Saw dust for bedding in coop and run? Anyone use it successfully?

[azygous]

Presently I'm using sand in my run and pine shavings in the coops. As I was unloading some pine and juniper sawdust that I brought home to use for storing my carrot harvest, I was wondering how it would work in the run and coops.

There's nothing wrong with using sand in the run, but the wood shavings in the coops get tracked out into the sand and it makes things messy. It would be nice to have the same bedding in both run and coops.

But I have concerns with sawdust getting moldy or harboring bugs and odors.

I tried the BYC search and came up empty. So hopefully some out there in BYC land has used sawdust in their run and can tell me if it's a good bedding or not.

 

[aart]

What I've read about sawdust is that it can pack down..and depending on source, if wet at all, can grow mold.

Recently saw a guy who got very small chips from a lumber mill,
not saw dust but from a jointer or milling operation,
and believe it was all from kiln dried lumber.
But he was sifting poops with large shovel with holes drilled in it.

Nothing will be as clean as you are able keep things with sand.....
....but yeah, sand doesn't last fore ever and it's a bear to handle.

 

[azygous]

If no one is using sawdust in their runs, there has to be a reason.

As for matting, straw and wood shavings mat over time as debris and moisture accumulate in the lower depth. I can certainly see sawdust doing that.