I've always gotten my cop litter from the local feed store, 1/2 mile away. It's family owned. Recently, they switched brands of pine shavings, and the new bags are little more than compressed sawdust, definitely not kiln-dried & fluffy. My last bag I stored in the garage and then opened on a sub-freezing day. It looked like a giant tan ice cube after I took the plastic off. I had to chip it open with a shovel & rake it around hard. Now a week later I've been poop-scooping through it & there are little ice crystals everywhere. Should I just pitch it all out (in the woods) and put in a new bale of kiln-dried chips from TSC (14 miles away!)? I hate to waste a 1/2 cu. yd like that. Half my chickens are floor-piling silkies & cochins. Will they get too cold in January with the icy litter?
Are they leaving their bags outside? Sounds like it just has too much moisture. If it were me, I would get rid of it (store it til summer). When they walk on it their feet will melt it and that (I would think)would add alot of moisture in their coop-not to mention wet tootsies.
Wood chips are cheap but I agree it's easy to store it until summer. But yeah, get it out of the coop and use dry shavings this winter.
A little trick when buying shavings- load them in your vehicle yourself and if a bale feels heavy, it's likely the end-run, and mostly sawdust and/or water. Offer to exchange it on the spot. Horse people don't mind an occasional heavy bag, but it's not very pleasant for those of us keeping chickens.
Quote:Thanks everyone. Especially good tip LynneP, it must have been the end of a batch. I'll ditch it.
