What bedding for our babies at 2 wks old?

Yeah...most folks just use the pine (or similar - anything but cedar) shavings. If you have a farm type store, you'll find them a lot cheaper I'm sure. And yes, you'll need to raise your feeder and waterer up (and they'll STILL end up with some bedding in them - but not as much) on bricks, or pieces of 2x4, something along those lines. Try to put them at about back level with your chicks...

 

I use wood shavings. I am not sure what type. The bag just says wood shavings! I line my brooder with newspaper and then put 2-3 inches of woodshavings on top of it.

 

I originally bought the large shavings from WalMart and will save it for when my chicks are chickens, the shavings I buy now come from Kmart, the shavings are smaller, smell nice (not alot of sneezing at like the WalMart stuff,) and is softer. I really enjoy when they snuggle down into it. It cost a little over $7.00 a bag but worth it and lasts a while.

 

Be careful with bags marked "wood shavings". They could contain ceder. I would not use them. I mistakenly bought a bag of these a couple of years ago. When I noticed they were not marked as pine I removed them from the brooder and dumped them in the compost pile along with the unused portion of the bag.

As some else mentioned, pine shavings are much cheaper at a feed store.

I used pine shavings the first year. Last year I used pine bedding pellets. I bought these at a feed store. They look a lot like wood stove pellets but they are less dense and are made of pine. I really liked these. They were much nicer than shavings. I will definitely use these again in the future when I raise chicks again. I did find though that they had a strong "woody" aroma. But sometimes the pine shavings also have a strong aroma... I dumped the bags into open boxes and let them air out or about a week before putting them in the brooder. I bought one bag of wood stove pellets but as soon as I saw them I decided not to use them. They were compressed much tighter. They are sometimes also made from hardwood. They are not as good at absorbing moisture as pine.

 

I experienced the same thing. My peepers are about the same age. What I did, was put my birds on wire. I made two wood frames (2X4's), stretched chicken wire across then. I then put shavings in the brooder like normal, then set the frames on top (I made two sections rather than a single one to make it easier to lift out). This help tremendously in keeping shavings everywhere including the water. Another good thing, it cuts down the chances of them catching cocci. They adapted immediately and have no problem walking on it. I put two roosting boards and branches in the brooder also. They took to roosting alsmost immediately. Less mess, and so far no poop in hte water!

 

I also prefer the pine shavings......They also help keep the brooder smelling fresh. I personally don't like the wire idea......The chicks enjoy "dust bathing" in the pine shavings...(Even if there's no dirt or sand or dust to bathe in....) I just think wire is so darned harsh. I

I raise the feeder and waterer with a brick, and that helps immensely with them getting the shavings in it.....but they still get some in there......

To keep things interesting, I will change things around when I clean the brooder....Adding a smaller tree branch for them to roost and climb on, or even a clump of grass with the dirt and roots still attached.....They get sooo excited when they see the grass clump! They literally attack it and I'm sure they eat the dirt. That is OK because they would do this naturally when mama hen takes them outside.... and it keeps them from getting pasty butt.....I got this hint from a friend, who got it from a website........It works too!

Well, good luck with your chicks,
Sharon