Texas

[henless]

I know I have read about this topic before. Are pine shavings okay for the brooder? Seems like there was a debate over pine or cedar. I should never have given my chicken books away. If I would have known I was going to loose my memory, I would have kept them. Or if I knew I was going to be brooding chicks.

Just be sure to use the large flake pine shavings. Sometimes they are able to eat the really small ones.

 

[hensfortherapy]

Just be sure to use the large flake pine shavings. Sometimes they are able to eat the really small ones. 

Crap. I got the small stuff. Oh well. I'll go back and get the larger shavings.

 

[hensfortherapy]

The babies new makeshift brooder. What did I miss?
I know I need to change out the shavings.

 

[carikermoon]

The babies new makeshift brooder. What did I miss?
I know I need to change out the shavings.

Looks good to me! I ended up using 3 bins, each one larger than the one before it until they were old enough (and it was warm enough) to move them to the garage coop.

 

[vero89nica08]

Hey, I'm near Waco. I have 13 chickens. I think 3 are roosters the rest pullets and 3 guineas and no idea on the sex of those little birds! I'm new to this all together and that's what my son wanted so my husband got them!!

 

[hensfortherapy]

Just be sure to use the large flake pine shavings. Sometimes they are able to eat the really small ones. 

How worried do I have to be about them eating pine shavings?

 

[hensfortherapy]

Looks good to me! I ended up using 3 bins, each one larger than the one before it until they were old enough (and it was warm enough) to move them to the garage coop.

They are only going to be in this a couple or 3 weeks. Then I will move them to an outside coop that I will be using as their brooder.

 

[bnjrob]

How worried do I have to be about them eating pine shavings?

It depends on how stupid they are and if their feed dish ever goes empty and how bored they might get - some do it, some don't, some learn faster than others, etc.

For best results, even though I use the large flake shavings, I put a layer of paper towels down on top of the shavings for the first 3-5 days until they get the hint about what food is and what it looks like. It's easy to change every day and then once I see they have gotten the hang of eating food, then I take the paper towels out. I do NOT use newspaper as that is too slippery when wet/poopy, and can cause leg problems.

 

[ScenicViews]

Yes, mine ate them too! I was worried at first, then decided to give them some "chick grit" to help with digestion. They are 9 weeks old and doing fine. Have not lost one yet...

 

[vero89nica08]

What age do they need to be before giving them chick grit and how do I go about giving it? Mix in their food? I'm new to this and haven't found much on the grit guidelines! Thanks in advance!