Pine Needles instead of shavings?

[2overeasy000]

We have a lot of Pine trees on the property and plenty of the dry orange needles everywhere. Is it ok to mix these in with the wood shavings in the coop to hopefully cut down on the amount of shavings we have to buy and take advantage of nature's own free pine needles?

 

[Imp]

Yes, Lots of people use what's available, rather than shavings.
Needles
Leaves
Lawn clipping
Etc.

Imp- I use newsprint in the coop.

 

[nwfl]

Three of my EE hens prefer pine needle nests on the ground under oringtons nest boxes. Very tidy beautful nests. We get two good drops from trees each year.

 

[HHandbasket]

Thank you for posting this. That's a great idea! We are getting ready to move up to the mountains & we will have a lot of pine trees around us. Using pine straw would be, like, free!

 

[obaan1]

I use it, also. It smells so nice.