Chicks pecking at bottom of brooder

[Coenthecoopcrafter]

I got 8 chicks yesterday(4 Americana, 4 Plymouth rocks), and everything is seeming fine except they are all trying to peck at a specific spot on the bottom of their plastic brooder. The only reason I can imagine them doing this is to get some sort of grit for the little bit of scrambled eggs I treated them with yesterday. The only hole in that theory is they are only picking in one spot, not scavenging for the best looking wood chips. Anyone have any ideas/suggestions? Thanks!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Baby chicks are cute but rather dense, besides the only body part that a baby chick can use to explore its' world is its beak or bill. This is known as the pecking response. Try this little experiment. Place a clean sheet of newsprint on the bottom of your brooder then watch your day old biddies try to pick up and eat the printed letters from this fragment of newspaper. This is why I always get a chuckle when posters talk about "showing" or "teaching" a baby chick how or what to eat by pecking at the chicks' food with their index fingers. Baby chicks learn about their world by pecking or pecking at any and all things that they find laying around in their environment. Some of these items the biddies like and chose to eat ravenously, after an exploratory peck or two at the remaining items your baby chicks will simply ignore these things.

 

[Coenthecoopcrafter]

Baby chicks are cute but rather dense, besides the only body part that a baby chick can use to explore its' world is its beak or bill. This is known as the pecking response. Try this little experiment. Place a clean sheet of newsprint on the bottom of your brooder then watch your day old biddies try to pick up and eat the printed letters from this fragment of newspaper. This is why I always get a chuckle when posters talk about "showing" or "teaching" a baby chick how or what to eat by pecking at the chicks' food with their index fingers.

So its just them trying to explore? No cause for concern?