Pellets vs. Pine Shavings?

[Peeplperson]

Sounds like they both have fans. Maybe price and availability will have to be the deciding factors for now.

Thanks

 

[angels4]

I've used the pellets since I got my girls last year. I've only got four hens and a small covered run. Even though the pellets break down to saw "dust" I find them to be dust free (if that makes any sense). I don't wet them to break them down (they do after a few months on their own) and I like that it's like kitty litter. I just go out an scoop the run once or a week then top off the pellets. It keeps the run dry and smelling nice.

For me cost isn't an issue. I can get a 40# sack for under $10.00.

 

[moonflowers]

I have been using pellets since I got my chicks (they are nearing 7 weeks old now). I covered them with paper towels for the 1st week or so. I LOVED them. When I ordered my chicks I was splitting the order with a friend. I had all 12 of them together for 2 days on pellets then she came over and we separated them but I had to watch hers for her since she was leaving town a few days. The box with the pine shavings soon smelled a LOT worse than the one with the pellets, all other things being equal except she took 5 chicks and I kept 7. So that alone convinced me. I did get a lot of dust as they got older but it was from feathers, not pellets. I was going to switch to shavings when I put them in the coop for cost effectiveness but the price difference wasn't that much and I really liked the pellets so I changed my mind and am using pellets in my coop. My chicks are doing great so far!

 

[Felicia]

I love the pellets. I can get a 40 lb. bag for about $5 to $6 dollars. I don't notice anymore dust then with the wood shavings. They absorb the smell and the water/poop/urine so much better then wood shavings. I just pour about an inch or less thickness in my brooder and I change it about 1 or 2 times a week (I don't wet the pellets or anything...they breakdown just fine with out all that extra stuff). Much better then the shavings. I love it.

 

[elusiveracer]

Are these pellets the same thing they use for pellet stoves?

 

[MeesterMama]

We love the pellets, we buy the big #40 bag and use them for the cats and the chickens. They are biodegradable so its better than cat liter that just sits in landfills....OT but we love them for the chicks too, they break down over time and they make little nests in them. And they aren't too stinky.

 

[Schroeder]

Quote:
The pellets they use for stoves are made out of hardwoods, not pine.

 

[hesterken]

I'm going to show my age here but what happened to ground up corn cobs? When I was a kid a lot of the farmers still picked corn and when they shelled it they would grind up the cobs for bedding. We used that for our coop and worked great plus it was always free if you went to the grain elevator in town and just loaded up some burlap bags from the pile behind the elevator.

back to pellets, the pine pellets are sold as horse stall bedding. the wood stove pellets are hardwood pellets price is about the same but horse stall pellets are available year round.

 

[card5640]

I use a layer of shavings w/ pellets and then on top I put well dried oak and maple leaves, I bag them up from my neighbors on very dry Fall days and use them over the next year. Chickens love love them and scratch like a fool mixing it all up and pecking at the bits of gravel and seed pods. They break down so well in the compost and are free!

 

[Grammahen]

I am so disappointed.

I couldn’t wait to come home for lunch to try this. I cleaned all the shavings out of my 5x8 coop (which needed to be cleaned anyway) and put in a bag of pellets. One 40 pound bag only covered about 1/4 the floor! I would need 3 or more bags at least! We heat our house with pellets and get them about $6.00 a bag. A bale of pine shavings at Agway only costs about $8.00. (I forget exactly how much but around that anyway)
IMO: Waaaay to costly for us to use pellets. My hubby would kill me. I can hear his voice now echoing in my ears. “You’re not going to waste our winter fuel in the chicken coop!”
Would be great to use in a small brooder though.