Can I use wood pellets for bedding?

[felidaet]

I used pine pellets last year and really liked them. I will probably never use pine shavings in the brooder in the future.

Do be aware that bedding pellets are different than woodstove pellets. You want to use the bedding pellets. The first bag I bought was woodstove pellets. I did some research and found that woodstove pellets can be made out of just about any kind of wood. The bag that I opened smelled strongly of ceder. I dumped it in the compost bin instead of brooder. The research also showed me that woodstove pellets are usually compressed under much more pressure than bedding pellets. It is much more difficult for them to absorb moisture.

To the original poster - Pine pellets are going to reduce the amount of dust from pine shavings but not eliminate it. Most of the dust is coming from the chicks themselves. It really gets bad by the time they are 3 - 4 weeks old.

 

[Bantam Babes]

Thank you everyone. It looks like the pellets are the way to go - for me anyway. I do have horses and that is where I got the idea to use the pellets. But I've also found out, for cats - it makes pretty good kitty litter too!

 

[gale65]

C&E_NaturalMeats :

Thank you everyone. It looks like the pellets are the way to go - for me anyway. I do have horses and that is where I got the idea to use the pellets. But I've also found out, for cats - it makes pretty good kitty litter too!

Actually they make it for cats too. It's called Feline Pine.​

 

[claudicles]

Uh huh! That was just what I was about to ask. I use a pelletised wood for cat litter and I wondered if it was something similar. We obviously don't have the same brands in Australia.

 

[mama24]

What I used was Feline Pine. I was out of fresh wood chips and had a bag of Feline Pine for my cats.

 

[Wimberleytexaschick]

I use the pellet bedding in my horses stalls but we dampen it for it to expand and get soft. I am about to move my chicks to a larger brooder with shavings and am going to try the pellets this time- from my reading about half of the people using it for chicks wet it, half don't- so what is the best way? Thanks.

 

[Bantam Babes]

At first I was scared that the chicks would eat it if it was dampened when I began using it on my second batch of chicks that I got only at a couple days old. However we are going on week three and they have shown no interest in eating it. Even after it got wet around the waterer etc. If you don't wet it down, they still lay down but then it is harder to pick their lil poop out of. Also if you don't wet it down it will eventually get wet and get softer when the chicks spill their water or scratch around. It is a lot easier to pick out the poop though if you wet it.

 

[arockkid]

They also have corn pellets for horses, called Best Cob. I liked knowing there were no issues if they ate it, though I agree....as they get older and find out how awesome dust bathing is, it didn't matter. Didn't seem to get stinky too fast, though, which was nice.

 

[MommA2K]

I use Nature's Bedding Pellets for my horses and chickens. They're made of compressed pine and break down into fine sawdust over time. You can quicken the process by moistening the pellets. The pellets make it SO much easier to keep things clean as they absorb the moisture in the poo and cause it to clump, making a much healthier environment for the chickens, too. My chickens also much prefer taking dust baths in broken down pellet bedding over sand or dirt.

Nature's Bedding Pellets are the best value that I've found here in the Pacific NW. The cost per bag is considerably reduced when you buy by the pallet load as opposed to per bag. We occasionally find that local dealers run out during the winter months but they almost always have Nature's Fuel (pellets for pellet stoves), which is exactly the same product in different packaging.

I use Nature's Bedding Pellets for my horses and chickens. They're made of compressed pine and break down into fine sawdust over time. You can quicken the process by moistening the pellets. The pellets make it SO much easier to keep things clean as they absorb the moisture in the poo and cause it to clump, making a much healthier environment for the chickens, too. My chickens also much prefer taking dust baths in broken down pellet bedding over sand or dirt.

Nature's Bedding Pellets are the best value that I've found here in the Pacific NW. The cost per bag is considerably reduced when you buy by the pallet load as opposed to per bag. We occasionally find that local dealers run out during the winter months but they almost always have Nature's Fuel (pellets for pellet stoves), which is exactly the same product in different packaging.

I’m wanting to use pellets in the coop and am planning on wetting them down first. You said your chickens use yours for a dust bath and that’s what I was wondering, if I have that in my coop on the floor do I still need to provide something else for them to bathe?
Thanks!

 

[NancyD84]

I am also about to hatch a few babies and I'm interested if I should wet it first. Or does it cause more dust if I wet them before hand. They will be inside for the first few weeks. What has shown a better outcome, wet or dry?