My new coop

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Well, I finally got my new 12'x24' coop finished and it's housing it's first flock of Plymouth Rocks. I got them in July and they are growing like crazy and just started laying. Everything is great except one thing. DUST!!! I started using the pine shavings available at my local feed store. I used them before in my original 10'x12' coop and never noticed all the dust. This stuff is awful! My new coop has a layer of dust everywhere and it's miserable to enter the coop as the girls get excited when I'm feeding and watering them or anything else. Then the dust flies! Looks like after Mt St. Helens erupted. Does anyone know of a product sold that doesn't have this dust issue?
Thanks!

Tractor Supply carries pine shavings that produce very little dust. They are bigger than the regular but are soft. I switched to these when I saw them at TSC and I won't use anything else. They cost $6 / bag and are so worth it.

 

[aart]

TSC has bagged large flake. It doesn't have all that fine stuff in it.

That's what I use and it's not too bad.

I also wonder how many birds and if it could be dried pulverized droppings

Yes, eventually there will be pulverized poop dust and feathering sheathing dust mixed in with the bedding dust.

I toss scratch out into the run in the morning so I can clean and top off feed and water without any 'interference'.

 

[21hens-incharge]

That's what I use and it's not too bad.

Yes, eventually there will be pulverized poop dust and feathering sheathing dust mixed in with the bedding dust.

I toss scratch out into the run in the morning so I can clean and top off feed and water without any 'interference'.

I definitely prefer them to be outside when I am doing any maintenance in the coop.
They are WAY to bossy to have in there with me.

I got some big flake when my usual place was out of shavings. It seemed to stay fluffed longer and required less clean out than the fine stuff.
I think I will switch to just using that even though it is a farther trip to go get it.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

I definitely prefer them to be outside when I am doing any maintenance in the coop.
They are WAY to bossy to have in there with me.

I got some big flake when my usual place was out of shavings. It seemed to stay fluffed longer and required less clean out than the fine stuff.
I think I will switch to just using that even though it is a farther trip to go get it.

That's the only thing I will buy at my "local" TSC This one is so poorly managed I have considered driving an additional 20 miles to avoid going there. I get 2 bags at a time and that lasts about three months.

 

[trainman]

Well, I don't know what brand they are. It's the same brand I've been using all along in both coops. Kiln dried pine shavings. No claim to be "dustless". It has fairly large flakes but has no mention of flake size. Never saw all this dust in the old coop. This coop is larger, has good cross ventilation and a wooden floor like the last one.

It is possible I got a batch at the bottom of the processing procedure and it had all the fine stuff from the run. I've only used this brand for 6+ years now and this is the first time this has happened.

I just picked up some more feed and ordered 3 new bales of a different kind that was recommended by the dealer. We'll see! It comes in Thursday or Friday so this weekend, if the weather is good, I'll get the coop cleaned and put down the new stuff. Wish I could use cedar as I have a ton of cedar trees and a wood chipper. Cedar chips wouldn't be hard to come by and all for the price of some 87 octane!

I'm sure it isn't being pulverized or powdered by the flock. There are 35 chickens.

I don't understand "washing" the bedding. Before use or after use? Why would I want to wash and reuse used bedding? #1 it isn't that expensive, #2 that sounds like a really miserable job and #3 eewww!

In this case they DO INDEED produce that much dust. Sweeping the dust up sounds like an impossibility as the dust is EVERYWHERE.....floor, ceiling, walls, shelves, clogging the fans and screens on the windows.....EVERYWHERE! It's a baby powder consistency and is on everything in the coop. Think what a bag or flour does when it gets dropped or the bathroom after a shower and a liberal dose of baby powder. That's what it's like.

Thanks for all the thoughts about this and I really appreciate hearing the ideas.

 

[trainman]

I'll see what this new brand/type is like and maybe then try the TSC ones next time. Like everything else products vary quite a bit. Same goes for TSC. My closest one isn't very friendly and has a lot of surly folks working there. There's another a bit farther that's always better stocked and the people try to help you out. It's ALL about the managers.

I understand about the bedding getting pulverized but this batch was powdery when I first put it down in the brand new coop. I think I just got the dregs from the bottom of the chipper when they cleaned it out......and sold it to ME! LOL

I'm hoping the new stuff will easy up the problem as it's horrible and I started wearing a dust mask just to handle feeding, watering and egg collection.

Sure glad they are starting to lay now. One needs a "reward" for the work involved and the cost of feed. Thirty-five chickens can really go through a lot of feed. Well worth it though.

 

[aart]

Could be you got a 'bad batch'.
35 birds is a lot.
Some of that dust could be spilled feed?
Some could also be feather sheathing from their juvenile molts.
Chickens are dusty<shrugs>

No, you can't broom it up or wash it...SMH.
Tho I do take the shop vac once a year out to cleanup some of the dust in the storage part of the coop shed.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Don’t you know that chickens invented dust? LOL!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Wish I could use cedar as I have a ton of cedar trees and a wood chipper. Cedar chips wouldn't be hard to come by and all for the price of some 87 octane

You happen to have other woods you could mix in, so it's not all cedar? I use wood chips in my coop, it's a lot less dusty as far as litter goes. I wouldn't use all cedar and I wouldn't recommend a cedar mix if you don't have sufficient ventilation, but otherwise it's "free" and does the job well enough.

Still going to be a ton of dust in the coop, thanks chickens, but no dust flying through the air like you're describing.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Definitely do a lot of research BEFORE putting any cedar in the coop.

It is very irritating to chicken lungs with its naturally occurring pest resistance properties.

I do not recommend cedar inside any coop.