01/09/2026
š¼How I house my chicks in their brooders! š„š¼
For the first weeks of my chicks lives, I personally prefer to raise them on puppy pads rather than shavings, mulch or other loose bedding.
This is simply the system that I have found works extremely well for me, and there are several reasons why I choose to do it this way.
Before my chicks go into the brooder, I put down approximately 14 puppy pads layered directly on top of one another.
Every morning and every afternoon, I simply roll up and remove the dirty top layer, revealing a completely fresh, clean puppy pad underneath. At the same time, I clean and refill their water.
It makes my brooder cleaning incredibly quick and easy, but more importantly, I donāt have to remove or disturb all of the chicks every time I clean. Within a couple of minutes, they have a clean, dry floor again.
This way I keep their environment as clean, dry and controlled as possible.
I donāt want them immediately exposed to unnecessary dust or outside materials such as soil, mulch or shavings that can potentially bring microorganisms, mould spores or pathogens into the brooder.
It also means their droppings arenāt disappearing underneath bedding and accumulating unnoticed. Twice every day, the soiled surface is physically removed from the brooder. Once Iām down on the last layer of puppy pads, it is time for that lot of chicks to move over to their next bigger brooder with a lower temperature.
One of the biggest reasons I like this system is coccidiosis prevention and control of environmental contamination.
Coccidia are spread through faecal contamination, and their oocysts need suitable environmental conditions to become infective. Keeping the brooder dry and frequently removing droppings helps reduce the opportunity for contamination to build up.
In my own chicks, using this management system, I have never encountered a coccidiosis outbreak. That doesnāt mean puppy pads make coccidiosis impossible, but maintaining a clean, dry environment and reducing faecal build-up is one of the management practices I personally rely on.
Anyone who has used loose bedding with chicks knows how quickly they can kick shavings into a freshly cleaned drinker. With puppy pads, there is nothing for them to scratch into their water, so I find their drinking water stays much cleaner.
If water is spilled, I can also see it immediately rather than having damp bedding sitting unnoticed underneath the surface. The wet pad can simply be removed and the clean, dry layer underneath is ready to go.
I also like knowing exactly what my chicks are eating.
For those first weeks, I want my chicks eating their proper chick starter crumble, rather than filling themselves up pecking at pieces of bedding.
Young chicks naturally investigate everything with their beaks, and loose bedding can be eaten, particularly when theyāre first learning what is and isnāt food. Keeping things simple also makes it much easier for me to monitor their eating and droppings, including spotting digestive problems or pasty butt early.
For me, the routine is incredibly simple:
14 layers down ā peel one off morning and afternoon ā fresh, dry brooder.
There are plenty of different ways to successfully raise chicks, and Iām not saying everyone needs to do things exactly the way I do.
This is simply what I have found through my own trials and errors to work for my chicks.
For those first weeks of life, my priority is giving them a clean, dry and controlled environment before they gradually move on to the big outside world.
Pretty Poultry Pets
