Pine needles for bedding ???

[Tanichca]

Quote:
Where did you buy it at? Feed store? Home depot?
Maybe i can get some from my grandpas personal pine forest, if i agree to rake them up for him.

 

[Lilacfeather]

I use pine straw in the nest boxes. They like it.

 

[kristim23]

This is such great news!! I have TONS and TONS of dead needles!! Am I right to assume I could throw them in the run, too??

 

[kla37]

We have pine trees and some hardwoods in our yard, and when I rake there are always tons of pine needles in the pile. I toss it all into the run, and they love it! Pine needles do take forever to mold over. I use it as mulch and whenever I turned it and added fresh needles in the spring there really was very little mold on the very bottom. They are a great readily available resource!

 

[saladin]

Pine straw works great in nesting boxes and carriers... I ship adult birds all over the US and always use pine straw.

However, I do not use it in the floor of the coops because it is not absorbant. Other materials make better floor litter.

 

[galanie]

I have a few pine trees and some other trees, mainly oak. I gather up a bunch of leaves and pine needles whenever the mood hits and run over them with the lawn tractor and mix them up. Works great. And yes, you can use them in the run too, though I'm sure someone will chime in and say that other things such as sand work better. Where I live, sand is far from free though and the used bedding makes fantastic compost and/or mulch for my garden.

 

[elmo]

Quote:
That would be my question, too (absorbancy). Pine needles won't fluff up like shavings, either, so would be of no use in cold weather for a chicken to nestle into as they can with shavings.

However, if what you're looking for is to just have something covering the floor or poop board/tray so that the poop won't stick to it, and so you can sweep or scoop up the droppings in the litter, pine needles should work fine for that.

 

[pmelton]

This is an old post I know, but I just started raising chickens and I have an abundance of pine trees so I get the needles in the road and driveway that are crushed and softer. I just put some in the coop and the girls loved scratching in it, and scattering it. They were so fun to watch.
So I guess I want to know if its ok to use, they seem to like it.

 

[krcote]

This is an old post I know, but I just started raising chickens and I have an abundance of pine trees so I get the needles in the road and driveway that are crushed and softer. I just put some in the coop and the girls loved scratching in it, and scattering it. They were so fun to watch.
So I guess I want to know if its ok to use, they seem to like it.

I use them all the time

 

[gracejr]

Rock on!! We have a huge pile of needles/leaves/dead grass just sitting there. Will it work with the grass and leaves in it too? Could you use this with the DLM?