Bedding Experiment Results

[GetFitWithKrista]

How did Industrial Hemp measure on smell? I currently use pine shavings and the smell gets awful pretty quickly!

I just ordered hemp so I can report back later but from all of the info I've read, hemp is superior to all other types of bedding

 

[DvorahChanah]

I’m a diehard pellet person. If you’ve ever raised quail chicks you know smell. I’d like to try hemp but it’s just too pricy for me. Pine needles work well but I wouldn’t use it for nest boxes and such

I've been using wood shavings in my aviary. I live in a region with long, dry, summers with periodic heat waves; upper 90's or lower 100's. Sometimes they last a few weeks. My aviary is shaded by a northern and western wall and has a shade cloth on it, 50% UV reduction. As I was sleeping, my eyes suddenly popped open, as the thought of a spontaneous combustion event broke through.

Would horse pellets reduce the risk of a fire??

And lookie here at this article linked below! I thought allowing for some moisture, maybe misting everything during the hottest part of the day would reduce the risk but according to this article, no. It says moisture can increace the risk. What?!?? I know compost piles heat up if built correctly but I've never heard of a moist compost pile spontaneously combusting. https://gizmodo.com/how-spontaneous-combustion-really-happens-698848769

 

[DvorahChanah]

I thought this was interesting and wanted to share it with you. I found an experiment that was performed on 6 common chicken bedding materials: Pine Shavings, Straw, Dried Leaves, Horse Pellets, Sawdust and Industrial Hemp. They were tested to see which is the most absorbent.

Here is a summary:

DUST
No Dust:
- Industrial hemp
- Horse pellets
Average Dust:
- Dried Leaves
- Pine shavings
- Straw
Excessive Dust:
- Saw dust

ABSORPTION (when soaking)
Best:
- Straw
- Saw dust
- Industrial hemp
Poor:
- Pine shavings
- Horse pellets
- Dried leaves

ABSORPTION (8 oz of water in 1 cubic feet of bedding - more realistic than soaking)
Best:
- Industrial hemp
- Saw dust (swarmed by flies after sitting)
- Horse pellets (swarmed by flies after sitting)
Poor:
- Straw
- Pine wood
- Dried leaves


DUST & ABSORBENCY SUMMARY:
Any would be fine as long as you understand the pros and cons of each.

Saw Dust
Pros
- Best overall absorbency
Cons
- Major downside in dustiness
- Can be hard to get
- Can take a long time to dry leading to moisture and ammonia problems

Straw
Pros
- Inexpensive
- Easy to get
Cons
- Can be messy to work with
- Has some dust
- Allows a lot of liquid to pass to the bottom of the coop causing potential smell and mold issues

Dried Leaves
Pros
- Easily accessible
Note
- Experimenter uses them in his run but not in his coop because they don't absorb enough moisture to be used as a main source of bedding

Pine Shavings
Pros
- Inexpensive
- Easy to get
Cons
- Allows a lot of liquid to pass to the bottom of the coop causing potential smell and mold issues

Horse Pellets
Pros
- Performed well
- Absorbency was similar to saw dust
Cons
- Retains a lot of moisture
- Takes a lot of time to dry causing problems with smells and ammonia

Industrial Hemp

Uhm. What does "swarmed by flies after sitting" mean exactly??