experiment with bedding

[deek]

Awesome! I thought the DE would raise a cloud of dust in there. Did your girls scratch around in it a lot when you first put it in there? Mine were sort of tasting it, but not eating any of it.

No, mine were terrified that I had put them somewhere new. They were trying to figure out how to survive the night. No scratching around. I did leave them until mid afternoon, today, to get themselves acquainted with the coop before allowing them to go to the run.

Overall, I'm thrilled with the way it smells. And, it does stay dry. Since it's "shredded", the down side is that you can't lift it as easily as straw. You have to sort of rake it more in a way. Thumbs up so far.

 

[coolcanoechic]

Day nine. Still smells nice and no dust yet.

 

[K9Flier]

Thanks for this information. I checked their store locator and the place I buy my Chicken feed carries it. I'll be checking it out this week as I need to pick up some more food for the girls.

 

[K9Flier]

This is off the topic of the bedding, but I love the inside of your coop. Mine was built for up to 8 hens but it seems so cramped on the inside. The changes I'd make if I had to do it over again! But after what I've spent on the coop and run, the girls will just have to be happy with what they've got. And I've already told them I expect solid gold eggs.

 

[coolcanoechic]

This is off the topic of the bedding, but I love the inside of your coop. Mine was built for up to 8 hens but it seems so cramped on the inside. The changes I'd make if I had to do it over again! But after what I've spent on the coop and run, the girls will just have to be happy with what they've got. And I've already told them I expect solid gold eggs.

Ha ha

I expect solid gold eggs from mine too!

 

[Jakoda]

thanks for posting this,,I have been using shavings which work just fine, but thought I'd give this stuff a go,,found a dealer, got 3 bales(bags),,10.99 each so a little pricier than the shavings, but we'll see how it goes! Thanks for the suggestion! Just cleaned out and threw it down today , chickies so far are liking it
Diane

 

[ImportTheBest]

Thanks for this thread, I've been following along and I'm liking what I see with your results so far! I am very new to chickens....as in I don't have any yet lol! But the coop is under way and and hopefully we can get our chickens asap. I looked up the dealer info and the Producers Co-op near my house has this. I've been meaning to go in there and take a look around and now I have more incentive to go in. I'll watch for more updates over the next week or two and hopefully by then we'll be getting out coop filled with bedding and food so that we can go choose our ladies. Thanks for passing along all the info!

 

[coolcanoechic]

thanks for posting this,,I have been using shavings which work just fine, but thought I'd give this stuff a go,,found a dealer, got 3 bales(bags),,10.99 each so a little pricier than the shavings, but we'll see how it goes! Thanks for the suggestion! Just cleaned out and threw it down today , chickies so far are liking it
Diane

Nice! Let us know how it works out for you! Remember, put it in a few inches deep and just stir it around with a garden tool as needed. Mine still smells nice, even after 10 days in this summer heat. Still no dust yet.

 

[joan1708]

can you sift out the chicken poop with a "kitty litter rake" using this stuff?

 

[chichichickapea]

I bought two bags last Wednesday and just started putting it over my pine chips which have only been in the coop about 2 weeks....the chickens like it....smells good....as far as the dust, I cannot tell yet....my allergies/sinuses are so bad right now it is difficult to tell. Another thing is that I have started wearing a dust mask when putting anything down....I was not doing that before.