Recommendations for bedding

[killmak]

Like the kind you use for a wood burning stove?

Yup. These are the ones I use. I use them for cat litter, chicken bedding and to help restart my outdoor wood boiler when I am dumb and let it go out. It is nice because they break down into saw dust eventually and when they do they work well as a fertilizer for my garden and trees without having them blow away or having to be tilled in.

 

[Logar]

Like the kind you use for a wood burning stove?

Just make sure they don’t have any chemicals added!

 

[rosemarythyme]

I’m kind of interested in Aspen and hemp … is bigger flake better to prevent ingesting (as much as you can anyway)?

I get larger (relatively) flake Aspen from Petco. Hemp is much finer and generally has to be ordered online unless you're lucky enough to have a local retailer that carries it.

My chicks are brooded on "everything" - dirt, dried leaves, wood chips, aspen, hemp, chicken feathers that got caught in other stuff, etc.

Should grit always be available? I got Manna chick grit but it says to start with it at 2 weeks … I had another grit that said good from hatch but it was huge comparatively. I am confused! Help appreciated!

I always give it right from the start because you never know what chicks will ingest. Mine were pecking tiny bits of wood right out of the brooder wall, for example, nevermind eating bits of bedding too.

I just put a pinch every few days on their food. They don't need much of it, and this prevents them from gorging on grit which happens sometimes.

Grit size chart: