Paper towels to wood shavings

[Mahjongg90]

Hi everyone. New to raising chickens here, and I already have a question. Is there any specific time I should introduce my chicks to wood shaving/sawdust? I've had them for 3 days now and they are all doing great! Any advice would be greatly appriciated!Thanks in advance
-Steven

 

[tx_dane_mom]

I keep my guys on hay..just my personal preference...gives them a good grip & something to dig around in.
Kristi

 

[Wildsky]

I had mine on the paper towels over shavings till they were 6 days old.

 

[Kaneke]

shavings .. yeah ... sawdust, I'd say not ... too small and the chicks will pick it up and eat it .. plus they'll inhale the dust from it

 

[Renegade]

I use paper towels for 3 or 4 days then switch to my regular bedding. I use alfalfa pellets as my bedding. They are normally used to feed livestock but it makes great bedding material for chicks. It is very absorbent and it doesn't matter if a chick eats it.

Donna

 

[Henrietta23]

My personal experience was that my week old chicks went nuts when I put them on shavings. I was concerned that they were eating a lot of the smaller shavings. I put them back on towels for another 4 days or so. They were a week and a half old at that point. By now I'm sure they know what is food and what is not. They still eat a few small pieces but I've observed them eating food and grit and they seem to be doing fine. I got a lot of different responses when I posted about this. I finally had to do what felt right to me. Good luck!

 

[schmism]

i put mine directly on planer shaveings (low dust) 3 ish days old. We line the bottom of the bathtub with 1-2 layers of paper then the shavings.

they will be 3 weeks old this fri. no probs

 

[Mahjongg90]

Thanks guys, this really helped me out!

 

[Meesh]

I use alfalfa pellets as my bedding. They are normally used to feed livestock but it makes great bedding material for chicks.

Hey, that's a good idea. Since I feed alfalfa pellets to my roses, I'll have chicken-poop-alfalfa-pellets, which roses will love even more! I am upgrading it to Great Idea!

Cheers,
Michelle​

 

[ebaribault]

What do you guys think about Alfalfa grass?My friend raises cows and she uses it for her chickens.
I put some in the brooder and the poor little guys were afraid of it at first,so I sprinkled some starter crumbles in,and they all went nuts.

Is it ok to give chicks hay or straw for bedding?

Thank you,
Ed