They are eating their way out!

[miabyrer]

I'm a first time chick mommy. I have 3 RIR and 3 NHR... I think. They are all red and from TSC. Anyway, they are 4 weeks old and are in a big box with corrugated cardboard around the inside to avoid corners. Now they are pecking wholes in the cardboard! Is there something I can do to get them to stop? I tried biting duck tape over the whole but they just pick at it. Any ideas?

 

[TwoCrows]

Get yourself a giant, I mean giant storage tub from walmart and finish them off in there. I have mine in a large dog crate on the living room floor! If it is not too cold in your area, you could move them out to your coop and continue using the heat lamps on them, since they are 4 weeks old already. Good luck!

 

[CrazyCatLady76]

I think they just peck at anything--I have mine in the giant plastic storage tub suggested above, and I periodically hear a tap-tap-tapping from them pecking at the walls of it.

 

[Wildflower_VA]

My chicks stayed in a cardboard box for almost six weeks, and never stopped pecking at the box. They also like shiny stuff, so the duct tape is just another toy. Pecking is a way of life for chickens, so give them something to peck that takes their mind off peckng the box or their brooder mates. Giving them large chop veggies as treats gives them something to peck at and teaches them to forage. Some people hang a bundle of weeds on the side to give them something to peck at. Chicks get bored and will peck at their mates if they don't have something else to peck.

 

[CrazyCatLady76]

What sort of stuff is safe to put in with week-old chicks to keep them occupied? I have one who, in addition to pecking at the walls, occasionally just walks up to sleeping flockmates and pecks them in the butt to wake them up. Can they have some greens or such if I go on and put some grit in with them, or should that wait a while yet?

 

[Wildflower_VA]

At a week old (if they are eating well and have no issues), if you have sand in the box or chick grit, you can put greens in or if you are just giving them something to peck, small cubes of carrot lightly cooked would do the trick or cooked cubed-up broccoli stems, along with large chop boiled eggs. They love bright colors so the dark greens and oranges will get their attention. When I chop up hard boiled eggs, they go after the yolk first and don't touch the whites until nothing colorful is left.

 

[Cattitude]

Ours go out in the open-air brooder - with heat lamps - as soon as they are dry. Right now we have 40-plus chicks in there. I'm sure you could move yours outdoors, too.

 

[miabyrer]

Thanks everyone! I am a little chagrinned to say I can,t move the ladies outside yet because the coop isn't ready. In fact we just put up the corner posts and have nothing else done. eeck! I will look into the walmart storage tubs. Oh and i have a trouble makers who likes to peck the others when they sleep. distractions haven't helped... she is just onery

 

[chena16c]

Haha! It's okay! When I first got my chicks (I bought them before I closed on my house!) I didn't have the coop up and ready either. It took my mom and I about a month and a half, in triple digits building it. In the meantime I started them in a small, wired dog crate that I duct taped cardboard around to keep them from getting through the slots. When they got bigger they moved to the large dog crate with cardboard around it and stayed in there for a while. They were very happy when the chicken coop was finished (so was I because i was just about to go pick up the brand new 8 week old border collie puppy who needed those crates!)

 

[rosegal]

I move mine into large dog crates as they get older. You can find used ones on craigslist and put that plastic chicken wire around it so they can't go through. It is a cheap and easy fix, since most of mine have cost about $10. Then I put sticks in there so they can jump around on them and roost. They love it. I include a box so they can cuddle if they want, but most times they roost on the highest stick. They are like acrobats and jump from one to the other, very cute to watch them gather strength. I also put cages in the garden and take them out on sunny days with a small box of sand. It keeps them from being bored. I begin this about 3 weeks of age.