2 week olds eating pine shavings

[goodmanfarm]

hello all i have 2 week old chicks and i just switched them from puppy pee pads to pine shavings as their bedding. they are all pecking and eating it a lot and i’m worried about it. they still eat from their food bowl, but it looks like their eating a lot of the smaller shavings. i don’t have grit because the clerk at the farm supply store said they shouldn’t have grit until they are outdoors, our are still in a plastic tote. will they be ok eating it?

 

[Perris]

they are exploring their world, like toddlers. And putting it in their mouth as part of that, again like toddlers. If you give them a clod of earth with grass/weeds on top, they'll have a ball, and it'll prime their immune systems for when you do let them out into the big wide world. A little fibre from the pine shavings will also help their developing microbiomes, so don't worry about that.

 

[Ridgerunner]

i don’t have grit because the clerk at the farm supply store said they shouldn’t have grit until they are outdoors

They do not need grit until they eat something other than chick feed or a few treats like yogurt or corn meal that does not need grinding up in their gizzards. It has nothing to do with them going outside. It is what they eat.

I don't know how much of those pine shavings they are eating. A few will not be a problem. If they eat enough to pack their crop it can cause problems. If enough get to their gizzard and they don't have grit to help them grind it up you might have a problem.

Chicks will peck at the shavings and eat some. With or without grit it is usually not a problem. But I'd feel better if they had grit. I give mine dirt from the run that has a few small bits of rock in it so they get grit.

 

[AGeese]

I have seen both my chicks, and hens eating the shavings so I am using the last of it, and switching back to straw. Not that it's ever been a problem that I know of.

 

[FrostRanger]

I would give them some chick grit. My birds get grit from day 1 and it never caused them any issues. Them eating a few shavings is otherwise normal and of no particular concern as long as they have grit

 

[rosemarythyme]

I would give them some chick grit. My birds get grit from day 1 and it never caused them any issues. Them eating a few shavings is otherwise normal and of no particular concern as long as they have grit

x2. Chicks naturally want to explore and the way they do it is by putting everything in their mouths (like babies). Mine eat dirt, wood, bits of leaves and bugs... the latest batch even ate tiny holes into the wall of the wood brooder. A little bit of grit goes a long way to help ensure that anything they do eat gets broken down and passed through their systems.