Ducklings and wood chips?

[nao57]

So I'm aware that people will often ask if you can have wood chips under ducklings etc. And they ask what age.

I'm instead not asking that, but asking how to introduce them to wood chips without coming back and finding a dead duckling?

Its still very cold where I live, the ducklings are about 3.5 weeks old. Because its cold I can't take them out in the yard much yet, and have to keep them in a garage pen area. This means they aren't getting a lot of experience with what is and isn't food.

I'm wondering if there's a trick or hack to sort of helping reduce the roughness of the curve with wood chips without having an accident or trouble?

Thanks.

 

[Ratchnick]

What's in their brooder for substrate?

 

[nao57]

Pieces of scrap wood paneling too big to eat with an old towel over it. It took a few hours for them to figure out they couldn't eat the towel lol. That was kind of funny also.

I'd tried to put wood chips in earlier and they kept trying to eat them, when they were bigger than their necks. That was kind of interesting too.

But putting old scrap towels or throw away cloth down is pretty awful when I come back the next morning and see it covered in duck manure.

They sure are cute and interesting. But wow, the manure is everywhere in a really short time.

 

[Isaac 0]

I've never had that problem, how big is your brooder is it possible they might be bored?

 

[gmjarvi]

Mine are a couple weeks old and they stopped nibbling the pine shavings after a few hours.

Maybe when you introduce the shavings you should also introduce something more interesting, like chopped greens in a bowl of water. Way tastier than wood!