SWAWDUST FOR MONTH OLD CHICK BEDDING

[bufforphfan]

I TRIED USING SAWDUST BEDDING MATERIAL FOR MY WEEK OLD CHICKS AND THEY STARTING EATING IT, SO I REMOVED IT. THE CHICKS ARE NOW A MONTH OLD, AND HAVE LEARNED WHERE THEIR FOOD IS. SHOULD I TRY SAWDUST AGAIN? ARE ANY OF YOU USING SAWDUST FOR BEDDING MATERIAL?

 

[tx_dane_mom]

I personally haven't, but I just can't think it would be a good thing...but I'm not the bedding expert..

 

[chickenlady]

The guy next to me does things with pine and gives me bags and bags of fresh pine shavings. I absolutely love it!! It smells great and looks great. Nice a fluffy. I use it in all my coops but my chickens are older than 1 month. I would think you could use it with no problems.

ETA: Sorry, I just re read, sawdust, no, I would not use sawdust. My neighbor makes me big shavings.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Pine shavings are excellent, but I would be a little leery of using pine/saw dust. Birds have very sensitive respiratory systems and the dust will only irritate and cause problems. I use shavings though, and even though the babies do eat a little bit, it's never enough to hurt them.

 

[dlhunicorn]

agree with the above > not only that but it is known to cause concretions (hard ball mass in crop) which leads to crop impaction.

 

[joebryant]

I have my four-week-old chicks on pine needles. I bought a bale of pine needles at the feed/seed store. It's working great so far. I brought three silkies home last night and gathered some pine needles for their cage from under my own white pine trees.

 

[bufforphfan]

Thanks for all of your replies. I was using wood chip pet bedding purchased at Walmart. The bag says it is for small animals, but it does not mention Poultry. I guess that should have been a warning flag for me! I have lost two good chicks now! I have also used shredded copy paper and shredded newspaper. I am beginning to think I should not use bedding material at all and should just hose down the floor fairly often. The pens have solid plywood slanted floors with drainage. Any thoughts on hosing them down?

 

[chickenlady]

I would recommend using something on the plywood. I just use regular pine shavings that can be purchased at Walmart. It is much cheaper to buy at a feed store though. Just make sure it is pine. I get the larger size shavings. Also, I keep my new chicks up to 2 weeks old on paper towels only. This way, they learn to eat only food and not shavings. By 2 weeks old, they have no problems switching to shavings. Good luck to you.

 

[Davaroo]

Sand. Try clean, dry sand.

 

[bufforphfan]

The feed store I use has a hay barn and they will allow me to bag up some of the spilled hay off the floor. The chicks love it for bedding, but they tend to eat more of the hay than the starter- grower ration I buy. Ace Hardware Superstore advertises 50# bags of screened and washed play sand for about $7 per bag. I have a sand wash running through my property, but the sand has dirt and rock in it. OH MY --- Decisions---Decisions

Thanks for your input.