Cleaning out coop - what to do with used pine shavings

[AnnPann]

First spring following using large flake pine shavings for bedding as coop bedding. For those of you who use it, what do you do with the dirty stuff when you do a spring clean out? It does not seem to compost very well. I don't really want to throw 3+ bales worth of the stuff into my compost bin and have it just sitting there for years, tying up one of my bins. But I don't have yard waste pickup options with my trash service.

Also, for anyone who uses hemp bedding in your coop, do you find it composts quickly? Is it worth the $?

 

[notabitail]

First spring following using large flake pine shavings for bedding as coop bedding. For those of you who use it, what do you do with the dirty stuff when you do a spring clean out? It does not seem to compost very well. I don't really want to throw 3+ bales worth of the stuff into my compost bin and have it just sitting there for years, tying up one of my bins. But I don't have yard waste pickup options with my trash service.

Also, for anyone who uses hemp bedding in your coop, do you find it composts quickly? Is it worth the $?

We just tossed our pine shavings out when they were done.
Now we use straw.

 

[RoyalChick]

I put mine around shrubs in the garden - it provides some mulch and nutrients and rots down over time.

 

[Percheron chick]

Throw it in the run.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I do a fall cleanout and spread that stuff on my vegetable garden and till it in. By spring planting time it has broken down well enough.

 

[AnnPann]

Throw it in the run.

LOL i considered that. But the WIND. I think I'd end up with a pine flake tornado and with it all over my yard!

 

[notabitail]

LOL i considered that. But the WIND. I think I'd end up with a pine flake tornado and with it all over my yard!

Texas winds make those.

 

[Percheron chick]

LOL i considered that. But the WIND. I think I'd end up with a pine flake tornado and with it all over my yard!

Well. No longer a problem.

 

[Sally PB]

What do you have in your run right now? If it's dirt, toss your pine shavings on top on a calm day, and hose them down. Then scatter some chicken feed (or BOSS, or scratch, or some kind of treat) over it, and let the chickens go to town scratching and mixing and turning.

 

[rosemarythyme]

My used coop bedding goes into the deep litter run.

I find wood shavings to be awful at breaking down, and they're costly. IMO hemp is a better mix in if you want to compost. It just seems to disappear into both the compost and the run litter after cleanout.