2 WEEK OLD CHICKS EATING THE PAPER TOWEL!

[Fawn and Fam]

I have two 2 week old chicks. They are digging up the bedding down to the paper towel, shredding it, then eating strips of it. I have to have the paper towel on the bottom cause when I removed it they scratched to the bottom of the tote and slipped all over. They always have fresh water, food, clean bedding and red lamp. How dangerous is this for them? What should I do? Thanks

 

[ellie32526]

I have two 2 week old chicks. They are digging up the bedding down to the paper towel, shredding it, then eating strips of it. I have to have the paper towel on the bottom cause when I removed it they scratched to the bottom of the tote and slipped all over. They always have fresh water, food, clean bedding and red lamp. How dangerous is this for them? What should I do? Thanks

Are they eating the food? I switched my chicks to sand in my brooder after the first two weeks. I didn't want to use wood chips because I had read that they might eat them and that was not good for them. I started with paper towels because I read that newspaper was too slippery. But after two weeks I put down a layer of sand on the floor and removed the paper towels. I wanted them to get used to eating food before I put in the sand so they wouldn't get filled up on sand and not eat any food. I hope that makes sense.

I used play sand when they were younger, but I have switched to all purpose sand now. Play sand has finer pieces. All purpose sand has some larger pebbles in it. Just make sure you read the bag that there are no other chemicals mixed in with the sand.

I now use a mixture of both sand and wood shavings in my henhouse as well as a generous layer of DE. They dust bathe in the sand and DE.

 

[Fawn and Fam]

They have been eating really well ever since I got them, however I am afraid they eat small pieces of the pine shavings. They are always pecking at it, just not sure they are swallowing it- probably though. I finally saw one eat a long strip of paper towel but couldn't get it in time before she gobbled it up. Can I just use sand from outside?

 

[ellie32526]

They have been eating really well ever since I got them, however I am afraid they eat small pieces of the pine shavings. They are always pecking at it, just not sure they are swallowing it- probably though. I finally saw one eat a long strip of paper towel but couldn't get it in time before she gobbled it up. Can I just use sand from outside?

It may be okay, I have read that people use sand from the creek bed and stuff, but I would be concerned it might have pesticides in it or something. I don't have anything like that around me so I bought a bag from Home Depot. All my dirt is black clay, sticks to everything and hard as a rock. LOL.

 

[Fawn and Fam]

We live on one acre of land so we have lots of sand. We only treat our front lawn so the sand on the back of our property is definitely free of all chemicals, etc. I will check further into it before I do it. It is okay if they eat the sand?

 

[ellie32526]

We live on one acre of land so we have lots of sand. We only treat our front lawn so the sand on the back of our property is definitely free of all chemicals, etc. I will check further into it before I do it. It is okay if they eat the sand?

Chickens naturally need grit in their crop to help digest their food. You just don't want the chicks to be confused and think the sand is the food. That is why I waited until two weeks in to use the sand. By that time they were already used to eating the starter. They don't need grit as long as they are eating only commercial chicken feed, but I started giving mine grass clipping at that age so the sand that they ate helped to digest it.

 

[Fawn and Fam]

Thank you! I wish we had grass here. We won't have any for quite some time yet

 

[ellie32526]

Thank you! I wish we had grass here. We won't have any for quite some time yet

I had read some posts by a lady who grows fodder for her flock because they don't have grass in the winter. It didn't seem too difficult. I'm going to start with mealworms instead since we usually have grass most of the year, but not always bugs for my hens to eat. I went a little overboard and ordered 5000. Yikes!

 

[kynewbchickie]

I tried the kiln-dried pine shavings - they ate those.
I didn't do the play sand for the fineness reasons.
I wasn't able to locate anything other than a ton load of regular untreated sand around here anywhere - even Lowe's was sold OUT of regular sand.
Our local creeks had been swollen from all the precipitation and teens mudding and partying - I wasn't going to risk it.

But, I DID find pelleted, untreated, completely compostable and organic bedding at a local feed store. #50 for $8.

Success. They don't eat it, they don't confuse it with their feed (due to its size in comparison to their crumble feed), I keep it at 2-3 inches deep, it does provide some dusting ability, no smell from droppings (even cecal is almost immediately absorbed), and it's easy to change out.

Looking at TSC and Southern States, they have a comparable product but it's a little more expensive, around $10 for #40-#50.

 

[Fawn and Fam]

Thanks for that idea, I will look into that. I'm still wondering if it is okay to just use the sand from the back yard (no chemicals), or is that bad for some reason? Can they get coccidia from it?