Dangers of using weewee pads

[Rammy]

Ive used wee wee pads for years for my newly hatched chicks with no problems. Normally after a few days to a week I replace the pads with shavings. This year I didnt and learned a valuable lesson.
I hatched bantys thus year and they are about two weeks old. I noticed they have been "scratching" at the pads, taking off the padding. I also noticed alot of poop had accumulated on the bottoms of thier feet so I took them to the bathroom and ran lukewarm water on their feet to get the poop off . As I was doing so, I also was pulling off little fibers from where they were scratching it up that had wrapp ed around thier toes. I was very suprised to find this and also mad at myself for not noticing sooner.
It doesnt look like they have any injuries to thier toes other than a few knicks. I should of been more attentive and definetly will be doing closer inspections.
No more wee wee pads after a week, or less. Im a bad chickie mom.

 

[FluffTheDuck]

Don’t feel bad! We all learn even some horrible lessons— but there is no reason to be mad at yourself.

 

[Acre4Me]

Yeah first 3-7 days is all I've ever used them for chicks. We had quail chicks and they destroyed the pads around 1.5 to 2 weeks old, so I now switch to shavings by a week old. Of course, we had around 35+ quail chicks, so a lot more feet and beaks to destroy the pads. I think if there were only a few chicks, the pads could possibly have a longer use in a brooder. The we've had 17 chicks, the pads did pretty well and were not destroyed or scratched up by the young chicks.

Another reason to not use them if the chicks destroy them as they age, is because they have absorbent material inside, like the gels that expand. Not quite to the extent a baby diaper expands, but it could cause a problem if a chicks ingested a quantity of it.

I'm still a fan of the pee pads, but I like them for the first few days so the chicks focus on feed and water, rather than tasting and eating the shavings. Also, allows for better ability to see the little poops and to see problems - like mobility issues - easier when they are walking on a flat, white surface.

 

[danceswithronin]

I just use paper towels laid down in sheets over another kind of bedding like the hutch bedding they sell in pet stores. Paper towels keep the base bedding clean (I still change out the bedding once a week though), are easy to fold up and dispose of twice a day, and they are easy to "read poops" on. I can tell by looking at the poops on the paper towels whether the poops are healthy or not, and getting a fecal sample if necessary is easy off a paper towel. I also broadcast a little feed on the paper towels to give the chicks something to forage off of without having to worry so much about them eating bedding.

The paper towels give a nice flattish surface to observe the chicks on, but the unevenness of the bedding underneath makes their legs strong and gives them some traction to avoid mobility issues like straddle. I've raised two groups of day-old chicks with this setup and haven't had any issues yet.