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...
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.
I don't know about Aspen, but I use the big flake pine shavings and don't have any problems with dust.
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.
The pine shavings I was using had horrible dust. It left a layer of yellow dust. I think it depends what brand you use.
