Cocoa Mulch O.K. for bedding?

[CityChicker]

I am sure coir would work, but you are right about the expense. It is just too cost prohibitive for me. With the size of your run, it could easily cost a few hundred bucks (unless you have a local supplier that has a great deal on it).

 

[The Sheriff]

Plus, we used it (cocoa shells) outside once and it molds when it gets wet. And it doesn't take long either.

 

[O.C.Chick]

Yeah, even though I spoil my chickens more than I do myself, several hundred bucks for litter might be where EVEN I draw the line!!!

And Warden, great point about the mold that forms in the cocoa-mulch. I forgot about that when I used it in my garden in the past!

So I've come to the conclusion that:

1. Cocoa mulch is too risky

2. Coir is too expensive (unless anyone can find me a Sugar Daddy who loves chickens!

)
3. Peat may be a good option, but I'll wait to find out if others have had good experiences with it

Thank you all for your help. ( And, I'm not entirely kidding about that Sugar Daddy!)

 

[azygous]

O.C.Chick :

P.S. to Jim In Cincinnati: I would love to hear how the peat moss works out! I was thinking of that but didn't use it because I thought it might be bad for the chickens to inhale the dust. Then I read that they use it in horse stalls and that the dust is very low. So would love to hear the prognosis!

I have some experience with peat moss. I recently used it for bedding in the cardboard appliance box I was using for a nursery for the new pullets I was raising. It was excellent for odor control, and the baby chicks were taking dust baths in it by the time they were a week old. It was wonderful bedding for them.

However, the dust was unbelievable. Not that it bothered the chicks - no apparent ill effects. But by the time they were ready to move outside to the coop, dust had permeated everything in the room. It took most of a day to clean the room. I wouldn't ever use it again for that reason.​

 

[patandchickens]

Peat moss needs to be dampened to use for animal bedding, otherwise it is like a brown dust-storm. Dampened (which is easier said than done, having access to a hot-water hose to spray it down with is the easiest way, she says from working in some horse barns where individuals with chronic lung problems were bedded on peat moss) it is a good bedding, and the cleanings are *wonderful* for your soil. However most of the peat on the market is very very nonrenewably extracted and I do not think it's good to use except in situations where nothing else would possibly do.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Chicken Holder]

We have always used cocoa husks as bedding for chickens for- put a whole sack in the hut (you get them from Palmers Gardenworld in Mana (or on Trade Me). The layer we have is about 6-8 inches thick - the chooks love it, nest in it, eat in it etc. They are very healthy and give us good eggs - even through winter so can't be bad for them.
Takes away the smell too - definetely recommended.

 

[O.C.Chick]

As a follow-up to my original post, I've found an almost perfect bedding material that I've been using for the past two years....Rice hulls. Just in case it's not obvious by the name, rice hulls are the outside hull (or husk) of a piece of rice....a byproduct of the rice industry. It is small, soft, clean, light, and crunchy when you walk on it. A 12 cubic foot bag lasts a couple of months and only costs around $8. The chickens love scratching and picking around in it, trying to find remnants of rice. It has a high silica content so it keeps the coop dry and odor free. It's easy to keep clean (if you rake or scoop poop from the coop) because it clumps almost like cat litter. And it's a great amendment for clay soil (which I unfortunately have).

One word of caution: I would recommend buying American grown with the issues of cadmium and other toxic residues discovered in Chinese rice samples recently.

 

[Par]

I have been experimenting with peatmoss. So far I like it, but am waiting to see if it lasts. It drains well and chickens like to dig in it and take dustbaths

O.C.Chick :​

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Has anyone ever used cocoa mulch as bedding in their chicken coop or run? I know it is toxic to dogs if they ingest it (since it is derived from cocoa bean hulls), but I have heard that it is safe for chickens. Does anyone else have any experience or thoughts on this?​

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I was also considering coir (coconut fiber), but I think that would be too expensive...My coop / run is approx. 30 feet x 5 feet, and I usually go 2" thick with the bedding.​

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I am trying to find a safe but dark-colored bedding for my chicken run / coop that I can put directly in my garden when I clean the coop...I clean all of the bedding out about once a month and want to be able to use it to mulch my garden. I don't like pine shavings because they need to be composted first, and I don't have enough room for a large compost pile.​

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I had been using composted organic redwood shavings, but several of my chickens have had intestinal issues lately and I'm concerned that bedding may be the issue. (Even though they say not to use redwood shavings with chickens due to the oils, I don't think it's the redwood itself that's causing the problems since it's been composted and the oils are gone...I think it might be whatever bacteria or microbes that they use to compost it that may be causing the intestinal problems.)​

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Any thoughts on Cocoa mulch or coir would be much appreciated!

I have been using a mix of cocoa mulch, pine shavings, and deep Timothy grass bedding on the inside coop area. I have been using this combination for 2 years and I don't notice anything harming the chickens. I still have 7 year old chickens alive and well. I've always been concerned about it and that is why I mix it. I use it mainly just under the areas where they perch and poo. It helps neutralize the smell. The deep method on the inside coop is not cleaned out for the winter months so this works really well. Sometimes I use a diatamatious earth dust and mix in when the urine smell get strong. This could all be wrong but has helped in keeping the inside coop smelling decent during the long cold winter months. This summer I'm going to try sand and clean the poo every week.