Big Fan of Coffee Grounds

[Luv Ducks]

Do you know if they were using the grounds bedding sold at TSC and Rural King?

Our Rural King was using them until they told me that Corporate made them quit.

 

[Hip Hillbilly Acres]

Our coop is 3 ft by 5 ft for 6 Barred Rock Hens. They only go in the coop to lay eggs and sleep, so the size is just right. We've had chickens for 10 years now, and have always used Sweet PDZ in the bottom of the raised coop. Daily cleanup of last nights poop is a snap every day. BUT, the price of PDZ has gone through the roof this year. A 40 lb. bag at Tractor Supply used to be $10, now it's up to $18. So we looked for a cheaper method of coop bedding, and tried the pine shaving route for about 9 months. Hard to keep the coop as clean as I like and it's dusty as hell.

So after reading about the recycled coffee grounds used for bedding, we decided to give it a try. A 35 lb bag is only $10.99 at Tractor Supply, and 1 bag will cover our coop bottom about 2 inches deep all the way across. Same coverage as about $34 worth of PDZ. Daily clean up is ALMOST as easy as PDZ. We just use a common cat litter scooper to sift the poop, and plop last night's droppings in a bucket. The ONLY downside is that the coffee grounds are almost black in color, so spotting the poop to scoop takes a little bit of looking. BUT, the coffee grounds are even less dusty than PDZ!

So, compared to PDZ, the advantages of the coffee grounds bedding are:
1) Less than a third of the cost of PDZ
2) Less dusty than PDZ by far
3) About half of the weight of PDZ, which is important if using in a raised coop.

I'll let y'all know if I find any drawbacks, but right now I can't find any.

Ken

I bought this bag yesterday it was $5.00. From what I have been reading looks like I may be dropping it into my compost.

 

[Hip Hillbilly Acres]

You could if you have the ability to dry it.

We have a couple humidifiers.

 

[Imataken]

Only problem with the coffee grounds is our tractor supply only sells them for about 2 months out of the year. I've used them in the past

 

[ChickyCh00k]

Only problem with the coffee grounds is our tractor supply only sells them for about 2 months out of the year. I've used them in the past

I dont know if you have a Rural King nearby, but they're still selling it! I think they have it year round.