So cute but so much poop!!!!!

[nursesusanb]

I only have 8 chicks that are 4 days old, but I feel like all I am doing is changing out paper towels. They make a huge mess with the food and it seems like they poop their weight every few hours.
Do they get less messy or more messy in the coming weeks?

 

[Northern nurse]

The poops just get bigger! Something to look forward to!

 

[donrae]

Raise the feeder on a brick or piece of 2x4 or something similar. That will keep them from making such a mess and wasting feed. Ditch the paper towels and go with pine shavings. Don't fret about keeping the brooder totally clean, it's actually beneficial for them to scratch around in the poo.

 

[novastar]

Welcome to raising chicks! The poos only get bigger and smellier haha

 

[nursesusanb]

Is it okay to just do pine shavings at this point? I read they would eat the pine shavings.

 

[Sweets2005]

I don't have any chickens yet but I have been worried about poop. I have a green cheeked conure (caged pet bird) and was amazed at the amount of poop that comes out of her!

 

[MountainOrchard]

Mine are almost 6 weeks now and I cannot believe how fast they go through feed compared to the first couple of weeks. And of course the poops have increased at the same rate. They are little poop factories, which is not so great when they are in a little confined space, but less of a bother when they are outside a lot. And it makes some awesome compost!

 

[MountainOrchard]

Pine shavings are fine, mine have never tried to eat them.

 

[donrae]

I use pine shavings from day one. Then again, I brood outside in a livestock trough, so odor is not so much an issue.

 

[HillCountryTX]

I'm a brand-new chicken mama with a dozen two-week old chicks in my living room. I put mine on a thick bedding of pine shavings on day 1, and they peck at it but they don't eat it. The pine shavings also mean I don't have to clean their pen - at least, so far. It's big enough and the shavings are deep enough that the chicks scratch through it and bury their poop, which dries out pretty quickly in the dry bedding. I have added pine shavings about twice in two weeks, just to keep things topped off, and so far there has been no odor at all. I do have to clean out their waterers every morning - they kick the the pine shavings into the food and the water containers. I almost think they do it on purpose! (Little stinkers....)