questions about bedding

[melvee75]

Hi everyone. We're kinda new to this. Thrown into the fire before we were really ready as we adopted a friend's 3 roosters and 5 hens (don't ask; life threw her some curvealls). At the time we used what we could find cheap - it's called "tamo" and it's basically the husks/chaff of rice. It's very prominent here as small animal bedding and an additive for soil. Cleaning the coop, though, I notice there is a fair amount of dust from this so i wonder if something else is better.

Our house is new construction, and we still have a mound of sand out front that the construction crew was using to mix concrete. Can i somehow wash this and use it instead? Or is it possible to use a mix of the tamo and the sand?

 

[Debbie292d]

I don't know how tamo would mix but construction sand is what some use in their coops. We use horse bedding pellets here and there is no dust nor smell.

 

[Rose the Legbar]

I used to use construction sand and it does start to smell horrible if you don’t scoop it almost daily. You also have to change it out 2/3 times a year due to the amount of dust it gets crushed into. Personally not my favorite after trying it out for around a year.

 

[saysfaa]

Chickens are very dusty. Dander, bits of feathers and feather shafts contribute but dust bathing is a lot of it. They really need to dust bath to keep their skin and feathers healthy. Even if the dust bath place is outside, they will bring quite a lot of dust from that into the coop.

I used 3 or 4 inches of sand in the poop board tray under their roost for a year or so. I scoop it thoroughly every day. It gets damp and unpleasant. It is also heavy and does not compost. I switched to organic bedding -sawdust on the poop board and mostly maple leaves in the rest of the coop. It is about as dusty as the several other things I've tried.

 

[aart]

It's very prominent here

Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!d time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[aart]

Chickens are very dusty.

True Dat!

I used 3 or 4 inches of sand in the poop board tray

Waayyy too deep.
Less than a half inch of PDZ works great here.

 

[melvee75]

I used to use construction sand and it does start to smell horrible if you don’t scoop it almost daily. You also have to change it out 2/3 times a year due to the amount of dust it gets crushed into. Personally not my favorite after trying it out for around a year.

well that doesn't sound good. i won't be able to get more free, i was thinking it was a forever solution, or at least many years. thanks for replying

 

[melvee75]

Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!d time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!
View attachment 3933207

sorry. We live in the Andes mountains in Ecuador, at about 9000 feet elevation. Temps range from about 40F - 80F year round. We don't have much by way of "seasons", just a wet and a dry. The wet is only 2 months, the rest of the time it's lovely. but that sun on the equator is no joke. Since we are in the southern hemisphere, our "winter" is right now when you all are in summertime and then.

that said, a lot of the medicines and materials you might have access to - i do not. i may be able to get a bunch of sawdust from a local carpenter or mill is that is a better choice than sand...

 

[aart]

that said, a lot of the medicines and materials you might have access to - i do not.

That's why its good to put your location in your profile,
and hopefully people actually look at it before offering advice.

 

[saysfaa]

I should add that I live in a pretty wet climate. Not a lot of rain compared to some but a lot of clouds, humidity, dew, and so on.

I've heard people who live in very dry climates sometimes like sand. I don't know the details of that.

Aart, I've tried various thinner layers and prefer the deeper.