PSA: Pine shavings suck

[Rose Quartz]

I don't use pine shavings anymore either for the young ones, for the first week I tend to use terry cloth it's easier to keep clean that way for me too.

 

[Rammy]

We also use puppy pee pads for the first several days. Good footing, and easy to monitor poops etc. also, the chicks are then focused on water, real chick food, and each other. The pads are really easy to pick up to throw away-they have a thin plastic back.

We used the pads once for a few weeks, but the chicks started to peck them and pick at them (quail). But neither quail nor chicken chicks pick at the pads the first couple of weeks. After a few days to a week on the puppy pee pads, we now move to large shavings. So far, so good.

Sorry you lost some chicks! I’m sure it was the fine bits that were the problem. We used the fine shavings once, but found they matted down too quickly, so just use large flake now. Luckily, never had an issue with the fine flakes, maybe bc we only used them for a short time.

I do the same thing with the pads. I use those for a couple weeks until they get bigger then switch to large flake pine shavings. Never had a problem doing it that way.

 

[Chickassan]

Iv'e had issues with pine shavings ingestion and sand as well. The solution that worked for me was alfalfa hay, TSC, Atlantic hay company it comes in a white plastic bag says ready to feed on it.
They will indeed eat it but it is actually beneficial and TONS easier to dispose of, just toss it out and let nature or your adult birds finish it off.

 

[danceswithronin]

Sorry about your chicks. I raise mine on a combination of paper towels and Kaytee animal bedding. The paper towels are easy to change out every morning/evening when I feed, and leaves the main layer of bedding much cleaner, so that way I only have to clean the whole brooder out like once a week. I eventually remove the paper towels as they get older and more savvy about the difference between bedding vs. food.

The Kaytee bedding comes in really big fluffy flakes of recycled paper (I have it in bright Easter colors right now) so as far as I've seen the chicks don't show much interest in trying to eat it.

 

[concrete_boots]

I’m using “shop towels” paper towels...they are the thicker blue ones found at Lowe’s, Home Depot, autozone...seem to be working well and easy to clean out the brooder every morning.
Plan on switching over to pine or sand at some point maybe a week old or so..

 

[aliciaFarmer]

Good!

Just a note on sand for chicks, based on a recent attendance at a seminar for poultry. They had sessions on a variety of topics. In one session they addressed bedding, including sand. Sand is fine generally, but they noted it was not a good choice for young chicks, primarily due to heat/cold. The top layer of sand is warmed (if using heat lamp), but just under the top layer it is cold, which is not good for the chicks. When they get older and can regulate their temps better, it is fine. When they are adults and looking for relief from the heat, can also be fine - but might also cause the same problem we all experience when trying to traverse sun warmed sand in bare feet - oww - oww- oww!

That totally makes sense. I use a brooder plate in lieu of a light but I'm sure the same would be true. It may even make it to hot under there. All my hatchlings hatched and they are on puppy pads right now. It's been very enlightening. I have to change them out every day at least once a day and realizing how absolutely disgusting Pine shavings must be after a week, which is how frequently I usually changed that out, gross! I think a puppy pads is the way to go the first couple weeks for sure. I just got sand for the big coop/chicken house floor but haven't decided what to put in the four-week-old brooder outside yet.

 

[aliciaFarmer]

I don't use pine shavings anymore either for the young ones, for the first week I tend to use terry cloth it's easier to keep clean that way for me too.

That's a really great idea!! I'll have to get some because I prefer reusable rather than single-use items like the puppy pads. I was just kind of in a panic and that was the easiest thing to get at the moment. Thank you for the idea!

 

[aliciaFarmer]

I’m using “shop towels” paper towels...they are the thicker blue ones found at Lowe’s, Home Depot, autozone...seem to be working well and easy to clean out the brooder every morning.
Plan on switching over to pine or sand at some point maybe a week old or so..

Those are good idea also. I'm not sure why I never thought of anything outside of pine shavings before but again, I've never had a problem with them until now.

 

[FL YaYa]

I've hatched and/or raised almost 90 chicks and wanted to share a recent discovery. Pine shavings suck for baby bedding! That's what I've always used because it's what's recommended but in the past 2 weeks I've lost a 4 day old Speckled Sussex and a 5 day old Swedish Flower Hen to pine shaving ingestion. I wasn't sure on the first one but the little one yesterday was obvious as she had a piece coming halfway out of her vent and another lodged in her throat.

I had no idea because I've literally never had a problem or heard of anyone else having an issue. Please use sand or something else for their first couple of weeks. It may just save their life.

No judgemental comments please. I've learned from my error and just want to spread the word out of my love for baby chicks. I think it's the new brand I just got because I've never I an issue before. I've hatched and/or raised almost 90 chicks. Next week it will be closer to a hundred. Definitely not a noob. This brand of pine shavings doesn't say if it's coarse or fine and says it's perfect for everything from chicks to horses. It's not. It's far smaller than my typical shavings.

P.S. I equally loathe chicken wire. Both should be banned or baby chick usage.

I am so very sorry for your loss.... I learned on Oak Abode Youtube that paper towels in the brooder for brand new babies is safer for the first week so that's what I did....I had layer upon layer upon layer so all I had to do was peel off a few squares that were soiled. Again, so sorry for you.

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

I switched to shredded paper bedding this year, and I'm not going back. They have it in the small animal section, like for hamsters and such.

I'm so very sorry for your losses.

ETA I see this is an old thread. Anyway I start them on paper towels or puppy pads for the first several days or week, then I switched to the shredded paper.