eco-friendly sustainable bedding alternatives?

[Kymbers_crew]

what are some good alternatives to traditional pine shavings? i realized recently just how many units i'm gonna end up using over their life time and i want to reduce their ecological impact. ive read about sand, but that sounds worse to me because of the harvesting process and the fact that it doesn't decompose into the soil like bedding. is there something like hemp pellets or shreds available? maybe just laying down a tarp & setting it out in the rain when it gets dirty? i considered replacing the floor with chicken wire reenforced w planks and putting down 2" tumbled river rocks and spraying them when they got dirty. i even considered replacing their roof with corrugated plastic and laying down sheet grass lol.

I use wood pellets (horse pelleted bedding or pellet stove pellets) in the coop & On a 45 degree Angled board to guide it down to the pellets at the base & then scrape board for the stuck stuff (need to replace with easier cleanable surface) but pellets absorb moisture really well & then I just use a cat poop Scoop to remove solids in the morning.
animal shelters use the pellets in cat boxes because it’s cost efficient & compostable
As the pellets break down I rake them outside & in the winter it kept down the mud as well, then I clean the run by raking it out weekly- I might add that my run is alongside of my house & my bedroom patio & the neighbors side yard-so keeping it clean is important for many reasons Besides just chickens

 

[3KillerBs]

There's nothing unsustainable about pine shavings. They're a waste product from the lumber industry and lumber trees are a managed crop just like any other agricultural product -- just with a longer cycle between planting and harvest.

I live in the middle of millions of acres of farmed southern yellow pine.

Likewise, straw is a waste product from grain production.

Yard waste is great in the run -- leaves, pine straw, dried grass clippings, etc. We're going to get a wood chipper as an alternative to burning brushpiles on our country property but can easily get wood chips from landscaping companies as long as we're willing to accept a whole truck load at once.

 

[VioletRed]

My litter is about as sustainable as you can get. Other than the wood shavings I buy for the nest box, everything in coop and run floor - wood chips, dried leaves from fall, grass clippings from lawn, clumps of weeds, trimmings from the veggie garden, pine needles - is sourced from my own yard. Saves it from going into landfill or even commercial compost (which I have to pay for), plus the deep litter stabilized my mud and smell issue.

Same. I don't pay for the litter I use in my coop, it's all stuff collected from my own property, or the occasional wood chip delivery from a local arborist which would end up in the landfill if I didn't take it.