chicks are eating pine shavings

[gamelife]

I used pine shavings once and I've noticed pieces of it sicking out of their mouth. Whether they were eating it or not, it made me a little nervous.
The chicks turned out fine but I still never used it again. Not saying it's bad but I wanted to find something else for bedding so I knew the only thing they could consume was their food and water. What worked best for me was some unwanted T-shirts, easy on their feet and lint free so they couldn't swallow any fuzz balls. Easy to clean your brooder too, just roll them up and throw them away.

 

[NeTNChknLover]

I use puppy pads, it may be a little expensive (had a whole bunch left over from house breaking my Shih Tzu). The pads work soooo well! I can see how dirty their box is and change the pads accordingly, it absorbs really well (which is a plus until a corner drops into the watering bottom and absorbs all the water, soaking the pads). You can get them at a store like Dollar General for really cheap!

 

[bj taylor]

i used puppy pads on top of the large flake pine shavings for the first week or so. of course it requires frequent changing also, but not as frequent as paper towels & not as messy as newspaper, plus it doesn't have the risk of them developing spraddle leg like something slick like newspaper. it was a good solution for me.

 

[blondiebee181]

Two words: WOOD PELLETS. Like the kind you burn in a stove....especially for ducks because they are SO much messier. I found that they would root around in the pellets, but mostly they were too large to swallow, and smell nice! They are also very absorbent, they break down into sawdust after getting wet, but again this is mainly a duck-keeper's problem, not so much with chickens.

 

[gabrielle1976]

The pine delimma is one of those things people often cant decide on some people think that pine is toxic and some think its not. I have read a few chicken books and alot of stuff here on backyard chickens and it seems kinda half and half all around. I guess I would say pine shoudnt be used in close quarters like for the little guys in there brooders Aspen or recycled paper pellet bedding would probly be better for the lungs but for my big guys I dont mind useing some pine shaveings if Im running low on cash as I can get a huge can barely carry it threw the door bag for ten bucks and it goes a long long long ways. Ceder on the other hand is TOXIC to everything , it not only has some things that can irritate the lungs like people say about pine but the actual oils can seep thru the skin and enter the body cuaseing liver and kidney damage ect.
I use paper towels for my new babies till there at least a week old
I use pellets that I buy at my local feed store there for horse stalls and the like its like 5 bucks for a 40 lb or something like that bag for my babies after they get bigger at least a week old or so. It smells good , stays smelling good and even when it should probly be changed but your running a little behind and need it to last a little bit longer you can stir it up and it will still go the extra mile with out totally reeking. It can also be put into compost piles if I remmber reading correctly and is good for them?

 

[outdoorsii]

I usually line the brooder with PINE shavings and many layers of paper towels on top. Then I remove a layer of paper towels each day, and by the time the last layer is gone they know where the real food is. About a week.

Cedar shavings emit aromatics that can be toxic to chicks- don't use them, too risky.

Yea cedar shavings smell good but are very bad for chickens & especially baby duckies , I had a baby ducky die on me b/c we didn't realize that at the time & didn't research it till afterwards

, so yea, they shoudln't be eating the pine shavings though, mine didn't really, just don't go throwing food in them if you can help it.

 

[Dp9rr]

I switched from fine pine shavings to the bigger flake, it seemed to last longer, alot less dust and less trying to eat it!

 

[redmouse]

I usually use towels for the first week, then chopped straw after that.

I have also used large flake pine shavings which seemed to work really well but were a bit expensive compared to the straw.