Pine chips in my brooder?

[sdaikus]

I'm getting ready to switch my little ones from paper towels to pine chips. I have a friend who is a tree guy and chipped a bunch of pine for me. There's dirt, bark, & pine needles in the chips and now I'm worried that this won't be ok for them. Any advice?

Ps my chicks are about 4-5 days old

THANKS!

 

[sdaikus]

I also want to add.. They love spilling their food (I don't know how little chicks make such a mess!

) and eat it from the ground. Will they eat the pine chips??

 

[azygous]

Yes, they will try to eat the pine chips. I would use commercial pine shavings instead. There are no wood splinters in shavings that could cause injuries to delicate tissues, both internally and externally.