Best time to put shavings/pellets in brooder

[jmtcmkb]

I have 5, 4 day old chicks, I have paper towels on the brooder floor. I put some bedding pellets in yesterday but they went crazy eating any tiny parts they could, and they took the large pieces and banged them until they could get pieces small enough to eat. I removed the pellets... I have both pellets and pine shavings and had my heart set on pellets as what I have read they are much better for dust control.

My question is when can I put pellets or shavings in the brooder without fear of them eating too much of it?

I know people put them in from day one, perhaps I should have done that? Everything I read for tips, said to wait a while so they know what is food and what is not.

 

[fiddlebanshee]

I had them on shavings covered with paper towels for two days. After that I removed the towels. They pecked at the bedding and ran around with bits of it in their beaks but I think they actually ate very little or even any of it. I sprinkle some food on top of the bedding and they scratch it away to get at the food, so I think they know the difference. They started the scratching thing pretty much right away, as I had spilled some food on the shavings when I removed the paper towels. They are now 11 days old.

Hope this helps. I have never used pellets so can't give any experiences on that.

 

[jmtcmkb]

Quote:
okay so you had them on shavings right from the get go? I think by tomorrow I am going to put one or the other in there, pellets or shavings . cleaning poopy paper towels is for the birds! ha-ha

 

[fiddlebanshee]

Yes but initially covered with paper towels. I agree, cleaning poopy towels wasn't my idea of spending time with chickens, and I found it wasteful because I have a large brooder = a lot of towels in the trash. So after day two, I was certain that everyone knew where the feeder with the food was I removed the towels.

 

[jmtcmkb]

Quote:
okay so I put paper towels on top of the shavings for a couple days, then remove the towels in a day or so?

 

[jmtcmkb]

duh sorry I can see you said this in your original post! Paper towels on top.

Edited for spelling

 

[CarolJ]

I kept my chicks on paper towel covered pine shavings for the first two days. Then I removed the paper towels, and they're fine on the shavings. I tried keeping the chick feed in the feeder, but they knock the feed out - so it's mixed in with the shavings. When I clean out the brooder, I feel like I'm throwing away half the feed because they're such messy eaters!

 

[BarefootMom]

I always do pellets from day 1

They scratch a bit in them, but I never really saw them trying to eat the pellets.

Do your chicks have 24 access to feed? are they hungry or just curious?

and the pellets that I used didn't really have little pieces- just big pellets

 

[jmtcmkb]

Quote:
Yes they have tons of food! they are mixed sized- it's called horse bedding pellets- I saw here many people use them. They are too big for them to eat whole they were breaking it up banging it on the floor and sides of brooder- I will try again, maybe I was being overly cautious, maybe they were just playing.