brooder pic and questions

[Wxguru]

Here is a pic of my brooder. It is 48" x30" and 24" high. You may see behind it is an exsct double of the brooder. When they get older i will open the wall and it will be an 96" x30" brooder so they will have plenty of room.
So now the questions....
1. I have 2" of pine shavings on the concrete floor. On top of that i put a layer of paper towels down on the entire thing. They walk funny on it of course because of the paper towels...and stumble at times. This going to cause foot issues at all?
2. With 6 chicks in this size brooder how often do i clean it? I am taking paper towels out on day 3 and it will just be pine shavings then. If i can go 3 days with these towels it would prevent extra waste.
3. I havent built the top screen yet....how long before they could "fly" out?

They just showed up this morning and are almost 3 days old. I can even see little wing tips already.

 

[HighStreetCoop]

You're probably fine to discontinue the paper towels if they're 3 days old. My chicks were a mix of day to week olds and they did fine on shavings after the first day. The rule for cleaning is pretty much smell driven I think (mine didn't smell at ALL for the first week but I cleaned it out and put in fresh bedding anyway over the weekend. My chicks started attempting to fly out at two weeks (first they were perching on top of the feeder and waterer, so when you see that happening, get ready for the next "jump").

 

[Wxguru]

Well after 10 hours of work and coming home, the chicks are still fine, but that paper towel roll sure looks like they have pooped ALOT on it. Is that alright for them to be on or should it be changed? I realize it is white and will show poop much better, but man it seems like alot! They are just over 48hrs old and I am paranoid about putting them on the shavings yet. They peck at the paper towel alot....thinking they see little morsels of food.

 

[HighStreetCoop]

I'd change them if they have enough poo on them to be damp.

 

[Wxguru]

I changed them....the brooder is warm enough that it is drying fairly quickly.