Imminent Death or normal chick behavior??

[Qi Chicken]

Yesterday I found out that chicks napping are not chicks dying!! Learn something every day!!! Seems like the learning curve has been steep lately!

Now 2 new questions:


The chicks arrived yesterday and I had them on paper towels until about 1/2 an hour ago. I put down newspaper and covered it with pine shavings. I thought I read that this way they would know what their food was and would not eat the shavings. It is like chicken crack!!! They are eating all the shavings! Will this be ok for them or should I take them out???

PS ALso want to know about pasty butt. I checked their bums and 2 or 3 out of 16 had just a tiny bit on their fuzz. None covering the actual opening. I wiped these off with a damp paper towel but it didn't all come off the fuzz. Is pasty butt more than this??? What age does this usually occur???

 

[claud]

I'd remove the shavings.
I put newspaper down and paper towels laid on top(they can keep their footing on the paper towels) until they are a couple weeks old.

I check for pasty butt each time I change the bedding(once a day). Their butts should be pretty clean. Sometimes I dip the little butts in warm water to get it off if it's really hard.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

The shavings go UNDER the newspaper so they can't get to them until they learn where food and water is. I wouldn't worry about their behinds unless they get crusted up so they can't poo, or if it gets too bad, just clean them up.

 

[Qi Chicken]

Wait a minute. So I should put something OVER the shavings???????????? Like right now??? What about all those chicks at Theisen's???? I'll do it if you say so. I put their water and food back and they are still eating and drinking. Now they are pecking at the shavings and scraping them aside and pecking at the newspaper.

 

[thespinningcottage]

Hi - are you absolutely sure they're EATING the shavings, or just moving them around and picking them up with their beaks? Mine always do that but never actually eat any. I have not had a problem with regular pine shavings. I just use the paper towels for a couple days, until they find their legs because I have an active imagination and always think they're "gonna poke their eyes out on the sharp corners of the shavings."

 

[Qi Chicken]

I'm not actually sure they are eating them. They are definitely picking them up and kind of like chewing them. I think I'll let them work it out. Those paper towels were disgusting. I changed them 3 times in about 24 hours and it was still disgusting. I'll go check on them again. And again..........and again.............and again! Somebody should have told me that these little guys would be cute!

 

[underground chickenman]

I put pine shavings down and top it with a double layer of paper towels. I replace the towels once or twice per day (depending on how many chicks--replace it when its dirty). I remove the paper towels after 3 or 4 days and put them directly on shavings.

Works for me.

UGCM

 

[Brickwood]

Well I'm totally new to all this but I put my new chicks right in shavings and they've done okay so far. They definitely peck at the shavings but don't seem to eat them and they really love digging around. The oldest 2 are almost two weeks, I got one on Monday and just finished my little flock off with one more today. I will say that now that I've been reading this forum obsessively, if I did it again (did I say "if"?) I'd probably do paper towels for a couple of days just to be safe. This is so much fun!

 

[Boo-Boo's Mama]

I used paper towels over pine shavings for a week, then just pine shavings. This week I changed to equine pellets because the chicks were kicking the shavings into their food dish to the point they were not able to get to their food.

Good luck with your babies.