Reducing pine shaving dust

[Nheiles]

I currently purchase "premium" pine shaving flakes from Tractor Supply Co. and once purchased a 3.5 cu. ft. bale for 20 bucks from Cal Ranch(Utah) which was actually really good with minimal dust but hurts the pocket book. The pine shaving from TSC is super dusty even though it says "low dust". I've found another brand American Choice from Cal Ranch that says softwood shavings, but doesn't specify what type which I gather it's a variety of softwoods. The packaging does say it's multi-screen to reduce dust, which I'd assume would be better.

I know there's going to be some level of dust from wood shavings, but is there any recommendations on either places to purchase quality shaves for my coop that doesn't hurt the wallet and or a process of cleaning the shavings myself to reduce the amount of dust from the bedding alone. Currently I've taken the pine shavings from TSC and spreading them out on a trampoline and spraying it down with water then letting the 100 degree sun dry it. It was a big difference but a lot of work. This also won't work during the winter and probably could allow a higher amount of moister in the coop and or reduce the amount of moister absorption.

Locally I have a TSC (obviously), IFA and a few local feed store style places like CAL ranch. Any advice would be great. I do plan on doing deep litter in my coop.

 

[RoosterML]

I use the large flakes from TSC and have no issues. Not dusty at all. Could be a bad batch. Do you have another TSC you could try?

 

[3KillerBs]

Did you buy large flake or small flake? Large is less dusty.

What's your coop ventilation like? Dust is less of an issue with generous ventilation to clear the air after the chickens stir up dust through their scratching and digging.

 

[aart]

Currently I've taken the pine shavings from TSC and spreading them out on a trampoline and spraying it down with water then letting the 100 degree sun dry it. It was a big difference but a lot of work.

No kidding!!
What did this do, rinse the fines away?

Chickens are dusty, period.

 

[blackdog043]

I use the white bag of pine shavings from TSC, I can't say they're dusty.

Now the chickens, yeah they make a lot of dust.

 

[aart]

I use the white bag of pine shavings from TSC, I can't say they're dusty.

Now the chickens, yeah they make a lot of dust.

I use large flake too, some of the dust is broken up shavings but most is pulverized poop and maybe spilled feed and pin feather dander.

 

[ADKcluckers]

I'm pretty new to running a coop but wondered about the dust too, even thought about a solar powered fan to force in cleaner air and push out some of the dust at least during warmer weather. I did see a few posts about fans getting super dirty when used around a coop though and either quitting or becoming a fire hazard, makes me wonder. The dust seems to be constant no matter the state of the bedding.

 

[3KillerBs]

I'm pretty new to running a coop but wondered about the dust too, even thought about a solar powered fan to force in cleaner air and push out some of the dust at least during warmer weather. I did see a few posts about fans getting super dirty when used around a coop though and either quitting or becoming a fire hazard, makes me wonder. The dust seems to be constant no matter the state of the bedding.

Birds are naturally dusty.

My little cockatiels created insane amounts of dust with no bedding at all, just the wire cage bottom over paper.

 

[Nheiles]

I'm using the large flake pine shaving from TSC. Washing it removed a lot of the small pieces and dust. Right now they're still in the brooder, with outdoor time during the day since they are now 5 weeks old. I noticed the large amount of dust while adding new bedding after cleaning the brooder out. I'm concerned that once I move them to the coop with the larger amounts of bedding that I'll use for the coop it will be more of an issue.

They do create a lot of dust themselves, even the dander while getting there feathers creates a lot. I just don't want to add to it with poor quality bedding. Or I can use it but do something to reduce it.

 

[3KillerBs]

They do create a lot of dust themselves, even the dander while getting there feathers creates a lot. I just don't want to add to it with poor quality bedding. Or I can use it but do something to reduce it.

Good ventilation is probably more important than trying to get the dust out of the bedding.

The most important contribution to good air quality is to provide quantities of fresh air at all times.