Coop bedding revisted

[geareduplyn]

Quote:
IMO this is the best litter ever. Do not wet it as you would for horses when using it for poultry. As soon as wet droppings hit it the moisture is absorbed and the pellets break down. For baby chicks it is the best. No more chicks lost because they ate the bedding and got bound up. TSC had a one day sale on them on Black Friday. I bought two pallets. They are semi expensive so if you find them on sale and can afford to stock up , do so.

 

[Cindy in PA]

I am using the pellets from TSC for the first time. In the beginning of November I put in a layer of the Equine Fresh pellets & then a layer of aspen chips. I did not wet them & figured the chickens would only break them down under the roost & at the waterers. When you walked in the coop you felt like your feet rolled a little at first. I have discovered the pellets have broken down in the areas of major activity. It may be because I get moisture condensation up from the bottom in really cold weather like we had a few weeks ago. Anyway so far there is no smell and everythingis nice and dry. I put 4 bags of pellets & 2 bales of aspen in an 8 by 8 coop. I am planning on adding more of each this week. The bedding is nice & soft with just some pellets not broken down. There is no smell at all right now.

 

[RockyToggRanch]

This is VERY interesting! I've been using pine shavings for the horses and chickens. It's almost $6. a bale! I have to be careful not to get stuff that's too fine and dusty because I have a senior horse and worry about respiratory issues. Anyway...I saw pellets in TSC and silly me thought "how could that possibly work?" I didn't realize they broke down into sawdust.
Don't the chickens eat the pellets? Is the sawdust very fine? How long does it last compared to shavings? And how does it compare in price?

I also hate hay. My picky old horse often pulls all of his hay from the feeder and mixes it with his bedding and "goodies" and what a back breaking frustrating mess it is to clean up.

 

[Tad]

I am a long time lurker here, I use tree grindings, 6 to 8 inches deep.

I have a tree farm and built my run/coop as a 16x32 fully enclosed structure, I used some old 80% shade cloth for roofing on the part that isnt tin roofed.

I get it for nothing from local tree trimmer guys, clean it out about 3 or 4 times a year and add it to the mulch beds around the yard.

the chickens feet stay clean, they are constantly scratching and moving the material around.

we have mostly mesquite, live oak, hackberry, ash, and citrus trees here, never had any ill effects from using it.

 

[geareduplyn]

Quote:
The chickens never attempt to eat the pellets. As far as long lasting, some of my floors are on there second year. I do add fresh pellets as needed. My floors are earth and are covered with about 6 to 8 inches of nice dry odorless deep litter. The sawdust from the pellts is coarse enough that it is not dusty after they break down.

 

[Gardeninggranny]

I know its not too dusty for my horses, but I was intending to moisten it, [the pellets] and its listed as safe if horses ingest it so I wasn't too worried about chickens eating it. My horses, a mini and her foal, come and go from their stall free will and they track in enough moisture to soften the pellets and break them down. A friend who has many large horses on her farm swears she will never use anything else.

I think I will try it without moistening it as someone suggested. It costs about $5 a bag here - wood shavings are about $7. a bale. I use 5 bags in a horse stall but it lasts a long time, months, with an occasional bag added to wet areas. I use 2 bales of shavings at a time in the coop. The coop is 6 x 12 my horse stall is 10 X12 so I figure the cost will be about the same.

I am going to add it to the coop as soon as I get back to TSC. I think this will make really good compost for the garden, both horse and chicken bedding.

 

[mamaKate]

Quote:
Are tree grindings more like sawdust or woodchips?

 

[Tad]

both, they run the spectrum, from some saw dust to medium sized chips. nothing like giant bark nuggets, smaller than that say in the inch and a half range.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm using some sweet, fragrant hay right now. My coop isn't typical, though, so my situation is a little more unique. My coop is ancient and the boards on the floor have gaping cracks through which pine shavings would just fall. Using hay provides long strands that stay on the floor better.

To prevent the forming of a "cap" on my bedding, I just throw down some whole, shelled corn and let the birds "search" for it as it sifts down through the hay. Since I started this, I don't have to turn bedding anymore! Nice, warm, dry, sweet-smelling hay that seals up the cracks in the floor and is fun to scratch around in for the hidden golden treasure!

 

[raizin]

I used the wood pellets you burn in a pellet stove. They are cheaper than the horse bedding and made the same way. It worked great!! This time I used pine shavings and they don't control the smell and moisture well. I never had any smell or moisture using the pellets. I am going to have to go back to them soon. My daughter doesn't want to help shovel the coop out so soon either. She has been bugging me to go back to the pellets.