Bedding... Pine vs. Aspen

[Chickiee]

Any preferences as to the type of bedding? I heard don't use Cedar. I also heard that some Pine has dust, but then some doesn't. So, I guess I'm leaning towards Aspen...

 

[kidcody]

I use pine and they don't have any dust.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I use pine. I'm sure people out west have aspen available.
Eastern Red Cedar is aromatic and should be avoided.
People do use aspen but sometimes hardwoods can acquire a harmful fungus.

 

[TaylorHobbyFarms]

I don't know about Aspen, but I use the big flake pine shavings and don't have any problems with dust.

 

[Chickiee]

Great! Thanks everyone! As long as Pine is working without dust problems, then maybe I'll try that.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

IMHO the dust doesn't come from the bedding, it comes from the chickens.

 

[path.otto]

IMHO the dust doesn't come from the bedding, it comes from the chickens.

I know this is an old post but I have been doing some research on litter and many people agree with ChickenCanoe's opinion. Melissa at Tilly's Nest believes there are 4 primary causes of dust: 1 - chicken dander, 2 - chicken feed, 3 - chicken poop, and 4 - bedding.
Some beddings seem to promote more dust then others so it pays to try different ones until you find one you really like. I used Fleet Farm Dejnos when I got my chickens as juveniles and I really liked it. I switched to aspen shavings when I tried deep litter in the coop. The method was fine but I found aspen compacted and was difficult to turn with my close-tined fork and I don't like using my regular fork around the chickens. This spring I am switching back to Dejnos with a less deep litter and see how I like that. I had zero odor with the aspen bedding.

What litter to use seems to be an on-going discussion and an interesting one. I use cypress mulch in the run with shredded leaves and dried grass added in occasionally. This will be my first summer so the jury is still out on that one.

 

[Haleyrbloom]

I use pine and they don't have any dust.

The pine shavings I was using had horrible dust. It left a layer of yellow dust.

I think it depends what brand you use.