Options for buying pine shavings

[lovemy6hens]

What options are there for buying pine shavings in Central Texas? We have tried Tractor Supply, the local feed store, and the local farm supply store. Tractor Supply's quality has taken a serious dive, the other places had shavings which were too dusty or too sharp.

We use a lot of pine shavings and it is getting expensive. Tractor Supply offers a 5% discount for an entire pallet, but that's not enough of a discount to bother with. Even with a greater discount, I don't know where we could possibly store that many bags (~45 in a pallet there).

 

[Percheron chick]

What are you using them for? There are alternative bedding materials such as shredded newspaper, phonebooks or cardboard that are priced comparatively. Sand and straw are an option. Free choices would be dried grass clippings and leaves. I find free shavings on CL from cabinet makers. You can invest in a chipper and make your own too. Mixing it with some bagged shavings will give you that fresh smell.

 

[lovemy6hens]

We're using them in the coop, which is 8x13. The floor is concrete covered with childrens play mats. We tried hay and chopped forage, both of which were very dusty. Also, sharp pieces of hay would get stuck pointed up in the mats. I had to use pliers to get some of those out.
They had sand over a dirt floor in their old coop (8x8), but I haven't tried it in the new one. We are in a flood zone and occasionally get an inch of water inside the building their new coop is in (the old one was just a muddy mess that would take forever to dry). When water gets in the new coop, the mats float. Large fans on high dry the concrete quickly. Sand seems like a it would be terrible to clean up after it gets wet over concrete.