Any way to prevent poop balling up on their toes?

[sheeshshe]

I am having a terrible time with this and I"m not sure why. I raised chicks before, the same way as I'm doing it right now, and didn't have any problem with their toes building up poop into a pea like ball! I had to soak 3 chicks for 20 min this afternoon to peel the balls of poo off. it was so difficult! Is there any way to prevent this?

 

[LaynaDon95]

I am having a terrible time with this and I"m not sure why. I raised chicks before, the same way as I'm doing it right now, and didn't have any problem with their toes building up poop into a pea like ball! I had to soak 3 chicks for 20 min this afternoon to peel the balls of poo off. it was so difficult! Is there any way to prevent this?

I had that problem with mine for the first few days. I use a sheet as bedding for the first 3 days or so then switch to sand. As soon as i switched to sand, it quit happening. Maybe you should change your bedding? How often do you clean out the brooder?

 

[1muttsfan]

I use"puppy pads" for the first few days, just putting new ones on top of the soiled ones as needed. Then I switch to pine shavings or pelleted pine horse bedding (which smells much better and is less dusty).

 

[sheeshshe]

We're using pine shavings. I haven't changed it yet since I just got them 2 days ago and it didn't look messy. It looked really clean, I had it pretty thick. I guess I'll change it tomorrow! Hopeully that will help.