Chick Behavior Question

[Naptown Chicks]

Hi Everyone!

I have officially boarded the BYC bandwagon - my first ever chicks came on Saturday! Hooray!

They're in a tall corrugated cardboard enclosure with a thick layer of pine shavings. Yesterday, they started kicking up the shavings and I'd come in to find spaces slightly smaller than a coaster where my attic floor was showing through. Today, I've had to empty out the little plastic water tray three times because it's chock full of pine shavings that are soaked through because they've absorbed all of the water. (The waterer is the kind with an inverted bottle that screws into the tray.) Luckily I work from home, so I can clean out the tray often, but what the heck are my little girls doing? What should I do?

http://naptown-chicks.blogspot.com

 

[bnjrob]

Hanging water-er. Can try one with chicken nipples that they have to peck to get water to come out - so no "standing" water for them to flip their bedding material into.

Mine are like this too - in the water, in the food. You'd think they were having a frat party in their brooder!