My chicks are eating fabric scraps

[konatreehugger]

my chicks are eating the teeny scraps of fabric and thread from the floor... will this hurt them? I try to get it away from them whenever possible, but they seem to want to eat everything! they are a week old today...

 

[ChickenCanoe]

They eat whatever is at their feet without a hen to show them what to eat. For that reason I put burlap down and then paper towels over the pine shavings till they figure out what food is. After about 4 days I quit the paper towels and then a few more days I pull up the burlap and there's nice clean shavings which I continue them on till they leave the brooder space.

 

[speckledhen]

I'm trying to figure out where a chick would get fabric scraps unless they're running loose in your house. I quilt and mine never have access to fabric scraps. Yes, it can hurt, especially if a thread becomes entwined around a tongue. That is an unpleasant death.