Flooring for Meaties in pen that can't be moved

[Riparian]

is this long pine needles from the scotch pine tree your talking about? ive never heard it refered to as pine straw before, or people using it for livestock bedding.

Interesting.

 

[WalkingWolf]

Quote:
Mostly from scrub pines, people usually use it as a mulch around shrubs as no weeds will grow underneath it, and it lasts a long time. I use it in all my pens that can't be moved. The birds go nuts when I throw it in getting all the little treats crawling around.

One warning it is highly flammable when dry almost like gasoline, but that should not be a problem in a pen.

 

[mcdaid36]

Thanks for the suggestions. I use hay because we have a whole garage full of it for the horses, and I can get hay at $4.50 a bale, whereas straw is double that price per bale and is hard to find around here. All the horse barns use pine shavings. A bale of pine shavings is $5.00, and that gets even soggier when it's rainy. I've never seen pine straw around here, but it sounds wonderful. I guess this is what I get for living near NYC and not a bit more upstate. I suppose my answer is to just keep adding more hay, perhaps more frequently than I do. That would also add significantly to the cost of raising these meat birds....