bedding Isues, need advice

[snowcone]

I guess i need to start bagging some up and sell it. $$$$

 

[the-bird-man]

can you get wood pellets? from what i read people love them. its what i will be geting when i get my girls in the spring seeing how a local company sells it by the ton

 

[lightfoot]

Quote:
Ema, you could drop down to Grand Forks to the tractor store, they have shavings. I use wheat straw and D.E. myself. unlike most, i don't wait for the ammonia smell to turn the bedding. I fluff the straw every day or two and allow the solids to sift to the bottom. The chickens love the air pockets to help keep warm. Also lime (Calcium Carbonate) will keep the smell down.
Bob

 

[Judy]

I keep a bag of pelletized lime to sprinkle around, mostly for wet weather as I have whole wall areas of wire down here. I don't put anywhere near 2" of it out, more like 3 or 4 cups in a 12x18 coop, does the trick.

Pat, don't move here either if you expect to find pine shavings in the feed stores. They don't even carry grit. I go 25-30 miles to a TSC; if there weren't one, I'd be using hay.

 

[craftymama86]

Why is cedar bad for chickens?

 

[craftymama86]

Asked too soon, found my answer.

 

[tammyd57]

A deep layer of straw in a coop with enough ventilation shouldn't build up ammonia odors unless it is always very damp there. I use straw, always have, never an odor problem, but it's extremely dry here and my coop really has more ventilation than most as the whole front side is open. I only take out the old litter once or twice a year when I need some compost for the garden, and just add more on top every month or so.

 

[Ema]

well I don't know what it was, the smell was gone the next day, no smell at all??????? I am quite confused over it. I turned up all the straw and it was not wet or anything, the bottom layer was all broken down already, so I sprinkled more DE and the girls went to town dust bathing in it...lol....

I found wood pellets for pellet stoves at the hardware store 5.99 for a 20# bag, I read the bag and it says its natural wood pellets but doesn't say if its accelerant free, I asked one of the clerks and they couldn't tell me either. so I didn't buy them, better not risk it.

I was going to go out of town today but then the radio announced there was a snow day in effect, all school buses are cancelled and highway traffic has been minimized, we are expecting a heavy snowfall this morning combined with rain and a sudden drop in temps, so that means highways will be closed, so we are all stuck at home...good thing I have enough feed for the next week, cause they are calling for those conditions the whole week.

 

[oldchickenlady]

Ema, glad the smell is gone this morning, but a poop board will still be a great thing to do. It will make whatever you use on the floor last a lot longer between cleanings. I use shavings, no problem getting them here, but the poop board by far catches the majority of the poop. I just scrape the board off into a 5 gallon bucket every 2-3 days, much easier than changing out the whole floor.

 

[cmom]

I have bought pine shavings at our Walmart in the pet department. They usually have it next to the cedar shavings.