Pellet bedding in brooder - dry feet?

[NellaBean]

I am using the wood pellet bedding in the brooder for the first time and notcied that the chicks seems to have really dry legs and feet. Is it possible this could be from the bedding? Anyone have chicks with dry or irritated feed from the pellets? They do absorb all moisture, so it is possible (I guess) they are pulling the oils from the skin?

 

[Winsor Woods]

Ive never experienced that situation and I've used pellets too. There's an easy way to find out though....change the bedding and see if the situation improves.

Dan

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

Hmm - I didn't notice any difference either.

I started out using pine and/or aspin shavings and then switched to the pellets.

LOVED the pellets because it was so obsorbant.

 

[Akane]

Shouldn't be. Pellets won't really absorb oils and holding pellets in your hands won't give you dry hands. They will absorb if your hands are sweating but they won't dry your hands beyond what they need to have healthy skin. I would think chicken legs would be even harder to over dry like that.

Are you sure it isn't something like mites?

 

[shelleyd2008]

Are they dry, or could it be that there are small pieces of saw dust on them? I've not had a problem with dryness with my chicks, but I do mix the pellets with shavings in my chick brooders.

 

[weaveagarden]

I haven't ever seen pellet bedding. Is this a special product, or are you using pellets like those for wood stoves?

 

[shelleyd2008]

They are basically the same thing, but some stove pellets have an accelerant on them. My feed store sells pellet bedding, they call it stall bedding (for horses). You should ask yours if they carry it, or see if you can find stove pellets with no accelerant. They work great for messy ducklings and stinky quail chicks!

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

Oh Weaveagarden -

You have to go get some. Don't you have a Dell's in Hoquim?

They sell it mostly for horse stalls, which I used it for and LOVED it for that.

I now use it in chicken coop mixed with aspin shavings (spells better than pine) and Stall Dry (also used for the horse stalls).

I switched to the pellets in my brooders as well.

Try it - you'll LOVE it.

Love your BYC page. I was going to ask if you needed more chicks as I just ordered 25 Rainbow Pullet special from MPC for $41.50 FREE shipping but see you already have a few.

Great day from Olympia

 

[Winsor Woods]

I have a new idea I'm going to try in my brooder for next season. I'm going to make a wire floor with really fine hardware cloth mesh. (Either 1/4" or 1/8" mesh). Then I'll put the pellets on that wire floor. The chicks shouldn't notice a difference but if I have a catch pan underneath, all the saw dust from when the pellets absorb moisture and break down will fall through the holes when the chicks scratch. Cleaning will be as easy and stirring the pellets in there to get the sawdust to fall through, empty the catch pan, and replenish the pellet bedding when necessary.

Dan

 

[Akane]

It would probably work. You are just wasting a lot of bedding that is still good. Many people actually break the pellets down before using them for various animals including brooders. The bags of several brands say to wet with so many gallons of water after putting them in the stall. The pellets are perfectly useful after they start to break apart and make a very nice sawdust for picking horse manure out of as well as a softer place for the animals to lay. The only real problem I've seen with pellets is that the sawdust tends to be rather fine and therefore can be dusty if stirred too much or for animals that are already having respiratory problems. Otherwise I do not see how they could be causing the problem.