Chippin' my own bedding

[Pico de Gallo]

I live scarcely 1 mi from a woodmill which generates mountains of sawdust and latilla shavings (bark peeled from sapling poles). I cannot haul truckloads home fast enough to keep the owners happy! I shovel about 3 parts sawdust to 1 part shavings into the coop. Straight sawdust compacts too much, while straight shavings doesn't absorb or clump, but the blend seems easiest to manage while staying somewhat aerated.

The rest of the latilla shavings I spread as mulch wherever my O horizon's non-existent, gradually restoring the soil fertility one load at a time...

 

[rmonge00]

I chip my own bedding. I use mostly Douglas Fir, but also a bunch of other random branches. I will say a few things about it:

1. I don't think they need to be dried out ahead of time, I used some last week that had just fallen off in a wind storm.

2. Make sure you have a BIG pile. Once chipped, the pile will shrink to about 1/30th its original size.

3. It has worked great as my bedding for a year. It smells great when first spread and I just throw a new batch on every couple of months.

Ryan