What the heck are they doing?

Shavings are the worst bedding ever. They wick the water right out of the waterer and soak it up through the entire brooder making a high holy mess. All they need to do it scratch near the waterer and thats the end of it.

Use pellets. Put the waterer up on a block of wood.

 

You can try elevating their feeder and waterer above the level of the bedding. I always put mine up on small boards or a brick. Its normal for them to scratch their bedding, particularly around the food source and they will do this continually....so you are fighting a losing battle!

Depending on your brooder, some folks will suspend the waterer and feeder at chick shoulder height for this very reason. As long as they can still reach in for food and water, this is okay.

 

hanging the feed and water works like a charm...

 

Well, they are going to be messy... how old are they??

I always start mine out with no bedding and with their food on a shallow surface like a cool whip container lid. Also, (I learned this from raising quail) I add rocks like gravel from the drive to their waterier so that even if they step in there they don't get really wet, make a mess, or drown.

After about 2-3 days once I am sure they know where to look for their food, I move their food to a feeder in the same location as I piled it before and add bedding to one side of the brooder.

This is what works for me. I am blessed that my brooder has 1/2 floor and 1/2 wire floor so I put bedding in one side, feed/water on the other.

Hope some of this helps...

 

yeah its just awful, that pine stuff.

I use horse pelleted bedding- not feed pellets. Your local farm supply or TSC will have it, probably about 6 bucks. It comes in a 20-40 pound bag.

TSC sells a small animal pelleted bedding for 5 dollars. its nice for brand new chicks- under a week or two old. Its called Cozy'n'Fresh.

Its honestly the best stuff ever. It lasts for nearly a week in the brooder, more depending o nthe size and depth. I use it in my big cardboard brooder from 2 weeks nearly 4 weeks until they go out.

Good stuff that!

 

Quote:That is what I did. I used a baking dish turned upside down so the waterer & feeder were at their chest level.

 

I hung the drinker pretty quick after we got them, and now it's usually only got a few pine shavings in it at the end of the day.. Stays pretty clean.

Got a 10lb hanging feeder yesterday, too. Had been using the long 'rail' type feeders, but they were getting all crapped up and full of shavings. So far, the hanging feeder seems to be much, much cleaner.

Plus, if you hang the feeder and drinker at shoulder height, they can walk and lay underneath them too.. When you've only got 12sqft in a brooder for 28 4+wk old chicks, you take all the real estate you can get.. If they were on the floor, the feeder and drinker together would probably take up close to 2sqft...that's like giving up 17% of your space!

 

Quote:Yep, what Beekissed said.