Big Fan of Coffee Grounds

[Double4]

I don’t use real coffee grounds, like from my coffee maker or anything... I use coffee ground bedding that you get from TSC or Rural King

The Rural King website specifically states that their Coffee Grounds are Caffeine Free. Considering you can purchase De-Caffeinated Coffee, I would imagine that it is not difficult to manage that process. I can see where it could be a constipation issue for baby chicks so that would be something to avoid, but I don't see where a full grown chicken would have an issue with caffeine free grounds in a coop where they pretty much only sleep.

Taken from Website:
DETAILS
Great Scent. No Dust. Easy Clean.

That’s our motto! Our 100% All Natural Animal Bedding is made from 100% recycled coffee grounds. To answer the question you’re asking yourself - Yes! It is completely safe for your animals. There is no caffeine or anything harmful in our coffee grounds.

Our bedding makes your coop smell like your favorite local coffee shop, it doesn’t decompose and break down into dust, and it acts like a cat litter for your animals’ droppings, making for a quick and easy clean up! When you’re ready to swap out your used bedding for new, go ahead and toss our grounds in your compost pile or in the yard!

Grounds All Natural Animal Bedding is made from recycled coffee grounds and is great for chickens (chicks), ducks and turkeys!

Product Features:

• Grounds bedding has great coffee scent
• Pet bedding has no dust and does not break down like traditional wood shavings
• Small pet bedding is easy to clean and scoop out unwanted waste
• Natural pest repellent
• Longer-lasting clean coop, less maintenance required
• Made in the USA from recycled coffee grounds with virtually no caffeine
• Spread 0.5-1 in. depth in chicken coop!

 

[Luv Ducks]

The Rural King website specifically states that their Coffee Grounds are Caffeine Free. Considering you can purchase De-Caffeinated Coffee, I would imagine that it is not difficult to manage that process. I can see where it could be a constipation issue for baby chicks so that would be something to avoid, but I don't see where a full grown chicken would have an issue with caffeine free grounds in a coop where they pretty much only sleep.

Taken from Website:
DETAILS
Great Scent. No Dust. Easy Clean.

That’s our motto! Our 100% All Natural Animal Bedding is made from 100% recycled coffee grounds. To answer the question you’re asking yourself - Yes! It is completely safe for your animals. There is no caffeine or anything harmful in our coffee grounds.

Our bedding makes your coop smell like your favorite local coffee shop, it doesn’t decompose and break down into dust, and it acts like a cat litter for your animals’ droppings, making for a quick and easy clean up! When you’re ready to swap out your used bedding for new, go ahead and toss our grounds in your compost pile or in the yard!

Grounds All Natural Animal Bedding is made from recycled coffee grounds and is great for chickens (chicks), ducks and turkeys!

Product Features:

• Grounds bedding has great coffee scent
• Pet bedding has no dust and does not break down like traditional wood shavings
• Small pet bedding is easy to clean and scoop out unwanted waste
• Natural pest repellent
• Longer-lasting clean coop, less maintenance required
• Made in the USA from recycled coffee grounds with virtually no caffeine
• Spread 0.5-1 in. depth in chicken coop!

It's funny that it states it is safe for chicks. Our Rural King had so many chicks die while being on them that corporate made them take them all off of them and put them back on the large shavings. I am glad that they are working out so well for you but it is misleading for the bag or site to claim they are safe for chicks. Just my feelings on the subject.

 

[Double4]

It's funny that it states it is safe for chicks. Our Rural King had so many chicks die while being on them that corporate made them take them all off of them and put them back on the large shavings. I am glad that they are working out so well for you but it is misleading for the bag or site to claim they are safe for chicks. Just my feelings on the subject.

Yea, I would agree that they should remove any reference to (chicks) Especially when they acknowledge they shouldn't be using it for their own chicks.... got to love the corporate world.

 

[Imataken]

I tried a few bags last year that I bought at tractor supply I did like it the chickens seemed fine with it only problem was they only sell them spring and summer so unless you stock up for winter I ended up switching to hemp bedding I did pick up 2 bags of the coffee grounds from tractor supply 2 weeks ago that were marked down to 5.00 for the top of bag being ripped I've been using them in the poop tray and the hemp in coop run and nesting box

 

[Ruby Law]

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

How did this experiment go? Any hyper chickens yet?

 

[SandyRiverChick]

I read this whole thread trying to figure out why anyone who go to all of this trouble drying coffee grounds, deciding risk outweighs benefit etc. when you can mix PDZ with Sand to make it last longer. So you're saying sand makes to much dust? I'm just not experiencing this WITH ADULT Chickens, which is what the OP is about, not chicks.... ??

 

[burt4750]

Can recycled coffee grounds from Starbucks be used if I dry them out first?

 

[hysales]

Regarding decaffeination, there is a method called the "Swiss Water Extraction Method" which is the easiest way to make decaf. They basically soak the beans in water which leeches out the flavor and caffeine, then they dump the beans and put new beans into the brown water. It again removes the caffeine but some flavor stays since they are soaking in coffee-flavored water. You end up with maybe 97% caffeine free, which is then sold as "decaf."

When you brew coffee, most of the flavor and caffeine make it into your cup. But the spent grounds could be used again to make a weak coffee. My suggestion for using spend coffee grounds would be to soak them first and dump the water, then dry them out.

Seems like a big hassle. I'll just keep doing the same thing I do every day, take out the espresso puck and launch it from the back door into the garden! Best part of the morning is watching it explode when it hits the rock wall

ALSO, different coffee grounds have different pH values, and can affect your soil if used in large quantities. I've read that some ants won't cross a line of coffee grounds. I tried it in my kitchen and the ants were wholly unbothered by the coffee!

 

[jBabychickn]

Regarding decaffeination, there is a method called the "Swiss Water Extraction Method" which is the easiest way to make decaf. They basically soak the beans in water which leeches out the flavor and caffeine, then they dump the beans and put new beans into the brown water. It again removes the caffeine but some flavor stays since they are soaking in coffee-flavored water. You end up with maybe 97% caffeine free, which is then sold as "decaf."

When you brew coffee, most of the flavor and caffeine make it into your cup. But the spent grounds could be used again to make a weak coffee. My suggestion for using spend coffee grounds would be to soak them first and dump the water, then dry them out.

Seems like a big hassle. I'll just keep doing the same thing I do every day, take out the espresso puck and launch it from the back door into the garden! Best part of the morning is watching it explode when it hits the rock wall

ALSO, different coffee grounds have different pH values, and can affect your soil if used in large quantities. I've read that some ants won't cross a line of coffee grounds. I tried it in my kitchen and the ants were wholly unbothered by the coffee!

Just buy the bedding that’s already processed for you; it’s amazing
~> Coffee Bedding for Chickens

 

[amchammond]

Unfortunately we just had a thread on here a few weeks ago of someone who lost chicks due to keeping them on coffee grounds. Caffeine is toxic (and fatal) to almost all animals if they ingest it. It can cause seizures, and ultimately organ failure.

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