I need a dust free but safe coop

[moniquem]

Maybe I'll pick up a bag and experiment myself. I'm currently mixing sweet pdz and kiln dried sawdust on roost boards. This could be even better.

Nothing to do with topic @Ruralhideaway you have the cutest chicken avatar!!

 

[Ruralhideaway]

Be careful with corn cob bedding. I use it in my conure and lovebird cages. If it gets wet it will mold quickly.

Agree I've seen that in parrot cages. But that bedding doesn't get stirred like it will in a coop. I think the particle size is different in that intended for horse stalls also. Good point to watch for though.

 

[Ruralhideaway]

Nothing to do with topic @Ruralhideaway you have the cutest chicken avatar!!

Thank you that's Judy. She's always getting up high, making eye contact, and scolding everyone. Funny little thing.

 

[Ruralhideaway]

They make animal bedding out of recycled cardboard. I've used it in my trailer to absorb urine as it doesn't blow around like shavings. Breaks down quickly in the compost pile.

I've looked for that stuff for years. I wonder if it's regionally available only.

 

[Ohmyheart]

Agree I've seen that in parrot cages. But that bedding doesn't get stirred like it will in a coop. I think the particle size is different in that intended for horse stalls also. Good point to watch for though.

Oh yes I forgot about the horse kind.

 

[Percheron chick]

I've looked for that stuff for years. I wonder if it's regionally available only.

. The stuff I used was made from virgin box making scraps. It was made locally. I'll look for it.

 

[Nambroth]

Use care with corncob bedding. It's known to cause crop impactions in the birds that eat it. It also harbors aspergillus mold and causes a real problem if it gets wet either from moisture in the environment (summer humidity alone will do it) or a lot of wet fecal material/spilled water. Aspergillosis is not only harmful to animals but can cause illness in people too. I avoid corn based beddings strictly for many reasons.

I've read that hemp bedding is less dusty and more absorbent than pine shavings. It may be worth looking into.

 

[paintedChix]

bills, junk mail and cardboard - can make some of the best bedding. But shredding it in a heavy duty shredder creates plenty of "dust" where ever you shred it and becomes dusty when they scratch, too.

After seeing the amount of dust a brand new chick can create (I did 3 different brooders w/ different bedding - shredded paper, bagged pine bedding & the pine pellets used for horse bedding. Also triedleaf litter that we'd kept dry over the winter) - I don't really think you are going to escape the dust issues. Even baby chicks scratch & dig a lot! They throw dust up from their feed that they scratch in too. I've found the best thing is a coop with a LOT of open area and good ventilation. During hot, dry, non-humid times of the year (& sometimes that's during the winter as well), we will wet the coop down. Not soaking, just enough to keep the dust down - especially when I was in it.

Our whole property is sand & we are doing everything possible to encourage the chickens to turn all this blasted sand into anything but. My first movable tractors became stationary and I did a dance of joy when I FINALLY saw worms and other bug life show up besides just ants. I did start out, at times using DE, but to encourage bug life I stopped - except in our dust baths which is a combo of DE, wood ash and .... sand (from the property, not the store). We collect the pine straw and leaf litter from the forested parts of our land and have the chickens turn it into compost and the sand that is under those first three tractors is becoming a very, very nice mix of compost... Now, we are in process of building lots more tractors of different sizes/types and will be using a lot more chickens in them (doing meat birds for ourselves and our extended families and for our dogs/cats) over the pony pastures' sand... None of our tractors are completely enclosed - they all open directly to ground below the roosts & nesting boxes... Enclosed coops and barns here just seem to be too hot and dusty for both me and the chickens. I love our hoop coops that are mostly open...

How is the chickie that you originally posted about? Besides DE/sand, she could have gotten it scratched or had a bug or even pollen get in it... We are heavy into our pollen drop again now.