BEDDING QUESTION

[Southerngirl]

We used paper, paper towels and pine shavings. The shavings by far in using the deep litter method are the greatest! They smell good and you can stir them up every other day and add a little more . The brooder house with the shavings was easier to clean also instead of the hay and paper. A large bag here in Arkansas is about $5 and it will last me a good week easily. It makes a cleaner hen house overall, plus they can dust in it too! We even used them for the Jumbo Cornish broilers, that is the way to go!!

 

[donnap1967]

Using newspaper is not really a good idea. The chicks cannot get a proper footing as newspaper is slippery for them and it can cause leg problems such as spaddle leg. It really is worth spending the few extra dollars to ensure they don't develop problems walking.

I started with paper towels for the first week, then went to pine shavings with paper towels over them for a few days. This helps keep the chicks from trying to eat pine shavings until they learn it is not food. Then finally you can go to all shavings. Even with the six chicks I have they poop a ton. You will be glad to switch from paper towels to shavings, believe me! You will have much less mess.

I live in NJ, one of the most expensive states in the country, and I was able to buy an enormous bag of compressed pine shavings (like the size of a bale of hay) and I paid $7 at the one and only feed store in our suburban area. I have been using it for a month now and still have 1/4 of the bag left.

 

[t-dawg]

do you shread the paper towels? What about an old towel? will that work until i get shavings?

 

[LynneP]

A bale of pine shavings at about $5.00 will get you from day-olds to six weeks easily and keep your brooder smelling go0d, and it will be dry. Paper towels for under your waterer until the chicks show interest in shredding it...

Smallest part of the whole operation!

 

[Heather J]

When I brooded last year I used old towels for the first couple of weeks until I moved them into the coop (they were the first birds I ever owned, so I had no adults to deal with) and I used straw right away. The towels worked, but it was really time consuming to change them every day and I had to leave them outside for a day to dry so I could get the poop mostly off before I washed them. Pine shavings would have been way easier!

 

[arlee453]

Ditto - slippery newspaper = bad idea...

If you shred it for them you'll end up with dyed chicks and a compressed soggy, nasty mess when it gets wet. And it will...

If you don't shred it, you run the risk of splay legs, etc....and end up with a nasty, soggy, mess.

Newspaper just isn't absorbent enough.

I also ditto the pine shavings. You can get a compressed bale of it wherever you are getting your chick feed (Tractor supply, feed store, etc) for $7 or less. I pay $5 at TSC. Those shavings last a LOOONONNNGGG time.

If you can't spring for $5 for proper bedding, how will you afford the feed?? And $5 bale of shavings is a LOOTTT cheaper than papertowels in the long run.

 

[beakkeeper]

Whole paper is not really a good idea, because it's slippery and the chicks' legs might be malformed as a result of slipping all the time. But a good layer of shredded over whole should be OK. But pine shavings are the best, I think, and if you buy it in bulk, ie 100 lbs, it's not too expensive (at least where I live)

 

[Roy]

Most newspapers these days use soy ink so I would think it would be safe, but, I use Pine savings...

 

[FisherMOM]

when my babies were little, I shredded up a phone book. I had a small shredder and ripped the pages in half so that they were shorter in the shredder. Worked great.

Stunk for the ducks though... they need sponges!

 

[Flyingbavarian]

Here is an article on newspaper as bedding for livestock.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/cd-fact/0122.html