Where do you guys get your wood shavings?

[chellyroo]

I know some of you get this free from friends or maybe make your own, but for those of us without those sources, where is a good cheap source? Free is good!

 

[jvls1942]

saw/planing mills we have a box shop where they make shipping pallets.. woodworking hobbiests.

sawdust is ok to use also.

I have my own wood shop and planer.

 

[Momma_Cluck]

For small bedding areas (like brooders or small coops for just a couple birds etc..) one "bale" of store-bought wood chips will go a long way... for a big coop- mix it with hay & straw (we get it cheap from local farmers, usually the stuff that is allready accidentally mixed and not good for feed)....

ALL are available at Tractor Supply Company or your local feed-store or Farm Co-op...
Your local Farm extension office should also have names and #'s of local farmers for hay & straw
(NOTE: don't use JUST straw, it isn't very absorbent!)

Good Luck!

 

[Jetlander]

I buy mine at the local Big R. They sell pine shavings in bales of 14 cu. ft. for about $6.00. It does go a long way.

 

[mazdacrzy]

I get mine from walmart. 5 cf is only about $6.

 

[aberfitch]

feed store

 

[GardeNerd]

Feed store sells a compressed bale about 14cu. ft. for $8.00.

 

[patandchickens]

If you have to buy (and IME it can be hard to find suitable quality shavings, as well as a guarantee of no pressure-treated stuff in 'em, in free stuff, although if you have a source of not too dusty not too coarse safe stuff by all means use it) then the feed store will virtually always be cheaper than walmart or pet stores. Unless you are going through a LOT (in which case, unless you have a jillion chickens it would be worth rethinking your management strategies) it really does not cost much. Remember the stuff in a bale expands considerably when liberated from its wrapper.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Chickenaddict]

A 3 cf bag which expands to 7 cf is about $5.15 at fleet farm here, the feed mill is a few cents more but not much more. i go thru ALOT because im pretty picky about a clean pen. I gut the coops once a week. You should see the mountain of bagged up poopy bedding in my back yard, anyone need compost materials? LOL

 

[chellyroo]

Thanks for all the replies. So if I try a local source like a sawmill I need to ask if the wood was treated? Anything else?