My chicks arrived after 2.5 days

[feather13]

We like to use pine pellets in the brooder box and the small coop the chicks go into as they prepare to be integrated into the flock. I find them less messy than pine shavings (although they're more expensive). The smell can be strong though, so we always air it out first.

 

[ladybrasa]

We like to use pine pellets in the brooder box

There’s so much adult chicken food nowadays that is pelleted. Are you worried at all that they might not think pellet food is food? Or do you just not use pellet food?

 

[feather13]

There’s so much adult chicken food nowadays that is pelleted. Are you worried at all that they might not think pellet food is food? Or do you just not use pellet food?

In the adult chicken coop, we use a bare dirt floor run and pine shavings in the coop/nesting area because they're cheaper and it doesn't matter if they make a big mess (honestly I can't stand pine shavings because of the mess--it gets everywhere--but it's the best option for us in the hen coop since it's far from the house and aesthetics aren't an issue). We feed our adult chickens layer crumble since they never really liked the pellets (although pellet food is less mess). Pine pellets work best for us for the brooder and chick/teenager coop since it's less mess.

Hope that helps! There's a lot of great debate on here about which chick bedding is best. I would say make a short list of what might work for you and then experiment.

P.S. Love your avatar!