Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
bedding, and check the container itself. Is the bottom wet or the woodchips damp? If so,
there might be an issue with leaking water (which could be a dangerous health risk if
your birds get damp).
If you are using a cardboard box, make sure that the bottom is still sturdy. After a while
the bottom of the box can get hideous, and the last thing you want when you lift it to
take it out and clean it is to discover that a gross amalgam of decaying woodchips, chick
poop, and wet cardboard has made a home on the floor of your bathroom - or, even
worse, your spare bedroom.
Tip:
Place feeder and fount on a wooden board to raise them slightly above the bedding
surface so the chicks will track fewer shavings into their food and water.
TRUE GRIT
When the brooder has been cleaned, the water founts have been washed (with mild, all-
natural detergent), and the feeders have been cleaned and refilled, fill the box with fresh
bedding, and sprinkle a small amount of chick grit among the shavings so they'll have
something to scratch and claw for.
You haven't introduced grit yet? Well, this would be a good time. The birds are now
accustomed to their surroundings, thoroughly get the whole food/water bit, and will be
able to physically (and mentally) swallow those tiny stones you bought from the feed
store. Grit acts like a grinder in your chick's gizzard. The coarse sand and tiny pebbles
help break down the soy meal and corn mash in their gullets. If the chicks were being
raised outdoors by a mother hen, the ground would provide them with all the tiny knick-
knacks their crops could ever want. However, brooder-raised gals don't have that op-
tion, so a small supply of these indigestible but important little rocks will help keep your
flock healthy and growing.
Okay, you can return your chicks to their freshened home now.
