bedding/raising gcc

[Melanie.L]

had a question regarding nesting material/bedding.

i noticed today as I was doing a check up on the babies that a couple of them were trying to eat the bedding/shavings which I assume is not okay as it can make them sick. I was reading online that if chicks insist on eating the shavings you can substitute bedding and instead of using shavings you can use chick starter (chicken feed) that way if they eat it, it wont harm them. not sure if this was a good idea, does anyone agree or have any other suggestions?

i was also considering using just a towel and pee pad on the bottom of their enclosure along with the seed mix that way they cannot eat bedding and can only eat food that is offered. again if anyone else has any other ideas or advice i would greatly appreciate it!

 

[SilverSage]

Are you using COURSE SHAVINGS or the normal shavings sold at places like Walmart and petco? It needs to be COURSE.

I don't know about chick starter.

Pee pads are an EXTREME NO NO. The absorbent material inside them is DEADLY.

Towel or other cloth is a bad idea as it is dangerous to their little toes and even MORE dangerous than shavings is ingested.

Seed I would strongly discourage since they are already learning to eat it. The last thing you want to do is encourage them to eat soiled food.

The best thing in my opinion would just be to make sure there are TONS of yummy foods and toys all over the cage for them to explore rather than messing with their bedding.

Some baby birds will hang out in the box longer than necessary because they don't like walking on the wire floor of the cage. Placing a few paper towels on top of the grate for the comfort of their feet can encourage them to spend less time in the box being bored and exploring their bedding instead of their food and toys.


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[EllenD]

NO PEE PADS OF ANY KIND!!! THEY'RE TOXIC!!!

As said you need to provide a very course shaving, this is also the main theory behind the chicken feed, though I've never used it myself.

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