Pellets or shavings? Why?

[momchick4]

Any issues with the chickens eating the pellets?

 

[HamsterStyle]

Any issues with the chickens eating the pellets?

Not that we have seen. They have definitely picked them up, but they drop them. We are still feeding crumble and grower feed that is small pieces and they don't resemble the pellets at all. If your feed looks like the pellets, it may be an issue, but I doubt it. We have used Equine Fresh pellets since they were babies. We think they are now between 6 and 10 weeks old.

 

[ldawntaylor]

Any issues with the chickens eating the pellets?

Just my 2 cents, I did have a hen that would eat the pellets. Since she was an adult when I got her I think they looked like the feed she was used to.

 

[Percheron chick]

With pellets you dump them in the he coop. Grab a hose with a watering wand and wet as much as you would watering the lawn. It will absorb the water and the pellets will start to fall apart. Play around with how much water you apply and how thick the bedding is.
Pellets for pellet stoves are often made in the same plant as animal bedding but much cheaper.

 

[paneubert]

Pellets for pellet stoves are often made in the same plant as animal bedding but much cheaper.

I have heard this a few times. But my worry is that many times when people have mentioned this, they also add something like "but you never know what sort of crappy wood they used for the stove pellets". Or that the stove pellets are compressed down harder for a longer burn time. You actually would NOT want stove pellets to turn to mush as easily. But.....logic would follow that if they are made in the same place on the same line, both the ingredients and compressed nature would be the same across the two products, right? I don't know what to believe!

 

[HamsterStyle]

I believe the problem with stove pellets vs bedding pellets is that they probably use hard woods for the stove pellets and from my understanding, hardwoods are bad for chickens

 

[lazy gardener]

I would like to know if there are any binding agents added to the pellets for stove use.

I do DL in my coop and use dry leaves, grass clippings, an occasional bale of hay.

 

[~KH~]

I would like to know if there are any binding agents added to the pellets for stove use.

I haven't used pellets for my chickens, but do use them for cat litter (and have for over a decade). I've used both pellet stove pellets and those marketed as animal bedding and haven't noticed any difference. The wood stove pellets I've purchased have just been compressed wood - nothing else added. When I lived in Idaho, they were easy to find and cheaper than the animal bedding pellets, but in southern California, it's easier to find animal bedding.