Safe brooder shavings, and feeding question....

[LilDucky85]

Is "Aspen" shavings okay to use for my ducklings brooder? I have that and some stuff that is made from "reclaimed wood pulp waste" (it looks like soft shredded egg cartons). They both say safe for birds but I just want to double check. I was using blankets and towels the first few days but now that they poop so much I switched to news paper, and shredded newspaper. Its just not doing the trick and gets completely messy after just a few hours. I'm going to try this next, hopefully its better and I wont have to clean it 2-3 times a day.

Also, when is it okay to introduce other food than the duck starter? Which foods or vegetables do you feed your ducklings? Mine are 4 and 5 days old.

 

[nettie]

i've only used pine shavings which work great.. i am not sure about aspen shavings though, sorry

Are pine shaving hard to find in your area?

 

[ChickenToes]

Aspen shavings should be fine. You just want to avoid cedar. Right now you're ducklings can have some treats, like shredded lettuce. I love to feed ducklings a mixture of chopped spinach, plain yogurt, and crushed Cheerios. They go crazy for it, and the Cheerios give them the extra niacin they need.

 

[Spike]

Most birds have sensitive respiratory systems.. If I was going to use a wood shaving, I'd go with the Aspen as well. Avoid cedar and pine, unless the pine is kiln dried. The oils in them do more harm than good.

Cedar smells nice, but the dangers out weigh that one benefit IMO. I wouldn't use it for anything but a fence post.

 

[LilDucky85]

Quote:
They seriously can eat all that?? I had no idea bout the yogurt or cheerios! Im going to have to pick this up tonight. This should just make their poop even more interesting. lol. Is there anything else that they can eat? Im sure most veggies are ok except potato?

Thank you everyone for your replies! I dont thing pine is hard to find, I just used whatever I had around the house from when I had hamsters back in the day. The wood shavings say kiln dried but do not say what kind of wood it is? Im assuming pine because it has no cedar smell and is light yellow.

 

[cawooduck]

You want to see them go wild, buy some small crickets from a pet shop and put a few at a time in the brooder!! Good protien for them as well.

 

[LilDucky85]

Eew lol I bet they would. Right now the duckys are in the odorless poop phase so they are in my room. I can just see crickets getting loose and waking up to one on my face! Sick! That reminds me, a few years ago my sister bought crickets every week for her lizards. Well my nephew forgot they were under his jacket on the floor and he stepped on the bag. We didnt realize he had popped the cricket bag until we got home. Can you imagine a cricket filled car?