| Author |
Barnyard Buddies:  DAY OLD CHICKS AND WOOD SHAVINGS QUESTION  |
|
|
Phils Ann
True Blue Farmgirl
1095 Posts
Ann
Parsonsburg
Maryland
USA
1095 Posts |
 Posted - Nov 24 2006 : 11:07:10 AM
|
I have read that cedar shavings are harmful for chicks, and that pine shavings are best for them. My husband just asked if cherry wood shavings are okay, as he's beginning to make a pile of them due to a project he's working on. Any wisdom from you experienced chicken farmgirls? Thanks!
Ann
There is a Redeemer. |
|
|
_Rebecca_
True Blue Farmgirl
568 Posts
Rebecca
OK
USA
568 Posts |
Posted - Nov 24 2006 : 11:57:02 AM
|
Ann,
Keep them on newspaper. They tend to eat pine shavings. Wait until they are a bit older. I'm sorry I don't know if cedar is harmful or not.
Update: http://www.grangecoop.com/t_chicks.html
this website says NEVER to use cedar shavings
hth
.·:*¨¨* :·.Rebecca.·:*¨¨* :·.
Wife of Jonathan, Mother of Joel, Caitlyn, Elia, Nathanael |
Edited by - _Rebecca_ on Nov 24 2006 11:59:42 AM |
 |
|
|
Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Nov 24 2006 : 12:03:27 PM
|
I have used pine shavings but still for the first two or three day after their arrival I put down newspaper for them first (I usually get it set up on top of the shavings at first and then just remove the papers to make it clean for them each day. I don't know about cherry shavings...I bet Lady Crystal knows..she is our resident chicken person!! ..
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
|
|
|
LadyCrystal
True Blue Farmgirl
593 Posts
Alicia
Rhode Island
USA
593 Posts |
Posted - Nov 24 2006 : 4:44:22 PM
|
Your really should use sand.It won't burn with the heat lamp and if they eat it, it will be fine but if they eat shavings it can bind them up because they are so small. We buy the white play sand that comes in the bag at home depot.But after they are bigger cherry shaving should be fine. Cedar is definetely harmful, the fumes that keeps the bugs away will kill the chicks. Good luck with the chicks. I love incubating time but we don't start until January.
Alicia
http://fromcitytocountrygirl.blogspot.com/
follow your dreams |
|
|
|
Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
|
|
LadyCrystal
True Blue Farmgirl
593 Posts
Alicia
Rhode Island
USA
593 Posts |
|
|
Libbie
Farmgirl Connection Cultivator
3579 Posts
Anne E.
Elsinore
Utah
USA
3579 Posts |
Posted - Nov 24 2006 : 8:59:29 PM
|
That IS a great idea. I've just used pine shavings in the past, but I'm going to convert to sand this spring, Alicia, too!
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
|
|
|
Phils Ann
True Blue Farmgirl
1095 Posts
Ann
Parsonsburg
Maryland
USA
1095 Posts |
Posted - Nov 25 2006 : 05:39:35 AM
|
Many many thanks to you all. I hadn't ever read about sand. Sand is easy to obtain-- and in reading my chicken books, it's apparently the tannin in hardwood (oak has tannin) that is harmful. After the chicks are a bit older, we can use the cherry shavings. Rebecca, thanks for the "grange" website--helpful!
Love,
Ann
There is a Redeemer. |
|
|
|
babs
True Blue Farmgirl
226 Posts
Babette
MN
USA
226 Posts |
Posted - Nov 25 2006 : 12:39:38 PM
|
We stopped using shavings of any kind in our hatcheries and farms. If they weren't eating it, they were getting particles and dust in their eyes. This lead to irritation, which was too often leading to creepy looking infections. All the occurance of infection stopped when we stopped using shavings.
Newspaper is not reccomended. It's too slick for little chicken feet and can cause splayed legs. Most of my farmers have switched to recycled paper towel sheets, and that seems to be working fairly well. As for myself since I'm in the business of selling eggs and not chicks, I only hatch out enough to keep an eye on hatchability and fertility. So, I just use rubbermaid totes and for the first week their flooring is a dish towel. They get a new tote at the end of the week with no floor covering and the old one goes outside to be washed and dried in the sun. When they are old enough to jump out and run around my kitchen they go outside.
