Pine pellets for coop bedding??? Does it work?? I'm curious....

[Debbie292d]

After reading this thread, we are considering changing to pine pellets. Our coop is 10X10, with a very tall ceiling. Our girls have decided that the rafters are where they want to be, instead of the roosting bars. Our ladder/ramp is at a height that is easy for them to hop to from the rafters; however, they still seem to want to fly directly off the rafter to the floor below. Our floors are painted wood, so it tends to be a slippery surface. They've played slip and slide with the pine shavings at times. Would a 3" layer of pellets be sufficient to cushion their landing without slippage? What are your thoughts on wetting a couple bags of pellets to create sawdust, letting that dry completely, and then adding a hefty layer of whole pellets on top of that? Would that help in any way with the slippery surface?

Our floor is linoleum, but these are silkies who jump at most 1'; they use ladders to get up and down.

I'd try it either way, as I can't really say. I do know the sawdust is dust free unlike regular sawdust, so there's the plus side. I'm just thinking with the sawdust on top, then the poop is on top, and the pellets below never do their job.

What if you mixed the pellets with the sawdust?

 

[Jbug799]

Unfortunately, my chickens have a taste for sawdust... when my neighbor cut down a dead tree, there was sawdust around it and our chickens started eating it!!

Just out of curiosity are the pine pellets at Tractor Supply the same ones that some people use for cat litter? Can it be used in nesting boxes? Thanks

 

[Debbie292d]

Just out of curiosity are the pine pellets at Tractor Supply the same ones that some people use for cat litter? Can it be used in nesting boxes? Thanks

Yes, they are the same. And I'm ashamed to say we still haven't tried it yet for cat litter. We also use them in the parrot cages for the areas where they poop the most and they work well there. They're in cat litter boxes in the bottom of the cages and I stir them once a week or so.

They are in my nesting boxes too.

 

[sean_wonder]

And I'm ashamed to say we still haven't tried it yet for cat litter.

In my experience pelleted cat litter SUCKS. Soooo horrible to use and clean, very wasteful too bc hard to avoid getting clean pellets out.