Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

Hi
Has anyone used cheesecloth in the incubator for hatching?
Read that is an easy cleanup after hatch but I was wondering if the chicks would get stuck on it or their nails tangled?
Thanks

We have had success using paper towels in our hatcher for easy clean-up.

HappyHomesteader wrote:QR_BBPOST We have had success using paper towels in our hatcher for easy clean-up.

So no problem with chicks sticking to paper towels Lizzie?

I've always used paper towels as well but I know some people use those non slip drawer liners you can get at the dollar store.

Nope...and it certainly did make the clean up quicker

I use J cloth, works very well for me.

ya most of the time I use paper towel as it fits the drawers in my hatcher perfect but I will also use j cloth at times. i think whatever is closer. lol.

and when I set up the brooder ill put the shavings down and then put j cloth (It wont get ripped up like paper towel) on top for the first week. this does 3 things. first it prevents splayed leg. second it helps the chicks not eat the shavings well they learn what food is and where it is. I fill up the feeders as well as scatter food all over the entire bottom. third once its all dirty I roll it all up and dispose leaving a perfectly clean brooder full of shavings. after that the chicks all know there food is in the feeder.

I use those puppy pee pads from the dollar store. The chicks toes never stick, it keeps the brooder very dry , they are very absorbent (if they spill water), and they are cheap. But I do feel guilty because they are garbage, there's plastic on one side so it's not recyclable. After the first few days I put bedding on top of the pee pad and that way they last much longer.
I put the pee pads under the eggs as they hatch as well, soaks up all the goo, keeps the incubator squeaky clean and the chicks dry faster.

I second the use of the puppy pee pads, work great!

I won't use the puppy pads in a hatcher, only in a brooder. They absorb too much water. I also found that I had to change them the minute some enterprising chick pecked through it. You don't want them eating the absorbent gel stuff.