Bedding

[Jewels1935]

Can newspaper be used to line any part of the area mom and chicks stay? I'm setting up there inside run. I'll keep the nest full of shavings and hay, but wanted to use newspaper in certain areas. I have tons of papers and this would make room in my cabinet for feed

Thanks!
Jewels

 

[hennyannie]

Jewels If you do use it make sure you put shavings or something over it. It can harm young chicks legs walking on newspaper if it is slick.

 

[Kevin565]

Quote:
X2

 

[Wynette]

Also, please do not use hay for any type of bedding; chickens often eat long strands, and they can become crop-bound with long lengths of hay that cannot be "digested" by the crop.

 

[Jewels1935]

okay no hay and I'll stay away from using the paper then. Sounds dangerous and I don't want anything to happen to them.

Thanks guys!

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Quote:

That may be true but I have been using bermuda hay for 2 years with my chickens, guineas, turkeys etc and I have never had a problem, and I know they do eat it a little bit.

 

[Jewels1935]

My little guys have ate some of their shavings! Mama started it by introducing them a piece

Now that they're eating well, I keep their dish full of feed, so they leave the shavings alone.

 

[dfriloux]

I'm a firm believer in rice hulls. I put it in the bottom of their coop and in their nest area. I buy a great huge bag for $4 and it lasts for 3-4 months (my coop is built for 5 chicks). It's easy to keep clean and seems to absorb the poop remarkably well! Of course, I clean out their coop every day with a pooper scooper, but whatever poop I miss dries up and disappears in the hulls. When I start seeing the floor, I add a bit more. I push it all out once a month or so and start all over with fresh hulls, but I probably don't have to do that since I keep it so clean anyway. The girls run upstairs as soon as they see me changing it out and start scratching for any rice that might still be there!

We are fortunate to have a rice mill not too terribly far from us. The bottom of their coop is sand and it's gotten pretty wet lately from all the rain. I'm thinking about putting an extra heavy layer of rice hulls on top of the sand and see how it absorbs all that moisture. It certainly can't hurt anything! As far as the chicks eating the rice hulls, they have a fine time scratching it all around, but it hasn't seemed to bother them not one bit and they've been doing it for six months, so, I'm not too worried about it.

 

[tyjaco]

I LOVE rice hulls, too
I know whith horses, when it gets wet, it can get slick, but with chickens- I don't think it'd be an issue.