Alternative Chicken Bedding?

[springvalley123]

I'll try TSC then since we have one and see if they have straw. I've never seen it, but then again, I've never looked for it, either



We did actually look one time for corn cob horse bedding here. It says at TSC it's online, but they do not carry it at our store here. I'm sure they could probably order it for us, but I don't know if I want to bother with that. Our other ranch store didn't have it, either. That's the day we got the rice hulls instead and loved it. Otherwise I'd love to try the corn cob bedding.

The wrapped straw is in the feed room (with the livestock feed) at tsc.
The only way to get the corn cob might be to buy online and pick up at the store. It might take several days to arrive at the store though. That seems to work for me.

 

[GC-Raptor]

Glad to know about pine, but probably wouldn't be able to use it. Husband has allergies every time our huge pine tree sets off yellow clouds of pollen each spring. Otherwise, I think we'd get pine shavings since they are pretty good at odor control, too.

I have heard of wheat straw, but often times I hear people complain about vulnerability to mites when there is straw. Is this a true or false thing?

I never had a problem with mites using wheat straw, but I changed it out weekly in my small coop. GC

 

[Pghelp]

Best bedding ever is coffee chaff, the leftover product from coffee roasting. If you have a coffee roaster near you, most are happy to save bags of chaff. It works much like kitty litter. It's light and fluffy but super absorbent so poop and liquid clump up making it so easy to clean the coop. I use pine mulch in the run, but I keep a bag of coffee chaff in the run to sprinkle on new poop. Since using chaff, I've never had a problem keeping the coop clean. I have a dedicated scoop where I scoop and scrape up the old stuff for the compost bin then put a thick layer of chaff especially under the roosting area. I can't take credit for the idea, Frank Hyman suggested it in his book Hentopia. I'll never use anything else again. Oh, and it makes the coop smell like my morning cuppa!

 

[Aquatic_blue]

I never had a problem with mites using wheat straw, but I changed it out weekly in my small coop. GC

Oh, I just remembered...straw are a product of grain plants...hmm...may not be able to use that. I can't believe I forgot that. Straw can come from rice, too, not sure if I'd chance it. We all have issues with wheat and one of my kids has bad issues with rye. This is so difficult...hmm...

 

[Aquatic_blue]

Best bedding ever is coffee chaff, the leftover product from coffee roasting. If you have a coffee roaster near you, most are happy to save bags of chaff. It works much like kitty litter. It's light and fluffy but super absorbent so poop and liquid clump up making it so easy to clean the coop. I use pine mulch in the run, but I keep a bag of coffee chaff in the run to sprinkle on new poop. Since using chaff, I've never had a problem keeping the coop clean. I have a dedicated scoop where I scoop and scrape up the old stuff for the compost bin then put a thick layer of chaff especially under the roosting area. I can't take credit for the idea, Frank Hyman suggested it in his book Hentopia. I'll never use anything else again. Oh, and it makes the coop smell like my morning cuppa!

Ooh, never heard of coffee chaff...but we do have a lot of coffee shops, both chain and independent in this town. I guess they may have some?

I would rather my coop smell like coffee than yuck lol.

 

[Silexian]

For a while we were using rice hulls and they seemed to work great, but I ended up changing out all of the bedding in their coop so that I could power wash it all down since the weather has gotten a lot warmer. For the lighter coop cleans, I seemed to be fine. At first, it was okay, but then I ended up with itchy hives on my arms, back, neck, and chest. My face was red and a little swollen, and I kept getting super fatigued on and off for a few days after that. I can't do the rice hulls anymore. Any awesome bedding ideas out there?

I've heard cedar and pine weren't good for chickens around here before and my husband doesn't do too well with them so we're avoiding those, too.

I use ground up corn cob bedding. It is not dusty, it absorbs well and it doesn’t get packed down. Which makes cleaning the coop much easier. Here in the Midwest it is easy to get and is less expensive than shavings or straw.

 

[Carson213]

i used to use the deep bedding method...now i just use 2x6 boards

 

[Aquatic_blue]

I use ground up corn cob bedding. It is not dusty, it absorbs well and it doesn’t get packed down. Which makes cleaning the coop much easier. Here in the Midwest it is easy to get and is less expensive than shavings or straw.

Been calling around to find some. So far no luck will keep searching, though, it seems like it'd work for us.

 

[Aquatic_blue]

i used to use the deep bedding method...now i just use 2x6 boards

Do you just spray off the boards to clean the poop off or...?

 

[Sally PB]

https://www.newcountryorganics.com/hemp-bedding-5-cu-ft-bag-33-lbs.html

I got a bale of hemp from this place. It was about $38(?), so significantly more expensive than pine shavings, but it works very well.