Peat moss in brooder box - GREAT

[Cetawin]

Miss Prissy I was wondering about that as I read this thread because Husband has used moss to start fires when doing jungle warfare training and such.

I would not feel comfortable with using it because I have seen how fast it goes up. Wow.

 

[Davaroo]

The garden peat were talking about is not a moss, as we think of it. It is actually dug from the ground of what were once ancient bogs or swampy forests. It is a compacted accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter.
It is used for fuel in many countires - Ireland and Finland harvest it on an industrial scale. Once dry, it is highly flammable.

Do you recall the Tollund Man found in Denmark? He is what is called a "bog body," in this case a well preserved 4th centruy BC human. Such finds are not uncomomon where peat is dug and they include everything from human corpses to dead animals. It seems the lack of oxygen and high levels of tannic acids in a decaying peat bog combine to preserve the bodies very well. Tollund Man was initially thought to be only a few years old until archeologists analysed him.

Tannic acid and high flammibility for chicks? You decide.

 

[halo]

I had used peat moss once for my horses, and the dust was overwhelming. I gave it up quickly. I much prefer shavings for horses, and chickies.

 

[joebryant]

I don't foresee my heat lamp above the peat moss as being dangerous when it's never more than 95 degrees F (85 now). I'd have to know a lot more about the one lady's fire circumstance, especially since the fire was in the garage and not all the chickens were lost; if it were in the brooder box, it seems to me all would have died. And tanic acid is in lots of vegetation; so what? They've not eating it, and even if they did eat some, I doubt that it would hurt them. Lots of people use only oak leaves, and those are filled with tanic acid.
I do know, however, that right now I can look in the brooder and not see any dust or poop whatsoever, just much happier chicks scratching like they're supposed to be able to do.

 

[bluie]

Pine shavings are also a renewable resource and peat moss is definitely not renewable. I feel guilty using it even in the garden, because once those bogs are gone, they are gone forever.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Quote:
What Bluie said. They type faster than I do!

IF you are raising chickens to 1. raise food for your family, 2. to go Green-er, why would you use up a resource that is going to take thousands of years to replenish?

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
What Bluie said. They type faster than I do!

IF you are raising chickens to 1. raise food for your family, 2. to go Green-er, why would you use up a resource that is going to take thousands of years to replenish?

Why? Because I have no illusions of my stopping the train. You get the politicians to pass laws forbidding its continued use by 99% of the people, and then we'll talk about why I should feel "guilty" or why you should feel self-righteous. Neither you nor anyone else can tell me that they don't use oil and many other non-renewable resources.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

EWWWWWWWWW Someone got up on the wrong side of the playpen this morning.

 

[PotterWatch]

Quote:
What Bluie said. They type faster than I do!

IF you are raising chickens to 1. raise food for your family, 2. to go Green-er, why would you use up a resource that is going to take thousands of years to replenish?

Why? Because I have no illusions of my stopping the train. You get the politicians to pass laws forbidding its continued use by 99% of the people, and then we'll talk about why I should feel "guilty" or why you should feel self-righteous. Neither you nor anyone else can tell me that they don't use oil and many other non-renewable resources.

I think people were just pointing out the cons of using peat moss. Like many other things there are pros and cons and I appreciate people from both sides of the coin chiming in. For me, knowing that something is a non-renewable resource helps me to decide whether or not to use it. Though I of course use other non-renewable resources, I do what I can to reduce my use of those things as much as I can. Just because I still use some of those things doesn't mean I shouldn't try to reduce in other ways.

 

[LynneP]

Um. Whether you use pine shavings or peat moss, add it back to the soil to grow things...it's a cycle!