Chicks pecking bedding off each other?

[metalman488]

So I just cleaned the old bedding out of my brooder that has 8 chicks that are all about 3 weeks old, and as soon as I put them back in with fresh bedding, most of them started pecking at it and eating something in it and 2 or 3 other chicks started like kicking it up and laying in it and they got alot of it on top of themselves. Then the other chicks started pecking the stuff off of them. Is this normal? Were they just cleaning each other? and Do I need to worry about it? The bedding is some saw dust and dirt that the farmer that I got the chicks from gave me to use for bedding.

 

[conny63malies]

No, nothing to worry about. One of my black star chicks is obsessed with rolling in fresh shavings and spilled feed. As soon as she is done others come running and pick anything "suspicious and interesting " of off her.

 

[PrairieChickens]

Chickens (and by extension, chicks) have a powerful instinct to forage, as well as to swallow pieces of grit to help them digest their food. This can be a problem if their bedding material is something they are unable to pass through their digestive system. I don't know if you have anything to worry about--I've never used sawdust in my brooder, but my biggest concern would be not the wood itself, but any chemicals it might have been treated with. Personally, I stick with pine shavings for my brooder. It's something I know is safe and the flakes are too big for the chicks to eat in their curiosity anyway.

 

[UrbanFarming]

Pretty sure they are just dust bathing. Unless they're damaging each other from pecking I wouldn't worry about it. I'm pretty new to this too but I've read hundreds of posts on here.

 

[PrairieChickens]

yeah, the process of actually pecking bits off of their broodmates is perfectly normal and nothing to worry about.