Are pine shavings okay for brooder bedding?

[chickenbuddy]

Pretty self-explanitory question.

 

[FarmGirl01]

I think thats what most of us use. I bale will last a long time.

 

[melissastraka]

I use them too. I get mine at walmart for around 6.50 and it last a long time

 

[towtruckman]

Last year the Wilco store where I bought my chicks had a sell on wood pellets like you use for pellet stoves. They said to try them for bedding. The pellets worked great I was much happier with them than shavings.

 

[cmom]

I have raised all of my chicks in this wire brooder. There are catch trays under the brooder with shavings in it. Also a tray in the brooder with pine shavings in it for the chicks to scratch, peck in and sleep in. The water and feed stays clean. I have never had any problems with their feet going through the wire and they grow so fast.

 

[unionwirewoman]

No offense to cmom.......but I would think that would be pretty uncomfortable . We need to get back to basics people . There are so many generetions that preceeded us on raising chickens an it worked . They used straw , chips , shavings , all without a light . Sometimes they'd bring the livestock in with them ! They are animals......we love them ....but to spend an extravagent amount of money to get eggs to me sounds ridiculous . No one would want to sleep on wire or walk on it anyhow , it would be like us walking on steel beams like the iron workers do 24/7 . Is it easier to clean ...YES ! Would I want to deal with it everyday....no . Go back to the old way of keeping the chickies in a tub with a light for the first week , then kick them out to the coop with a heat lamp . I sure hope kids aren't treated this way......otherwise we'll have a bunch of idiots running around expecting everyone else to do the hard stuff !


PS....Everyone has the right to raise thier chicks as they want......they have that right ....I just don't agree with some of it....so sorry if I offend anyone .

 

[whatthecluck]

Quote:
Theres a tray of pine shavings in there to roll on or sleep in and it looks like they are pretty uninterested in it. They look happy.....well fed and loved to me!

 

[flopshot]

i put down a layer of shavings then covered that with a single layer of paper towells. easy to clean, no mixing of food and bedding, easy to monitor condition of stools. after about ten days they discovered the shavings under the paper so they're now on shavings only and love to roll around in it.

 

[Mahonri]

First four or five weeks, I go the expensive route. I use paper towels. Easy clean up... then I start adding shavings.

 

[ScoobyRoo]

Quote:
Same here, but not as long on the paper towels. Shredded paper works for me too along with the shavings. Then it all goes into the compost pile.