My chicks are pecking at their bedding

[ChickensAreGODS]

is this a bad thing? i give them food and water and they eat and drink it but they just LOVE to peck at their bedding! Should i be worried about this?

 

[Isadora]

What kind of bedding do you have?

 

[ChickensAreGODS]

What kind of bedding do you have?

its like VERY thinly cut pieces of wood its almost paper like

 

[Isadora]

its like VERY thinly cut pieces of wood its almost paper like

Was it marketed as wood chips/shavings or something that you purchased from the store?

 

[ChickensAreGODS]

Was it marketed as wood chips/shavings or something that you purchased from the store?

it was marketed as birch wood shavings for chicks and chickens

 

[Isadora]

it was marketed as birch wood shavings for chicks and chickens

Gotcha!
It's a normal behavior for chicks to scratch and peck bedding, trying to look for food. If they're interested in their food and water and are drinking fine, it's not something I would be overly worried about. Sometimes people will lay down strips of paper towels underneath the feeders, just to give them an area where there's just clearly food and no shavings (That's only usually done when the chicks are very young, like 3 days or less) That can help teach the chicks what is actually food and what's not.

 

[ChickensAreGODS]

Gotcha!
It's a normal behavior for chicks to scratch and peck bedding, trying to look for food. If they're interested in their food and water and are drinking fine, it's not something I would be overly worried about. Sometimes people will lay down strips of paper towels underneath the feeders, just to give them an area where there's just clearly food and no shavings (That's only usually done when the chicks are very young, like 3 days or less) That can help teach the chicks what is actually food and what's not.

alright great!

 

[KingD]

is this a bad thing? i give them food and water and they eat and drink it but they just LOVE to peck at their bedding! Should i be worried about this?

Nothing to worry about

 

[ChickensAreGODS]

Nothing to worry about

thanks!

 

[TheAlarmCluck]

Perfectly normal. My chicks do the same. Try putting some sand at the bottom; it works great as grit and also they play in it for days on end.