I'm Shocked By Pine Shaving Cost!! Or Am I Just "Cheep"?

[freemotion]

We have a feed and pet supply store down the road that will give us a good price for 100 bags if we pay up front. We can keep them there, and just get what we need, as we need it. This worked well when we had the horse, I got about 100 per year or so. Depending if it was a "pee outside" year or a "pee inside only" year! It was like a price protection. I always stored a few at home for those times when shavings get scarce here in late winter. I think I paid $3.80 a bale last year at this time, and still have close to 40 bales left!

With deep litter and lots of maple leaves this year, I may have to sell them to a horse-owning friend. I bedded the goats with leaves, too.

You might check around and see if anyone offers this in your area, and split it with a few other chick-a-holics.

$6-8 is outrageous! Or am I that out of touch in one year?

 

[magsrags]

Here on Staten Island we have only 1 local feed store. I pay 7-8 for a bale of soft shavings....(a SMALLer bale is $15 in Petland)....$14 for a full bale of hay............10 for a full bale of straw.
I've stuck with shavings for the past few months. the straw doesn't work as well for me.

I mix/toss and add a little new every week. Take some out maybe every month or so when it looks like it needs it.

 

[ncCHICKS]

Our feed store has it for $4 that is enough for 3 coop changes. I use wheat straw though.

 

[bigzio]

If you can locate a hobby woodworker with a planer for smoothing boards, chances are you can get the shavings for free.

One of the men at our church is doing projects all the time and is will to give the shavings by the pick-up load for free....nice and dry too!

bigzio

 

[Sylvie]

I am a woodcarver and meet weekly with a group of 20 carvers. We simply don't generate enough in a month to make it worthwhile to save. Like a couple of baggies! I make firestarters from them, instead.
Carvers also like to experiment with novel woods so they could use cedar or other undesirables in the mix.

All bales are not created equal. I can buy a 4 c ft at each of the 4 feed mills by me and get 4 different coverage volumes. TSC goes the furthest, but theirs is kinda too big shavings. The feedmills range from sawdust to mixed shavings and sawdust. Drives me crazy! I can't see in the opaque bags to see what they are except for TSC's. And some weeks TSC only has sawdust size shavings. Next time I get exactly what I want I am buying a number of bales from that lot. They are all about $6 a bale here.

 

[consdrs]

Ours has gone up. I used to pay 9.60 for 12 cf compressed bails. they went up to 11.80. they are nice light fluffy shavings. I found them for less yesterday coastal farm and ranch but I didn't like the stick like quality it had and will pay for the light fluffy absorbent ones at concentrates in Portland.

 

[Rhett&SarahsMom]

$4.75 here. of course it could be more. I need about 4 every other week for the horse and another one or two for the rabbits and chickens. So I just walk in tell the guys what I need and hand them the debit card. Less painful if I dont actually look.

 

[freemotion]

That's how I buy gas!

 

[aiwetir]

hm i have a friend who uses an arbortech attachment on his angle grinder to take things down basically a chainsaw type attachment.

he chops up mostly bigleaf maple and i never once thought of asking him to use them. any reason i couldn't use maple shavings ? would these chips be too small ?

now i'm going to think about getting him some trash cans to put it in before it gets wet so i can use it and maybe distribute it. he makes a lot of shavings.

 

[freemotion]

Why not? They might be a bit coarse, but the chickies just poop on it anyways!