Need to see picture on how you store your shavings

[amenfarm]

With having a donkey and starting a coop soon, I don't want to continue spending 5.00+

a bale everytime I need shavings, I'm wanting to buy by the scoop or truck load. Can anyone send picture of how you store your shavings?

 

[joan1708]

I will post a pic in the am. I'm using a 4 ft x 4 ft compost bin. I add all my chipped or mowed yard waste.

 

[ailurophile23]

I don't have a picture of our sawdust bin but its about 3-4 ft wide by about 10 ft deep with a slanted shed roof and has a floor so the sawdust doesn't sit on the ground and get wet. It was actually built into a wing off our barn - the wing already had walls at the short ends and the barn at the back side but is open along the long front. We just added a wall about 3.5 ft from one of the end walls and put in the floor. The front has a short lip to minimize spillage and we can add boards to that if we need a higher front wall - they just slide into place. It holds about 2 -2.5 heaping (as high as the cab roof) pick-up truck loads of sawdust - cost is $20 per load at the sawmill and they load it there.

 

[mossypath]

Just a thought for anyone who uses pine shavings and knows someone who builds

I have a used bench top wood plainer that will make great shavings from left over 2 by 4’s . and it is easier to store wood scraps then it is the shavings so you can just make them as needed and not have to worry about bugs, mice and mold.

 

[joan1708]

The is an old compost bin that I've had for 20 years.

 

[amenfarm]

ailurophile23- could you post a picture? sounds like I might be able to add it to the side or back of our barn.
Mossypath-thanks for the idea, I have a wood carpenter friend we might be able to get him to save his shavings for us.
joan1708- that will work when I need a compost bin, but we need to keep the shavings dry.
Anyone know if we can use new trash cans? and if plastic is better than metal? I'm thinking that there already wheels on it, just fill and move where I need them, at least until my husband has time to build anything. Anyone else work from 3pm to 4am, 4 days a week and 3pm to 12 midnight Fridays? he's too tried to do much in the way of building for his wife who has been wanting/and researching chickens for a year now.

 

[ailurophile23]

Working on getting a pic of our sawdust bin. With respect to the trash cans, they might work for the short term but my concern would be that, if the sawdust is not completely dry to begin with, it might get moldy. Wheels would be nice though!

 

[ailurophile23]

Here's some pics and drawings on pics since hubby is rarely home during daylight - hope they help. The first is a pic of our current set-up - sawdust bin built under wing off main barn - I reversed the colors (since it was taken in the dark hours this AM) and tried to draw in the relevant details (obviously not in my skill set!):



Next is a pic of our new sawdust bin in our new and still under construction barn - a daylight pic for this one as this is where hubby spends most of his days. Similar concept but built inside the barn - you can see the flooring and the walls (all treated and/or marine grade plywood so it won't rot) - this will have a similar system at the front with sliding boards to keep the sawdust in the bin:

 

[amenfarm]

Thanks! I'll be showing my hubbie this. And yes, I was also worried that using trash cans could mean mold! Right now the shavings I'm using are kiln dried,but the scoop full won't be.

 

[Dutch552]

We have a truckload dumped every few months in an empty stall in our barn that we use only for sawdust/shavings for the horses and chickens. As long as your floor doesn't get wet from rain then you're good to go an we haven't had any molding issues.