Eating Pine Shavings

[Loralye]

Hi,
I have 3 1 week old cochins, and 4 2 week old silkies in my brooder. I put shavings down and papertowel over that. Once in a while they poke a hole in the paper towel and one runs around excited about their pine shaving, then they eat it sometimes.

I would like to just use pine shavings now and stop with the paper towel. Could they become impacted if they eat too much?

They are eating medicated chick starter and I also have some grit.

 

[sealer39]

My chicks eat it all the time along with the paper towels and whatever else. Nothing has hurt them yet.

 

[rosemarythyme]

if u get the fine shavings it doesn’t hurt them. The other pine shavings are thicker and chunker shavings, and could potentially harm the chicks if eaten.

I actually prefer the bigger flake shavings (I opt for aspen instead of pine, bigger flakes). The finer ones seem "tastier" to chickens...

I always start mine on shavings, never had an issue. I also give them grit right away in case they do eat a few.

 

[Zodiac Acres]

I switched to shavings today. They went ballistic kicking them up and eating lots of little pieces. After over an hour now they finally went and ate their chick feed and are napping. The woman I got my silkies from says it's normal from to eat some and it might take a couple of days for then to figure out it's not food.

In the meantime what can I do to make sure they don't get an impacted crop? I've read about other people losing chicks.

I added a little bit of apple cider vinegar to their water. Would some plain yogurt help?

I really wouldn't worry about it honestly. Personally I steer clear of feeding lactose. I would also start using pelletized horse bedding. I put about 8 cups in a big storage bin. You can go 3 weeks in the brooder without changing bedding because the pelletized bedding is so absorbent.

 

[FernbergFarms]

They will be just fine. I use plain shavings right away. And they are okay. Mine eat them sometimes just out of curiosity, they will stop and it doesn’t hurt. So they are fine.

 

[BabasCoop]

Hi,
I have 3 1 week old cochins, and 4 2 week old silkies in my brooder. I put shavings down and papertowel over that. Once in a while they poke a hole in the paper towel and one runs around excited about their pine shaving, then they eat it sometimes.

I would like to just use pine shavings now and stop with the paper towel. Could they become impacted if they eat too much?

They are eating medicated chick starter and I also have some grit.

We have used pine shavings since the day we brought them home. No problems here. It’s what was recommended when we bought them.

 

[Loralye]

I switched to shavings today. They went ballistic kicking them up and eating lots of little pieces. After over an hour now they finally went and ate their chick feed and are napping. The woman I got my silkies from says it's normal from to eat some and it might take a couple of days for then to figure out it's not food.

In the meantime what can I do to make sure they don't get an impacted crop? I've read about other people losing chicks.

I added a little bit of apple cider vinegar to their water. Would some plain yogurt help?

 

[Loralye]

We have used pine shavings since the day we brought them home. No problems here. It’s what was recommended when we bought them.

Yeah I've read that a few people always use it with no problems and that was my plan when I first brought my silkies home.

I just put some in and they are most definitely eating it

 

[BabasCoop]

Yeah I've read that a few people always use it with no problems and that was my plan when I first brought my silkies home.

I just put some in and they are most definitely eating it

I asked about them eating the shavings. Apparently there are two types of shavings. Normal pine shavings and fine pine shavings. They said that they they will nibble on the pine shavings, but if u get the fine shavings it doesn’t hurt them. The other pine shavings are thicker and chunker shavings, and could potentially harm the chicks if eaten. Also no cedar shavings, only fine pine.
My chicks are thriving.

 

[Loralye]

I asked about them eating the shavings. Apparently there are two types of shavings. Normal pine shavings and fine pine shavings. They said that they they will nibble on the pine shavings, but if u get the fine shavings it doesn’t hurt them. The other pine shavings are thicker and chunker shavings, and could potentially harm the chicks if eaten. Also no cedar shavings, only fine pine.
My chicks are thriving.

Okay, good to know! I took them out again because I panicked. I love these little guys so much I don't want an issue with full crops and stuff. The pine shavings I got are pretty fine, meant for rodents. The chicks seemed to be eatting a lot of tiny pieces. They were going crazy picking through it, kicking it up. I just worry that they will eat too much and something will happen, still learning about chicken anatomy lol