Coffee chaff! I did it!

[4theloveofhens]

Extremely interesting! Where do these people come up with this stuff? The only thing I would be worried about would be if you mix a little bit of chicken smell with coffee, maybe it'll ruin the "taste" of coffee cuz all you'll think about is chicken poo? LOL - probably not, but you may start thinking of one when you think of the other! hehehehe

 

[ozark hen]

 

[Airplaneguy57]

What a great post. I have already talked to two roosters in my area. After they got done laughing they said sure. One condition, I must let them know how it went. Coffee smells better than poop any day.

 

[ozark hen]

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love it!

 

[Princess Lay-a]

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Great aritcle. I friend of mine has been using left over coffee grounds in rose beds for over forty years and has show roses. But one thing I just read does concern me??

"When coffee is roasted, the papery chaff is removed and discarded. The lightweight, sand-colored chaff can be mixed into your compost heap or blended into compost for mulching beds and borders. Don't use too much chaff at once, however, or this fluffy stuff can sheet into a sticky mess, repelling water and keeping air out of the soil."

does this mean that my coop floor will get slick? But I would love to have over-roasted beans as a walk way. It would keep all kinds of insects away is what I am betting? I get Mother Earth News and didn't see this article, which issue did you see this in?

I get MEN hard copy & online too as a newsletter, thats' the link I put up first!

As far as it getting slick I think it would be that way IF it's not getting scratched/disturbed at like chickens normally do. They are constantly overturning their bedding. Plus outdoors if it rains it's a lot more water on it compared to plops of chicky poo!

 

[Princess Lay-a]

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I think it would be the opposite! You think of coffee when you do coop duty! More pleasant reaction than before!

 

[Princess Lay-a]

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I think you meant "two ROASTERS"...unless you got some talented roosters!

That would be great if we could train our roosters to roast their own beans and chaff the coop! LOL!

 

[Princess Lay-a]

UPDATE!!
Just wanted to let you know of any cons involved with using coffee chaff for 2 days.

So far everybody is as happy as... chicks in coffee!

They are liking it!

I see more dust bathing than before. I don't know if it's the consistency or what. Do chickens have good olfactory abilities?

I heard birds in general don't.

The cons I have found are this:

I can tell where the most activity takes place and it's not the feeders. There is one spot where I think they do their sparring

, which includes the stomping and flapping and that spot is bare of the chaff. The stuff is lightweight so disperses easier than pine shavings.

The other thing is that it gets in the water easier due to it's weight. But I was picking pine shavings out before too.

I have the waterers elevated, but when they kick around it gets dropped in there.
Does it make coffee for the birds? No, it's floating/mixed in, not like our coffee. But can some caffeine get in there? Possibly? I have not noticed any difference in their behavior. But I know this will be fixed when I start using water nipples, no contamination there.

So at this point the pros still outweigh the cons. It's free, they like it, it still smells great even WITH POOP and my garden will thank me later!

Peace!

 

[gryeyes]

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It's not the grounds, but the chaff - the outer husk of the bean, which is removed prior to roasting. It's a by-product, and you have to get it from a roasting company, not at a coffee shop. (You can get grounds at coffee shops, for your garden.)

 

[KristaBeth]

Well, I got two big garbage bags full of it from the local roasters. Put it in the brooder, kept it there for one day and then promptly covered it back up with pine shavings. I loved the smell and the texture, but boy did it make a MESS! My five girls had it everywhere! It's not easy to clean out of the feeder since it is very small and fine. I have the two mixed right now, figured maybe I can get the best of both worlds. I still am going to use it for my tomato plants and my compost...and I'll also try it out with my bigger girls in the coop.

Just my $0.02...