Alternatives to wood shavings?

Muffin14143 · Feb 21, 2013

I love my chickens, and find them very easy to care for, but there is one thing about them that drives me and my family CRAZY. Wood shavings. They stick to everything and are constantly getting tracked inside the house. A lot of my clothes are covered in them, just from going out to change the water. Is there any other kind of bedding people use and like? We vacuum all the time, but wood shavings are still getting tracked in. Hay is not an option, I'm allergic. Any ideas?

OldGuy43 · Feb 21, 2013

Ours don't. What kind of wood shavings are you using? Is the run really wet?

redsoxs · Feb 21, 2013

I used chopped straw or prairie hay - chickens don't seem to know the difference and clean up is a lot easier IMO. Best of luck to you!

Muffin14143 · Feb 21, 2013

OldGuy43 said:
Ours don't. What kind of wood shavings are you using? Is the run really wet?

Oh no, the wood shavings are inside the coop, not in the run. I use Irving pine shavings. What do you use?

Muffin14143 · Feb 21, 2013

redsoxs said:
I used chopped straw or prairie hay - chickens don't seem to know the difference and clean up is a lot easier IMO. Best of luck to you!

Thank you for the suggestion, but I don't think prairie hay is available where I live. I am in the northeast U.S, not out west.

OldGuy43 · Feb 21, 2013

TexPak Pine Shavings. They're a little coarse because they're sold for horse bedding, but the chickens don't mind. They don't blow around much either.

http://www.longbeachshavings.com/tex-pak.html

Muffin14143 · Feb 21, 2013

Those sound really nice, but l only have a flock of six pet bantams, and it says "delivery in truckload only". I wouldn't have anywhere to put a truckload of shavings. I am also looking for a shaving alternative, not a different brand. They also only deliver to Texas and Louisiana. I am in the northeast. Thank you all for the suggestions. I am sure, with your help, I'll find something.

OldGuy43 · Feb 21, 2013

Surely you have a horse supply store nearby. We buy this stuff one bail at a time (Well, sometimes two or three.) It costs less than $8/bail.

Muffin14143 · Feb 21, 2013

Well, the website says this stuff is only available in Texas and Louisiana. It looks nice though. I was searching the web and found this, does anybody use it?
http://www.permastall.com/#!rice-hull
Looked pretty nice to me.

OldGuy43 · Feb 21, 2013

I'm betting you'll have the same problem with rice hulls. They're fine and light, almost cottony. Same is true of cotton hulls. Have you considered straw? There is a difference between hay and straw.

Even if you can't find the brand of wood shavings that I use I think any of that size would work for you. From your description of the problems that you're having I believe that your problem is not with wood shavings themselves, but the size of shavings you're using.

Alternatives to wood shavings?

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