Aspen bedding

[CowgirlPenny]

I'm doing paper towels over aspen bedding in my brooder. Yesterday my little ladies decided it would be SO fun to pull back the paper towels and throw aspen everywhere. Is it ok for them to be near the aspen? Seems like I read somewhere they can get confused and eat it? As a result, I have been changing their paper towels like 9 times a day and every time I go check they have dug up new bedding and stand there looking like little kids caught red handed. I watched them for a minute and they were not eating but, but rather it almost looked like they were scratching in it. This young? Is there a better alternative than the paper towels over aspen bedding?

 

[chump]

Is it shaved? I've heard that shaved cedar can be poisonous to them but then I read to use shaved cedar from a hatchery. So I have no idea. But if ur lookin for ideas me and my husband used cardboard boxes with grass in them during summer then switched over to big plastic tubs and bought some hay and have been using that in brooders ever since. Chicks seem to like hay the best to me. Its not that much for a small bale. Seems to give them somethin to peck at instead of each other.

 

[CowgirlPenny]

No, its not cedar. Its aspen. Cedar is toxic to most animals and can cause upper respiratory problems. We don't use cedar (or pine) for any of our animals.