Chicks hating bedding

[LizThumm]

Moved chicks to bigger brooder now they kick their bedding out to lay on bare plastic floor though it’s same type of bedding.

 

[3KillerBs]

Moved chicks to bigger brooder now they kick their bedding out to lay on bare plastic floor though it’s same type of bedding.

It's normal for chickens to scratch. They're making themselves a cozy place.

How deep is the bedding?

 

[RubelliteRose]

They probably don't hate their bedding, they just love scratching I use extra large dog crates as brooders and attach thin cardboard to the bottom 6 inches to keep the shavings in. We still end up with shavings all around the outside of the crates

 

[3KillerBs]

They probably don't hate their bedding, they just love scratching I use extra large dog crates as brooders and attach thin cardboard to the bottom 6 inches to keep the shavings in. We still end up with shavings all around the outside of the crates

Exactly. My brooder is bedding with 3-4 inches of shavings over a thick layer of straw and my chicks always manage to dig holes in it as they grow.

 

[FC16]

Do you have a heat lamp? If so, how close is it to the chicks and does it cover the brooder or just in one spot?
As I had chicks doing this once and it turned out they were doing it to get further away from the heat as they were too hot

 

[LizThumm]

It's normal for chickens to scratch. They're making themselves a cozy place.

How deep is the bedding?

Doesn’t matter how deep I make it lol

 

[LizThumm]

Do you have a heat lamp? If so, how close is it to the chicks and does it cover the brooder or just in one spot?
As I had chicks doing this once and it turned out they were doing it to get further away from the heat as they were too hot

This bigger brooder is actually a large dog cage the lamp is in middle keeping it around 75 in cage they stay up front of cage even if house is cooler they don’t move closer to lamp

 

[LizThumm]

Exactly. My brooder is bedding with 3-4 inches of shavings over a thick layer of straw and my chicks always manage to dig holes in it as they grow.

Funny this larger brooder is a larger dog cage and a mess constantly even with wood lol I give up until they go outside

 

[3KillerBs]

This bigger brooder is actually a large dog cage the lamp is in middle keeping it around 75 in cage they stay up front of cage even if house is cooler they don’t move closer to lamp

How old are they?

They may be too hot. Can you move the lamp to one end so that you have a warm spot and a cooler area?

 

[Sally PB]

I put cardboard around the perimeter of the inside of the dog crate I used as a brooder. It kept almost all the mess inside.