what does everyone use for duckling bedding?

[arabianequine]

I don't add water to mine they are about an inch long and 1/4 inch round and they will swell up and turn to dust when it is time to change it.

 

[vlapinta]

I have 2 week old call ducklings. I had them on Pro towels which is what the dentists use. The underside is water proof and I just changed them a few times a day for the first week. Then the second week I put a layer of pine shavings under the pro towels. This week I am putting just the pine shavings. When I put just the pine shavings in they were moving the shavings around with their beaks, but I didn't see them eating any of the pine shavings, so far so good. I think when I use up the pine shavings I might try the pellets. I have a few questions about the pellets. Can I use the pellets without the hay? I read on this board someone's chicks were dying in the brooder because the hay they used might have had mold which is hard to see. I am afraid for that reason to use hay.
When the pellets get wet they turn to sawdust? Do the pellets absorb any excess water better than the pine shavings? Can I compost the pellets?

Vicki

 

[Amiga]

So, since they eat pelleted food, do they ever try to eat the bedding pellets? (I have visions of exploding ducklings - forgive me

)

 

[Baybrio]

Be extra careful with the wood pellets - I've heard some folks that used them with puppies had trouble. It turns out some of the pine pellets had other types of wood and even traces of toxic chemicals mixed in. I don't recall the brand but it was a brand marketed as horse bedding and was supposed to contain only pine. I wouldn't be surprised if contaminated bedding shows up in the non pelleted wood shavings bags - but with the pellets you can't see or smell any contaminants.

Has anybody tried shredded paper?

 

[arabianequine]

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Mine birds don't but I use a crumble to feed all and the pellets are way bigger.

 

[arabianequine]

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I use the pellets without hay and so does the feed store I got them from. IMO they do absorb better then shavings. I don't compost so I don't know but I don't see why not.

 

[Rozzie]

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Mine birds don't but I use a crumble to feed all and the pellets are way bigger.

Old thread, I know, but my 2.5 week old Coturnix quail could not figure out the difference between crumbles and the pellets after they'd expanded. So, within 30 minutes I had the pellets back out of their pen. They were probably just curious and checking things out but I wasn't going to risk them filling their bellies with quail food. Back to paper towel bedding for another couple of weeks.

 

[ritzquacker]

For my Magpies, what I did was get two large food display boxes from Costco (from marcy croutons to give you the exact idea of what I am describing). I taped the fronts together, essentially creating two sections. I lined them both with puppy pads and some pine chips. On one side I put food and a plastic tray under their waterer (the plastic tray came from our baby highchair). Now they have a sloppy eating side and a drier resting/play side.The box has stayed dry and I only need to change one side a day. I'm composting the muck. The puppy pad isn't the greenest choice (wish they were compostable), but the duckies are staying clean as a result.
I also did this with two other boxes for our new baby chicks and the ledge where the two boxes come together creates a great perch.

 

[Apyl]

I bought 1 bag of pine shavings from TSC, used it until they were 2 weeks old then they went out to the coop with the bigger ducklings and are now on hay/straw.

 

[tdgill]

I used towels then shavings. It helped having one of my interconnected totes serve as a "water porch" but was still challenging just the same. Good thing they ARE cute.