My peeps are doing wonderfully & growing like weeds! I've been using newspaper as a base in the brooder with layers of paper towel on top so they don't slip. When can I switch to "litter" and for that matter what is "litter"? I know I read somewhere not to use cedar shavings, but I could have sworn there was something else "not" to use. Any help would be greatly appreciated! (my paper towel budget has been blown for atleast the year!):l
Cedar shavings and newspaper are the no-nos. I recommend the pelletized bedding for horses, best absorbency of any bedding I've used it for steers, horses, lambs, you name it I've bedded it with the pelletized bedding.
I use the pine pellet bedding for my cat litter boxes. I buy "Equine Pine" rather than "Feline Pine" because it's cheaper. Best cat litter I've used yet. I'm still using pine shavings for the nest boxes but may experiment with the pellets for that also.
After a week with the new chicks I went from paper towel to pine shavings and love it! I don't need to change the paper towels twice a day any more and there feet aren't all poo when I pick them up, although it was easer to check there droppings on the paper towels, I still like the savings much better. I get a bale of shavings from my locale lumber store for 6 dollars and it looks like it will last a long time. oh and it smells good too.
I started on the pine pellets. They were recommended to me and I'd used them for my cats before. Haven't had any smell issue with the chicks at all. And when one decides it wants to be a duck, they absorb the water very well and I just scoop out the damp pine dust.
