Pine shavings

[donrae]

Koniucha - I let my LGD see the baby chicks when I brought them home. Big mistake! Now he wants to watch them all the time. But their room has to be kept at 85 degrees F, which is way too warm for a Great Pyrenees.

Please don't keep an entire room this warm for your chicks! They need access to a warm area, yes, but they also need to be able to get away from the heat to ambient temp. When chicks are raised with a momma hen, they're either 100 degrees under her, or whatever the temp is outside, even down to freezing. Keeping chicks this warm all the time in going to make them feather out slower and, I feel, inhibit immune system development. I have no evidence but anecdotal to support the immune system theory, but the feathering is pretty well proven. Plus, overheated chicks dehydrate easy.

For the OP, I've used coarse pine shavings in all my years of brooding chicks. I've never had a single chick with spraddle leg, or lost a chick to eating shavings. I've seen plenty of chicks taste the shavings, that's a normal thing for most babies with a mouth to do

 

[juliefurry03]

My first batch of chicks I raised on paper towels initially, than after a week I put them in pine shavings. All I can find is fine shavings and initially my girls picked and tried to eat it but than stopped. The batch I just got in on Monday were on paper towels for 2 days and just switched to pine shavings today. Initially they also picked at the shavings but after a few hours stopped. Paper towels are good at first I think because I can monitor them eating. But I noticed the younger babies took to the shavings easier than my big girls did they didn't pick at them as long and they didn't freak out over the initial shock of the change of bedding.

 

[PearlGrey]

Please don't keep an entire room this warm for your chicks! They need access to a warm area, yes, but they also need to be able to get away from the heat to ambient temp. When chicks are raised with a momma hen, they're either 100 degrees under her, or whatever the temp is outside, even down to freezing. Keeping chicks this warm all the time in going to make them feather out slower and, I feel, inhibit immune system development. I have no evidence but anecdotal to support the immune system theory, but the feathering is pretty well proven. Plus, overheated chicks dehydrate easy.

For the OP, I've used coarse pine shavings in all my years of brooding chicks. I've never had a single chick with spraddle leg, or lost a chick to eating shavings. I've seen plenty of chicks taste the shavings, that's a normal thing for most babies with a mouth to do

I'm not trying to keep it that warm.

That's just the temperature it is - actually it's probably closer to 82F. I hung my heat lamp at one end of the brooder, clamped to a mike stand, and raised/lowered it until the chicks were moving around normally.

 

[Koniucha]

so my other question is is there any way to prevent getting the shavings in their food and water? they are scratching and getting it everywhere.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

so my other question is is there any way to prevent getting the shavings in their food and water? they are scratching and getting it everywhere.

There are several things you can do - you can not bed the area of the brooder in which you put the feeder/waterer, you can raise the feeder/waterer up to chick chest height, or you can combine the two for the best results.

 

[PearlGrey]

donrae - I thought about what you said, about chicks needing a temperature gradient, so we turned on the AC today.

Now they can choose between being under the heat lamp at one end or going to the other end.

 

[anvia]

so my other question is is there any way to prevent getting the shavings in their food and water? they are scratching and getting it everywhere.

Pop the feed and water inside a shallow cardboard box, we've found the ones used to hold tinned goods in just about the right height and there are usually plenty freely available at the supermarket. - it will get soiled but its easily replaced - plus they will enjoy hopping onto the box walls and having a little perch too! - Just keep the food and water to the centre on the box - otherwise if they roost on the walls of the box (and they will!) they could poo into their dishes. It also minimises food being scratted about & mixing with the bedding, chicks are always exploring and in my experience they play in their food as much as they eat it! Using a box with shallow sides minimises the food & water contaminating the bedding too, a lot of spills will be contained within the box.