Peat Moss for coop bedding?

[D3invertebrates]

Ive raised millions of animals, mites have never been an issue for me or for my knowledge anyone when proper hygiene was applied. When animals are maintained properly issues like mites are rarely a problem. If you are keeping your area clean and dry and mites are still a problem then your just not keeping it clean or dry enough. Using pesticides is an option I guess if your lazy and just dont care about anything beyond the moment your are currently experiencing.

 

[Erin~TheChickenLover]

Ive raised millions of animals, mites have never been an issue for me or for my knowledge anyone when proper hygiene was applied. When animals are maintained properly issues like mites are rarely a problem. If you are keeping your area clean and dry and mites are still a problem then your just not keeping it clean or dry enough. Using pesticides is an option I guess if your lazy and just dont care about anything beyond the moment your are currently experiencing.

Well, being dry enough in the summer is not a problem. We are lucky if we get enough rain in the summer to even keep the plants alive. Cleanliness is also not a problem as I let my birds free range and clean their coop out every week. All the wildlife here have mites, lice, ticks, and other nasties. That is the problem. Unless I keep the chickens in a plastic bubble they are eventually going to get mites. We all have a right to our own opinions. I respect yours, I just ask that you respect mine as well.

 

[mamabigbird]

Ive raised millions of animals, mites have never been an issue for me or for my knowledge anyone when proper hygiene was applied. When animals are maintained properly issues like mites are rarely a problem. If you are keeping your area clean and dry and mites are still a problem then your just not keeping it clean or dry enough. Using pesticides is an option I guess if your lazy and just dont care about anything beyond the moment your are currently experiencing.

I don't know if you meant to be prickly about this but it does seem that your choice of words is a bit insulting. We try to respect each other
on this site while exchanging ideas and information.
I notice you are in Texas and I am up in the Pacific Northwest where dampness is always present. And we too have wild birds and small critters that carry mites and other bugs, which my free range chickens co-mingle with.
Their coop is generally dry(ish) and clean(ish).
You say you have raised millions of animals. It sounds like it might be a large commercial operation you are running which would require very strict management, while most of us are just regular folks with a handful of birds doing the best we can. If my birds get infested with bugs I am going to use whatever I need to make them comfortable and healthy.
Meanwhile I'm still interested in more feed back about peat moss.

 

[BigRooNTN]

?? When my chickens get mites in the summer, no amount of keeping the area dry and clean is going to get rid of the mites. If the birds are there, the mites are still going to be there. I've dealt with mites in the summer for years. I use Permethrin 10 to spray the pens and coops and Manna Pro's Poultry Protector to spray the chickens. That's not out of ignorance, it is what works to fix a problem.

Well said.

 

[SunnyAlberta]

How do sawdust pellets break down compared to pellets or straw? That might be a green choice for you since they are usually made from saw mill waste.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

With regard to peat moss. My neighbor uses it and it really does help to produce the most beautiful compost. I don't use it myself because of the sustainability issue.

It does take a while for pine shavings to break down. They actually help my soil, which is a bit hard packed. And they do break down eventually.

 

[mamabigbird]

How do sawdust pellets break down compared to pellets or straw? That might be a green choice for you since they are usually made from saw mill waste.

I don't know about pellets. Would they absorb the runny poop? With free range hens sometimes their diet is so rich that they get quite loose.
I have tried straw but found that it wasn't very absorbent and didn't break down well either.
That's one of the things that makes me think peat moss would work because it is very absorbent.
It does grow fungus easily when used as a planting medium but then it is watered to keep it moist. In the coop it would be deep and dry except for
the actual poops until they are absorbed. If I sift out the poops with a manure fork I shouldn't have to change it out very often.
Like I said earlier it would be better to find something more sustainably created but better at composting than wood chips.

 

[D3invertebrates]

Sorry if I come across as insulting but it just happens to be a subject I feel quite passionately about. And any view point being other than against using pesticides is either born out of greed because of someone making a buck or as I said before ignorance. No person is free of ignorance. If enlightenment is your ultimate goal then there is no need to feel shame over this.

 

[KnoxvilleChick]

Have you tried using the shavings as a mulch? I put some in the compost pile, but use some directly on the surface of my veggie gardens to retain moisture and suppress weeds, and the slow breakdown actually is a positive in this case.

Of course, a lot of this depends on how much poop is in the bedding. I have a poop board (I compost this) and I spot clean poop from the rest of the coop a few times a week (also into the compost). Too much poop straight on your crops is of course a bad thing, but smaller quantities of poop (high in nitrogen) is very helpful mixed in with all of the pine shavings (high in carbon) and is awesome as a garden mulch.

 

[SunnyAlberta]

I don't know about pellets. Would they absorb the runny poop? With free range hens sometimes their diet is so rich that they get quite loose.

I haven't had runny chicken poo, but I use wood pellets as kitty litter and they work well for my old cat who has IBS and runny pone thing you can do with wood pellets is dampen them a bit with water to soften them. They seem to be more absorbant after they start to break apart. Eventually they turn to sawdust if you leave them long enough.