How is peat moss for bedding? I don't see it used a lot.

[ravenfeathers]

i've been successfully using peat moss as my sole bedding substrate in my coop and brooder for four years and have had no problems with excess dust or hens with respiratory issues. it is non-binding if eaten, fantastic for ground-dwelling birds (and dust-bathes up a treat), and needs to be replaced about four times per year in my flock of around 30 birds. i pick it weekly for organic debris from feeding and nest-box demolition, which fluffs it up nicely and keeps it drier. it has virtually no manure odor, very little ammonia odor in the depths of winter when the birds are inside a lot, and i really can't say enough good things about it. i'm always surprised at how few people use this as bedding. it's seriously the best thing ever.

 

[fishnet1971]

I have had a lot of experience with peat moss and my flock. Some good, some bad. I will say you MUST mix it with something. I use it now only in my dust bath box. I mix it 1:1 with contractors sand with the bigger particles. I have had multiple lung infections from the dust from it. It took me 2 years to finally figure out what was giving them lung problems. I have wetted it down and fluffed up to get some of the dust under control outside with it. I do like it because after a bad rain or snow storm I can go out and fluff it and it doesn't get soaked to the bottom so they can still use it for a long time. I stick frozen water bottles in it in the summer and it seems to insulate them for an entire day of 90 degree heat and keep the peat and sand cool for them to dust in. They love it. I would not use it in my coop. Voice of experience as well. I mad them a portable box inside when the weather was bad and it put the small dust particles into the air in the coop and made it hard to breath as well as a total mess with dust landing everywhere.

I love it outside for dusting with sand, but hate it inside.



They however, love it no matter what.



Kassidy is ontop of a buried frozen water bottle being insulated by the peat and sand mixture.

 

[UhaRugger]

@ravenfeathers Are you referring to the interior part of the coop or the run area?

 

[Hokum Coco]

I've been successfully using peat moss as my sole bedding substrate in my coop and brooder for four years and have had no problems with excess dust or hens with respiratory issues..

It seems to be getting mixed reviews?
I am of the opinion that all peat moss can not be created equal.
I am going to try it but I think I will mix it just to be on the safe side.
I may try it full strength eventually once I see it's consistency in my area.
Thank you both for sharing and posting your experience.

I have had a lot of experience with peat moss and my flock. Some good, some bad.

 

[ravenfeathers]

i use it inside the coop! outside, they free range, no run.

let me talk up peat moss. i think it's a miracle:

pros: it controls odor and moisture and the birds will happily dustbathe in it, especially when it's fresh. it's easy to store. with ~30 hens and a depth of 3-5 inches, i was "picking" the bedding once per week and freshening with new peat about four times per *year*. it clumps like scoopable cat litter, so i use a futurefork to sift the bedding, removing water spills and manure and leaving clean bedding behind.

cons: it makes black dust (shavings make white dust in equal quantities, but it's harder to see on everything, so it doesn't look so weird). the big bales of it can be heavy and dense and might freeze into a block in the winter if you live in a cold climate.

it doesn't cost any more than shavings and is a vastly superior product, so give it a try, straight, and see what you think.

p.s. i wouldn't bother mixing it. most of the good things about it wouldn't activate and all of the bad things about it would. use shavings or peat, not both.

 

[UhaRugger]

Do you have a problem with your chicks eating it. That's all that my chicks want to do with it. They eat all the clumps.

 

[ChickenMammX4]

I don't use peat moss in the coop or run but do use a mixture of peat moss & wood ash for their dust bath. Never have sen them eating it.

 

[UhaRugger]

They are in pine chips but I am starting to think about changing it to something else because one of them eats a pine chip here or there. She doesn't do it constantly but occasionally I will see her eat one. Not usually big ones though. But it has me worried. Someone in a different thread said they use construction sand and clean it out like a litter box.

 

[ScottandSam]

Quote:
Where in the world do you get aspen shavings in sw Missouri? aspen don't grow around here.

Scott

 

[rosemarythyme]

where in the word do you get aspen shavings in sw Missouri? aspen don't grow around here.

Scott

Pet stores like Petco, Petsmart, sell aspen bedding. A little more costly than pine but I prefer it over pine which usually is a finer consistency.