Solidify Chick poop with food???

[snooki]

I’m not sure, but I read somewhere on this forum before I made my account that someone fed their chicks a certain type of food and their poo wouldn’t get all runny for a road trip or something. I’m wondering what food would do this since I have a 16+ hour road trip coming up and I have to take my chick with me and it’ll be easier to clean up after her if her poo is solid instead of runny. Right now, sometimes it’s either way, so I’m just curious. Not sure if this is the right thread, and i’m kinda going off memory here regarding what the post said. My chick is around 2 weeks right now as well if that has anything to do with the type of food she can have currently.

 

[nuthatched]

Can't say I've seen that post. It normal for chicks to have a runny poop here and there.

 

[snooki]

Can't say I've seen that post. It normal for chicks to have a runny poop here and there.

Yeah, i was just wondering if this was a common trick or common knowledge or something people did whenever they had a trip coming up and needed to bring their chickens. I lost the post so i can’t refer back to it.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

In Articles, do a search on "vacation." Someone wrote about taking a family vacation with a bunch of animals in the car. Another person posted about heat in the car for baby chicks on a long trip (forum search.) I don't recall that anyone suggested trying to firm up poo. In fact that's not a good idea at all. The cecal poo that is runny is an important part of the cycle. So the chick is going to continue to be a single pet with no heat source for a bit longer I take it? Be careful about cold and draft. You could put heat packs in the cage.

 

[NatJ]

I’m not sure, but I read somewhere on this forum before I made my account that someone fed their chicks a certain type of food and their poo wouldn’t get all runny for a road trip or something. I’m wondering what food would do this since I have a 16+ hour road trip coming up and I have to take my chick with me and it’ll be easier to clean up after her if her poo is solid instead of runny. Right now, sometimes it’s either way, so I’m just curious. Not sure if this is the right thread, and i’m kinda going off memory here regarding what the post said. My chick is around 2 weeks right now as well if that has anything to do with the type of food she can have currently.

I cannot think of any particular food that would do this.

Anything that makes the chick constipated would make the poop less runny-- but then you would have the problem of a constipated chick, and that can cause serious health issues really fast, so I would not recommend doing that on purpose.

Maybe get a bunch of washcloths, or cut pieces of old towels, and put one down for the chick to stand on while riding. Every time you notice chick poop, just lift up the chick and spread another layer of towel or washcloth underneath. You may want to throw the whole pile away at the end (rather than washing them), but at least the chick would be dry and comfortable while you are traveling, and you won't have too much smeared poop to deal with. (I am assuming the chick rides in a box or container of some sort, so you would be spreading them inside the container, which keeps everything nicely in one place.)

Wood shavings can work well for dealing with chick droppings, but I would probably not try them for a road trip. They tend to get all over the place, and spill, and blow around in any breeze. Pieces of absorbent cloth are more likely to stay where you put them!

 

[snooki]

In Articles, do a search on "vacation." Someone wrote about taking a family vacation with a bunch of animals in the car. Another person posted about heat in the car for baby chicks on a long trip (forum search.) I don't recall that anyone suggested trying to firm up poo. In fact that's not a good idea at all. The cecal poo that is runny is an important part of the cycle. So the chick is going to continue to be a single pet with no heat source for a bit longer I take it? Be careful about cold and draft. You could put heat packs in the cage.

Okay yeah, ty, I had my suspicions so I had to ask. Yeah, for a week or so longer until I can get her another companion unfortunately (worst timing ever)
I’ll be careful

 

[snooki]

I cannot think of any particular food that would do this.

Anything that makes the chick constipated would make the poop less runny-- but then you would have the problem of a constipated chick, and that can cause serious health issues really fast, so I would not recommend doing that on purpose.

Maybe get a bunch of washcloths, or cut pieces of old towels, and put one down for the chick to stand on while riding. Every time you notice chick poop, just lift up the chick and spread another layer of towel or washcloth underneath. You may want to throw the whole pile away at the end (rather than washing them), but at least the chick would be dry and comfortable while you are traveling, and you won't have too much smeared poop to deal with. (I am assuming the chick rides in a box or container of some sort, so you would be spreading them inside the container, which keeps everything nicely in one place.)

Wood shavings can work well for dealing with chick droppings, but I would probably not try them for a road trip. They tend to get all over the place, and spill, and blow around in any breeze. Pieces of absorbent cloth are more likely to stay where you put them!

Thank you, I won’t try to constipate her, completely ditched that idea, wherever I got that from

I’ll try the towels instead, ty!!