Wood Shavings

[turbo13]

Hi. Of Late,I've Noticed My 3 Month Old Chickens Are Eating A Lot Of Their Pine Shavings. They Free Range 3/4 Hrs Each Day,eat A Good Amount Of Regular Food.Is This Just A Quirk?.and Is It Bad For Them.their Poop Is Normal. Strange! Any Ideas?

 

[justbugged]

What kind of regular food are you feeding them?

 

[7&8]

Hey there. Mine eat pine shavings, also. They free range all day & have access to layer mash, as well.

I'm not sure how much "a lot" is to you...mine, when I've seen them doing it - and interestingly, it's really only the EE's that eat shavings - might eat five or less small shavings at a time.

I do recall that as chicks, all of this batch ate shavings here & there, especially "fresh" ones.

I look at their pine shaving eating behavior as yet one more novelty in the daily smorgasbord of things they eat. Most of my chickens are 13 weeks old now, and all are healthy.

 

[JLS]

My chicks from this years batch likes to eat the shavings.

At first I was very concerned but they didn't develope any problems. I think as long as you give them the right food, water, housing and excersize you should rest easy. It is wonderful to see that you want to provide the best for your babies! Keep up the good work!!

 

[grassfedeggs]

I just noticed my free-range chickens nibbling on the shavings when they go in for the night( they have layer pellets available at all times). I couldn't tell if they were just tasting them or actually ingesting them. I just started using shavings, I used dried leaves from our maple trees all summer, and decided that it's way easier to buy shavings at the feed store. Thanks for posting!

 

[woodmort]

As long as they're getting grit there should be no problem. Just giving them a little fiber. When it is a problem is with chicks that eat it instead of chick food and have yet to have grit in their gizzards to grind the shavings up.

 

[turbo13]

Hi. As To What Regular Feed Is To Them. Ist They Don't Get Any Commerical Food.they Get Whole Grains.as Whole Wheat. Buckwheat,barley,millet Seed.oats Groats,flax Seeds,winter Rye.bird Seeds/scratch.these Are Available At All Times.I Feed In A Pvc Tube Feeder.in The Am, They Get.brown Rice And Vegs'also At Night Before Bed. I Season The Dry Food With Cinnamon.garlic Powder.turmerck Cayanne Pepper.3 Or4 Time A Weelk They Get Fish .all A Very Healthy.just Got This Thing For Pine Shavings.