My little Experiment

[SmokingPistol]

Hey y'all
I'm raising 26 meat chicks for my county fair at the end of June. They are in my garage in a 5' diameter circle pen thats 2 1/2 ' deep. Shavings have become so expensive I'm trying out cat litter. I've read the previous posts about it so I know the risks. Right now I have half their pen just shavings and 1/4 cluming litter and 1/4 clay litter. They did peck at it initially so I've covered it lightly with shavings so that they associate it with ground not the crumble start and grow they are on. They are about 13 days old and range in weight from 10oz to 14.5oz. So far everything is working and later today I'll put them outside and cover the floor with litter and then put shavings ontop. I noticed that they stay cooler if they lay on the ca litter then when they lay on the pure shavings side. Right now they are only on light, its to warm here for a heat lamp. So comments appriciated and I'll let you know how this goes.

 

[SmokingPistol]

Hey I'm back,
Cat Clay Cat Litter is a Go! My birds are staying cooler and cleaner. It only took 2 bags to fill the pen and they are about $3 a bag at wally world. They don't peck at it or eat it and they avereged a 12 oz gain in 5 days, thats per bird. They are now aavereging 1.5lbs and their feathers that are in are perfectly white. The only problem I see is their feet are getting slightly callesed and thats not good for show.
Any suggestions on keeping their feet perfect?

 

[cukooformarans]

That's really interesting. I use sand in my main coop but I wonder if adding a little of the clay cat litter would prolong the life and effectiveness of the sand ...

 

[what did I do]

Keep us posted on how this goes. I've thought about entering meat chickens in our small fair.

We have our chickens on straw but we have to re-bed every day.

 

[FlaRocky]

Good luck, and keep us posted on progress. Post some photos also. Wantto see hoe it is working for you.


Maye