Is pine shavings okay for chicks

[Finnisadoggy]

Hi! I was wood shavings are okay for chicks I’m a little concerned that they will try to eat it.

 

[BrickCoop15]

I always use pine shavings for my baby chicks. I just use the large flake instead of the fine shavings to prevent them from eating them.

 

[Cackel Shack]

Hi! I was wood shavings are okay for chicks I’m a little concerned that they will try to eat it.

I've raised several batches of chicks and have always used pine shavings as litter. It does appear that they eat some of it, but none have died. So based on my experience pine shavings are safe.

 

[NatJ]

I was wood shavings are okay for chicks I’m a little concerned that they will try to eat it.

The chicks will try to eat wood shavings, because chicks try to eat EVERYTHING.

A few nibbles will not hurt them, but they could have trouble if they eat large amounts.

 

[Finnisadoggy]

I've raised several batches of chicks and have always used pine shavings as litter. It does appear that they eat some of it, but none have died. So based on my experience pine shavings are safe.

Thank you so much this helps a lot

 

[Finnisadoggy]

The chicks will try to eat wood shavings, because chicks try to eat EVERYTHING.

A few nibbles will not hurt them, but they could have trouble if they eat large amounts.

Thank you!

 

[Finnisadoggy]

I always use pine shavings for my baby chicks. I just use the large flake instead of the fine shavings to prevent them from eating them.

Thank you! I will definitely use large pine shavings

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Hi! I was wood shavings are okay for chicks I’m a little concerned that they will try to eat it.

Chicks are babies and like any baby will put pretty much anything in their mouth!
I use puppy pads for the first two weeks for my chicks and then transition to large flake pine shavings. You also need to add some chicks sized grit for them if you have them on the shavings. I did lose a 4 week old chick to eating too many pine shavings about a year ago and it was very sad, so now I’m a bit overly cautious, but better safe than sorry!

 

[RawEggEater]

pine shavings are bad

 

[YellowRoseFarm]

If we listened to every piece of advice, every bedding would be bad, all run covers are bad, how you feed your flock is bad...you get the idea.

While there are many opinions on just about everything related to chicken-keeping, there are a few undisputed truths:
- don't use cedar shavings;
- plan for your climate; and
- keep a clean brooder and coop.

Whether pine shavings are suitable for your brooder depends on the age of your chicks, where you're brooding, the amount of dust you can tolerate in that space, whether the shavings are large or small, and how often you plan to clean your brooder. Pine shavings do produce a lot of dust, and, personally, for tiny chicks, I chose the larger pine shavings at TSC over the smaller shavings at Atwood's because I was worried about the chicks trying to ingest the smaller pieces.

That said, mine were not day-olds. I'd have gone with paper towels for the first week if they were. Some use puppy pads; however, while the hydrogels inside are not toxic, results would be catastrophic if ingested by a tiny chick.