Chicken eating shavings?

[RhodeIslandRed5]

I see my Rhode Island Red chicks eating their shavings! I will see my sweet little runt eat the little pieces out of the feeder along with the food. I can't see how that would be good eating all that wood because I can't see it digesting. But I can't stop them from eating it, so what do I do?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Elevate your feeder more so they can't scratch shavings into it.

 

[RhodeIslandRed5]

The feeder is in a position where it cannot be hung, so yeah, I guess I'll have to build something for it to sit on. But will all those shavings they've eaten digest?

 

[micstrachan]

Do they have access to chick grit or even clean construction sand?

 

[Willowspirit]

The feeder is in a position where it cannot be hung, so yeah, I guess I'll have to build something for it to sit on. But will all those shavings they've eaten digest?

We put ours on a low box. The could get up and eat but couldn’t scratch stuff into it.

 

[rosemarythyme]

How much of it are they eating? A few pieces won't hurt but if any of the chicks are gorging on it, that's obviously less than ideal. Do they have access to grit?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Set it up on some bricks or paving stones.
If the shavings make it to the proventriculus, they will get stomach acid added and then moving to the gizzard, they will be ground up if there's any grit in there.
How old are the chicks?

 

[SurferchickinSB]

I see my Rhode Island Red chicks eating their shavings! I will see my sweet little runt eat the little pieces out of the feeder along with the food. I can't see how that would be good eating all that wood because I can't see it digesting. But I can't stop them from eating it, so what do I do?

That’s not good! I would take out all the shavings and just put down paper towels and change them a couple times a day.

 

[Henriettamom919]

Mine did this as well; my tiny peep was especially fond of doing this.

Offer a dish of chick grit if you've not already got it and just set the feeder on a few stacked bricks, flat pieces of wood or in a pinch an overturned casserole dish or thick book you don't care about will suffice until you can procure something more permanent.

If she keeps doing this switch to pellet bedding (think pellet stove pellets but pet safe); it's super inexpensive and you can incorporate shaving back in when they're a bit older!

Good luck!

 

[aart]

How old are the chicks?

Key question^^^

http://www.jupefeeds-sa.com/documents/GraniteGrit.pdf.

I bought about a 2 gallon bag of granite grit from the local mill, they put it in their chicken scratch. Ran it thru a colander with 1/16" holes. Bagged the smaller stuff for the chicks and sprinkle some over a chunk of sod in the brooder during the second week.