HTH :)
Babs
Country Egg
www.countryegg.com |
|
|
|
LadyCrystal
True Blue Farmgirl
593 Posts
Alicia
Rhode Island
USA
593 Posts |
Posted - Nov 25 2006 : 2:11:37 PM
|
I am sorry to disagree but a paper product with a heat light can cause a fire hazard. We hatch between 300 to 500 chicks a season. We do use rubbermade container with the sand on the bottom. Just from friends of ours who had a fire because of a paper product. It is not a good thing.
Alicia
http://fromcitytocountrygirl.blogspot.com/
follow your dreams |
|
|
|
babs
True Blue Farmgirl
226 Posts
Babette
MN
USA
226 Posts |
Posted - Nov 26 2006 : 10:52:38 AM
|
No no, thats alright. It's good to have that warning and disclaimer out there. I would hate for someone to throw in a paper towel and sit a high wattage lamp nice and low - then yes, that would likely catch fire. One needs to use a little common sense, is all.
However, it may be worth noting that I may be using a lower wattage bulb than your friends were. Baby chicks don't need a suntan in the kitchen. ;) The kitchen is always warm, so it doesn't take much more to warm chicks. Also the lamp is clipped to a spindle on a kitchen chair and positioned indirectly over the tub. The first week they get a (real) towel, it absorbs heat so I don't have to have the heat lamp as close. Yes you can argue it is still a fire hazard, however a high watt lamp is more likely to ignite linoleum (as evidence by a dark spot I hide with a table leg) than it is the towel which is usually damp with spilled water. (High watt bulb + positioned directly + linoleum = oops. That was my very first hatching experience. ;) For every week after I use paper towels. Again, indirect heat. The chicks are happy so I know this works just fine.
This is just the way I do it. I don't think anyone is right or wrong. I definitly like your sand idea, but sand also gets so hot. Ever walk barefoot on a beach? What watt bulb do you use and is it direct or indirect heat? Also I'm not sure where we would be going with all the dirty sand. Do you have a clever use for it? Dirty paper towels go in the compost.
I don't have a 400+ operation here. This is small time, I do it all in my kitchen, probably not too unlike a lot of the ladies here. I hatch just a couple dozen a month of a little of everything, to check my farmers egg fertility rates.
There are probably as many ways to raise a baby chick as there are to describe the sky.
Try them all and find what works for you in your own particular environment. :)
Babs
Country Egg
www.countryegg.com |
|
|
|
windypines
True Blue Farmgirl
4427 Posts
Michele
Bruce
Wisconsin
USA
4427 Posts |
Posted - Nov 26 2006 : 12:35:14 PM
|
| I raise 20- 30 chicks a year, and use sawdust, and shavings. Never had any problem with it. I do put down a small piece of plywood, to put the feeder and water on, and that is near the light. Also I use a red bulb. Never had any problems with picking on each other. Good luck Michele |
|
|
|
LadyCrystal
True Blue Farmgirl
593 Posts
Alicia
Rhode Island
USA
593 Posts |
Posted - Nov 26 2006 : 1:01:11 PM
|
We do use a 75 watt bulb and our area is unheated.When we converted to this system we gauged the temp. by using a thermometer.To see how high the bulb needed to be not to heat up the sand so there little feet would get too hot.The friends fire was caused by the heat lamp slipping out of the clamp they had it on and landed in the container which heated up the shavings and started a fire.Using sand elimainates that isuue.I don't think if the bulb was up far enough it would cause a problem but accidents do happen.
We put the sand in the compost pile. We use it a year later in the garden.Great stuff.
Alicia
http://fromcitytocountrygirl.blogspot.com/
follow your dreams |
|
|
|
Tina Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
6948 Posts
Tina
sunshine state
FL
USA
6948 Posts |
Posted - Nov 27 2006 : 07:24:21 AM
|
we used to use the galvanized wash tub type containers for chicks(metal)and one of those hook lamps ..I forget exactly how my dad used to rig it up, but I believe he used plywood pieces to hook the lamp across.then we'd use paper towelling or old cut up towels on the bottom.
We once had 200 baby chicks (all at once) set up in galvanized tubs in the bathroom when I was a kid.Anyhow..it was alot of fun.
I'll be doing something similar this spring(raising baby chicks and a few ducks/maybe geese) and will be very careful that we do things in a very safe manner.
~Seize the Day! Live, Love, Laugh~ |
|
|
| |
Barnyard Buddies: DAY OLD CHICKS AND WOOD SHAVINGS QUESTION |
|
DAY OLD CHICKS AND WOOD SHAVINGS QUESTION
