Hemp bedding

[vehve]

If you want a deep litter type of thing, sure, you can mist it, but I haven't tried that, since I want to keep it as dry as possible.

Humidity in Finland is mostly pretty low, except for Spring and Fall, when it rains a lot. But we don't get the hot and humid type of weather here, mainly because we don't really get the hot type of weather at all. At least not what the rest of the world would consider hot.

Yeah, the Moomins are pretty cool, I really like the original books, especially the illustrations in "Vem skall trösta Knyttet?" (Who will comfort Toffle?).

 

[Carobean]

I'll have to go look for Moomin books! A childhood friend introduced me to them…then, visiting a Finnish friend in Germany, she had a set of Moomin dishes that I envied...

Yeah, I guess the misting would be more for deep litter. I only have a small flock, so I just scoop out the coop daily anyway, kind of like a kitty litter pan.

 

[RVAFanfarmer]

I have been using hemp bedding for a month now. I bought it from New Country Organics. I live in Virginia and they drive a delivery truck close to my house several times a month so convenient. It was 22.50 for a 5 cubic foot bag. I bought it because my coup is open in the bottom and the bedding gets wet whenever it rains. I wanted something that would not smell and as much as it holds moisture it does dry out pretty quickly outside. We have a composter as well and the pine shavings were not breaking down in there and this stuff does really well. My chickens like it too. As stated it is easy to scoop the poop with a scooper as it's easy to see it and kind of clumps with a little hemp on it.

I wanted to try it because it's good for absorbing ammonia and naturally low in dust and I haven't had to rake it all out. So far it's great. I did have to change out bedding 2 times a week when I was using the shavings and the dust was killing me and I hated throwing it in the trash vs composter.

So for me it's a win win with it being a sustainable product, easy to compost, natural warming action in the coop, organic product, I think I read somewhere it has anti bug attributes as well...

We are switching to a larger Leonard amish style coop a 4 by 6 one and will be using the deep litter method with hemp and I will be using sweet pdz in half of it to see if I even need it. I have a bag and don't want to waste it. I will be donating the pine shavings to the animal shelter as I never plan on using them again. (if in the future I can't find hemp I would switch to sand bedding).

So glad I have this forum to study the tested experiences of all you long time chicken keepers! It has really helped me alot!

 

[vehve]

I like to throw in a handful of pine shavings every once in a while though, just to get that lovely freshly chopped wood smell.

 

[Mikejr05]

So I see you can buy hemp from AmericanHemp but do they had distribution around the country? Has anyone bought the 2 bales at a time?

 

[Carobean]

RVAFanfarmer,
I just saw your post--I'm glad you know you're having good success with the hemp bedding in a similar climate to mine (I'm in Hampton Roads, VA)! I got it through New Country Organics (via a local distributor) also. I think my issue with it was just from my storing a half-bag in a musty shed, so after reading your post, I'll try it again in a new coop we're building.
Did you mist it initially to make it more absorbent like it suggests on the package?
Thanks!

And Mikejr, not sure what you're asking about with two bales at a time-- is there a lower price on that or something?

 

[RVAFanfarmer]

I didn't mist it as I used it in the run to start and figured it got misted nby nature!! I ended up not using it after the first bag because I have one chicken that is not the smartest and she likes to eat it! She was acting like it was her feed. Otherwise I loved it. We are using pine mulch in the coop and run now. I did deep bedding this winter and it worked well just dusty. Will try sand in. The spring.

 

[Carobean]

Ooooh-- I'd read about some turkeys having a taste for it! The dust-free part sounds good for baby chicks, but I'd be a little worried about them eating it too! I guess you'd just have to watch them… eh?

 

[RVAFanfarmer]

Our silly girl eat mulch too sometimes. If you have normal chickens you probably won't have an issue
I would not start.chicks.on it until they were a bit older and can tell the difference between bedding and food!

 

[vehve]

Our chicks usually have a taste, but they learn to not eat it pretty quickly.