Newspaper for new chicks in brooder?

[Lahti35]

The chicks will be here in a few days. I've read about putting newspaper down so they don't mistake pine shavings as food.... but do you put down pine shavings and then newspaper on top for a few days or do you just put in newspaper and then switch to pine shavings after a few days?

 

[azygous]

Forget the newspaper. It's too slick for new little pins to get a proper purchase. Use paper towels over wood shavings until you see they know exactly what and where their food is.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Newspaper is too slick and can cause leg problems in baby chicks. Use paper towels instead. I buy a cheap roll with each new batch of chicks, change it out 2 or 3 times a day when it gets too dirty and when the roll is gone, they're ready for shavings since they know what food is by then.

 

[Lahti35]

Newspaper is too slick and can cause leg problems in baby chicks. Use paper towels instead. I buy a cheap roll with each new batch of chicks, change it out 2 or 3 times a day when it gets too dirty and when the roll is gone, they're ready for shavings since they know what food is by then.

Awesome, thanks!

 

[rides2far]

I put down newspaper, then on top of that I put tacky shelf liner, cut to size. When it got dirty, I rolled the whole thing up, shook out the newspaper & poop into the trash. I washed the shelf liners & they can be reused. Just dry them in the sun. I have them for next time I have chicks.

 

[TheRambler]

I put paper towels down over sand for about a day and a half. I was feeling confident they knew where and what the food was so i removed the paper towels. So now they are directly on sand. Cleaning is easy with a reptile sand sifter. So far so good.