Bedding question

[HeatherRoss]

I have a few bw quail and was wondering what is the best thing to use for bedding in the bottomn of the brooder? I figured I would get some kind of shavings but I dont know whats best. Thanks!!

 

[Whirlwind]

Don't know about quail but cedar is toxic to chickens. Pine is ok tho.

 

[Swamp Roo]

Paper towel for 3-7 days. Coarse pine shavings till they go on wire. I put them on shavings when they poo more than two layers of paper can absorb in 24 hrs. Wet feet equals caked on poo, talk about a PIA. I figured that one out with a bunch of chicken chicks. You'd think they wouldn't mind a foot bath/spa treatment to get rid of the stuff. Hardens like concrete. That's what I do anyway.

Swamp

 

[happyvalleyherbals]

I learned from a friend to to cut to size old towels. Then just replace them, depending on the size of brooder box and no. of birds.
Works a treat.

I put paper evenly underneath in case of water spills.

 

[citalk2much]

I use shelf liner then chane toaspen shavings

 

[Capone]

yep paper towels

 

[ken429h]

Paper towels,shelf liner, pine shavings, etc are fine. Ceder shavings are EVIL for birds as well as hard wood shavings.
What you want is something non toxic and pretty much non skid.
I use rubber shelf liner over pine shavings for about a week, then onto the pine shavings. A good quality paper towel would be the same. Flat slick news paper is a no no, but shredded paper of any kind could be fine bedding. I just stick with the basics.
I live in the land of pine trees and pine shavings are easy to come by. The rubber shelf liner is easy to find, and is washable.

Ken

 

[citalk2much]

Quote:
I have heard about cedar and pine being bad this is the first I have heard of hardwood I have used aspen for years with no problem

 

[Swamp Roo]

Quote:
I have heard about cedar and pine being bad this is the first I have heard of hardwood I have used aspen for years with no problem

Never heard of a problem with pine. I've never used hardwood, while I'd be willing to bet some of them aren't very good, I can't imagine oak, maple, american ash etc. being a problem. However I'd stay away from any "aromatic" or overly resinous wood wood like cedar, teak, cyprus, prickly ash etc. Anything rot resistant would be suspect. I'd only use wood I would be "willing" to eat myself. Note I did not say "want", just like I would eat some chicken feed if I had to, but only if I had to.

Swamp

 

[ken429h]

Crystal,
If what ever you are using works fine for you, then keep using it. Don't let someone tell you any different. There is no telling how much time and money I spent following others advice when I was raising tropical fish. All the while what I was doing was perfectly fine! (They Say and I Heard are two of the biggest lairs in the world)

I use pine, because that was recommended by most reliable sources.
I should double check that, because aspen is way cheaper than pine

Ken