Chicks eating small pieces of straw

[cparr73]

Hello! I am on my second batch of chicks and am using straw in their brooder. Last time I used shredded paper as the bedding and it worked just fine but with the straw, I am noticing they are starting to eat the little bits of them. They are 6 days old right now. I'm sure in the first batch they ate some of the shredded paper but i never actually saw them do it. I am concerned in case it causes blockages in their crops for some reason. Any advice? Thanks.

 

[SonoranChick]

Hi! I would throw some paper towel on top of the straw, or remove the straw all together. They will eat it (mine did!) and it could cause lots of crop issues. Better to be safe than sorry for now while they're young. Mine are full grown now and I still catch them picking, pecking and snacking on the straw sometimes.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Chicks will scratch, pick at and consume bedding, poop or anything else they can figure out to get into their beaks.
Offer chick grit free choice so whatever they consume can be digested properly.

 

[azygous]

I agree with WR. Chicks are little vacuum cleaners. They try everything, but by age six days, they know what's food and what isn't. They will eat mostly chick food.

The only real danger is if the chicks do not get enough fresh water to flush their crops. That's when you'll see impacted crop or constipation from eating too much cellulose. This happened with a chick of mine a couple months ago.

The waterer malfunctioned and one chick got impacted crop and/or constipation. Luckily I discovered the chick in time to treat it and save it, and discovered the cause and corrected it.

Providing chick grit is another excellent way to insure proper crop function.
But try not to worry. Most chicks eat bedding and live to tell their grandchildren about it.