Hemp bales vs. packaged bedding

[Laurie Williams]

I have Dominion hemp right now. Not sure what the "French" designation means.

If you have room for a pile of wood chips I'd recommend that as a low dust option over hemp for the run because yes hemp is probably the most expensive bedding option, which is why I use it strictly under the roost for sifting.

Yes, I have a pile of juniper chips. Didn’t even think about it!

 

[rosemarythyme]

The road crew has chipped roadside saplings and such, they leave them on the banks. Here nobody wants these little piles so I think it’s be okay to gather them up, but I’d have to look for aged ones, not fresh. Otherwise, there isn’t a crew nearby of the actual tree trimmers for the power company (and then it needs a year to age and dry out). I’ve had that in past years, and aged the pile before using. Do you think pine needles are low dust? There are larch trees that every fall drop their needles on to the road, easy to rake up.

If you're allowed to take them, they can age on your property instead - or just allow them sit in place and skim chips off the surface as you need them. They don't need to age for a year... yes I like my chips very well aged but if you can age them a month at minimum and stick to chips on the surface (as they're the most aired out) you should be fine.

I don't have pine needles to work with so no idea how that would work. Probably depends on the exact type of pine as well.

I think they’re low dust but I read that aromatic compounds in pine shavings can irritate the birds respiratory system. Don’t know if that would go fore pine needles too.

Shavings are different than chips - a lot more surface area means more offgassing of oils. Which is another reason to age chips, to reduce the offgassing and allow any sap to dry.

 

[woodworm]

I use Aubichick chopped hemp in my raised coop - lasts a long time - I just throw a fresh covering over it building it up over time and have never had issues.

I think the term for this is deep bedding rather than deep litter though they seem to get used interchangably. When I do clear my coop out it still goes on the compost heap either way.

 

[Bantam bell Wood]

As far as the question of hemp itself, I've only used the packaged type where the hurds are fairly finely shredded. Not sure how that compares to the bales (I imagine those aren't shredded?) The packaged ones are expensive so I only use it under the roost as it's easy to sift poop out of it for composting.

I’ve recently switched to using hemp (from the package) in my chicken’s coop. I like it for the same reason, being able to sift/rake the poop with ease. I also find that the high absorbency rate it boasts is spot on. It is expensive though…