everything. Please don't use pine, it is very aromatic and it has oils which is horrible for their skin.
Peat moss would have been a good one to compare also.
I know many people like to use peat moss in their brooders and coops, but I'm not personally a fan. I wrote an article about it here - www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/peat-moss-chicken-coop-bedding
Just a guess here, but that sure looks like Wyoming behind you... I grew up in Colo. & retired in the Ozarks.... It is nice to find a science-based chicken expert!
Not too far off. Southwest Idaho. I used to work on gas rigs in Wyoming, so I've seen the similarity. :)
@@thefeatherbrain It sure looks dry out there.
@@raincoast9010 It's sooo dry here...
Would it be okay to use shredded newspaper as bedding??
Lots of people have done that and their chicks have been fine, but I'm personally not a fan. I wrote a blog post about it here - www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/newspaper-chick-brooder
Sand it is then.
Thanks for the video.
Did your chicks eat the hemp? I put some in with mine to try out and they grabbed it and ran away like it was food. The next day I had one die. I’m afraid to put it back in
Sawdust any good as ive got my babies in my brooder with it
What is your favorite bedding for the outdoor chicken coop?
I use sand. I have a blog post about it here - www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/sand-chicken-coop-bedding
And videos here -
ua-cam.com/video/I3Ja2r6no_0/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/sRo8dszdOMI/v-deo.html
I also use it in my run - I have a video on that here - ua-cam.com/video/g2kqVmaeCt4/v-deo.html
Hemp
Can you recommend a brand of hemp and shredded paper? Thank you.
Please check out the description below the video - all links are there for the brands I use.
Best of luck with your chicks!
Bri
What kind of sand do you use? Can I just buy playsand? The one I bought is "Play Sand is a specially graded washed sand that has been dried and screened. This play sand is ideal for children's sand boxes, molding and building. The initial cleaning process removes any unwanted debris and particles from the sand. Plus, it will kill and remove any potentially harmful bacteria found in the sand."
I don't recommend play sand. Here's why - www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/silica-sand-chicken-bedding
For more on the using sand - www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/sand-chicken-coop-bedding
I tried play sand in a indoor bird cage i was keeping some new dunncles... After just a couple days I realized my horrible mistake...
I'm still cleaning the sand dust from everywhere within site of the cage
My sand didn't drain and got hard and heavy 😢
my guess is sand or hemp
Choped straw
Which bedding was best for odor?
Hemp!!!
What type of sand and where did you get it
The sand had no name - I went to my local gravel company to see what they had and found it. I recommend getting the largest grains you can find that will still sift through a cat pooper scooper (that's how I remove the poop - grains sift through, poop stays in the scoop).
I chose paper bcz it would be warm and soft.
Is your brooder a tent? I was thinking of using a tent too lol. Paper for chicks and in nests, sand for adults? :)
Yes, Cheryl, and it's the best brooder ever! I did a video about it here - ua-cam.com/video/uOcw45A3Zrg/v-deo.html
I cant' recommend it enough - your chicks will love it! Also makes them super easy to tame because you can get inside the brooder with them.
And yes, I'd recommend paper for chicks, sand for adults. :)
@@thefeatherbrain holy shit this is genius, i've got an old tent missing the top i had no idea what to do with. how are you keeping it warm?
Be cautious with heat sources and tent fabrics!
what about rice husk?
I’ve seen this used a lot in Asia. I’m thinking because it’s readily available. It seems to be the bedding of choice.
I have to disagree with aspen being the loser on the dirtiest. Its so clean
Use a bale, should be able to one for$5 bucks and would last awhile
I would guess paper?
Just put the sand in the oven at 250° for and you're good... using a torch is way too much work
I have been using sand for years.
Pls answer my chicks are eating and pecking at pine wood shavings
How old are they? If they are very young (still in their first week of life), you need to cover up that bedding. Use paper towels to cover it up - or regular towels (but be careful with anything like terry cloth because their little toes can get stuck in the cloth loops and they can trip or hurt themselves).
And are they just pecking at it and eating it a little bit? They might eat a tiny bit of bedding. It's always alarming to see, but it's natural for them to eat a tiny bit (keyword: TINY!). And how much are they eating vs pecking? Pecking is okay. Eating is concerning.
You also might find them just carrying pieces of bedding around in their beaks - that's also normal and okay.
They should not be eating a lot of it. Have they learned to properly eat their feed and drink their water yet? If not, cover up that bedding. I don't expose my chicks to their loose bedding until they're about 8 days old - some people expose them earlier without problems, but 8 days is my recommendation
Also, if you are new to chicks, please check out my beginner's course on raising chicks here - www.thefeatherbrain.com/mama-hens-guide
You can take it for free.
I guessed shredded paper
The paper cause it's soft.
You guessed it!
Finding sand is far to difficult
I guessed sand.
I'm guessing their preference is sand! Very good experiment BTW :)
I guessed the same too. Apparently not.
I used pine shavings from TS, all my chicks lived! I work at TS, all our chicks are on pine shavings. They wouldn't use them if it was deadly. How am I supposed to take you seriously?
You don't need to take me or scientific research seriously. You can do whatever you want.
You clearly didn't read the article - www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/toxic-chicken-coop-pine-shavings. Check out the section called "Pine shavings bedding and chickens: Addressing arguments against toxicity." Specifically, your objection is answered in "Argument #5: But I’ve used pine shavings forever, and my chickens are fine!"
Also see: "Argument #1: The broiler industry uses pine shavings, so they must be safe. They’d never expose chickens to something toxic if they’d lose money over it."
Do a little actual research before shooting something down you know very little about.
Also see the section titled "Can pine shavings cause death?" - www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/toxic-chicken-coop-pine-shavings
I say sand?
Why not shred your own paper?
Sand I recon
If can find low dust shavings. Much safer.
wood shaving is the best...at 3" thick will last 2 months....my chicks love it cause they move it around and keep the top ends clean