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I put one "flake" thickness of hay down on their floor, and it lasted for 4 weeks at a time. (Their poop is so tiny.) I did clean out their mom's poop, and that helped keep it clean that long. Their pen was 4 x 15 feet. A flake is one of those "sections" in a haybale.
I let them out of their coop to free-range when they seemed like they wanted to explore further -- probably about 5 or 6 weeks old.
I think the issue with dirt is that they can pick up diseases quite easily from it, and since they are a little bit slow to learn to eat, they tend to pick at the dirt alot instead and they're not getting nutrition. Oh, and I always give them bits of chopped greens when they're little, even if it's just a handful of grass cut into 1/4" bits with a scissors. They sure like to go for dark-colored things like green bits. And make sure to put out a dish of grit for them -- I put a cup of course sand mixed with tiny, tiny pebbles from the creek near my house.
I put one "flake" thickness of hay down on their floor, and it lasted for 4 weeks at a time. (Their poop is so tiny.) I did clean out their mom's poop, and that helped keep it clean that long. Their pen was 4 x 15 feet. A flake is one of those "sections" in a haybale.
I let them out of their coop to free-range when they seemed like they wanted to explore further -- probably about 5 or 6 weeks old.
I think the issue with dirt is that they can pick up diseases quite easily from it, and since they are a little bit slow to learn to eat, they tend to pick at the dirt alot instead and they're not getting nutrition. Oh, and I always give them bits of chopped greens when they're little, even if it's just a handful of grass cut into 1/4" bits with a scissors. They sure like to go for dark-colored things like green bits. And make sure to put out a dish of grit for them -- I put a cup of course sand mixed with tiny, tiny pebbles from the creek near my house.