Baby Chicks eating dookashi!

[rnhagen]

Hello!

I'm a new chicken owner, and they are two weeks old today. We changed the floor in their brooder from paper towels to pine shavings today to begin preparing them for eventual coop life. However, they are in our basement. Adorable as they are - I was concerned about odors permanently permeating our perimeter! So, I put a layer of Dookashi in the floor of the brooder before I piled in the shavings. Well.... they found the dookashi after scratching around a bit. Now they really like the dookashi and are eating it as much as the chick starter feed! It's a natural substance - but I think it constitutes a 'treat', right? It's barley with probiotic and molasses...

Question - is it ok that they are eating it so much? Should I change flooring? If I keep the flooring as is, should I provide grit?

Thank you for your help! Have a lovely day!

Best,
Robin

 

[curious chickee]

At that age, they should be eating only minimal treats. I would change it so they aren't getting to many treats.