Shredded printer paper for bedding

[StinkyAcres]

Almost all my shredders are crosscut shredders.

I don't use paper shreds, per se, in the nest boxes. The paper would stick to the freshly laid eggs and Dear Wife did not like cleaning the paper off the eggs. That did not last long at our house. I have heard mixed results from others using paper shreds in the next box. Maybe it depends on the paper. It works for some, and not for others.

So, I experimented with different nest box material. Pine shavings work great, but eventually I would have to buy another bag. Free wood chips work great, if you can get them small enough. Not all wood chips are small in size. Some are actually shredded wood, or wood mulch, if they come out of processing in those large bin rotating drums. I have tried long dried grass in the nest boxes and that worked fine, but I don't have that available in our snowy winter months. I have used dried leaves as well. I guess lots of things would work for nest boxes.

Although I don't use paper sheds in the nest boxes, I discovered that if I use shredded cardboard, the cardboard shreds work just fine. Like pine shavings, the cardboard shreds are a bit heavier, bulkier, and don't stick to the eggs like thin paper. So, I will save up some cardboard and shred that separately for the nest boxes. Of course, I can use cardboard shreds year-round, and I don't have to pay for them. In fact, I just refilled my nest boxes yesterday with fresh cardboard shreds.

I don't have big office shredders, so I have to cut my cardboard into 2-3-inch-wide strips and feed them down the middle of the machine where you would put in credit cards. When cut into narrow strips, the cardboard does not jam my paper shredders.

My hands are not as strong as they used to be, so I bought a power cutter to cut the cardboard into strips. They are sold under many brand names. The most recent one I got was at Menards...

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I got mine on sale for less than $10.00 at the time, but Menards normal price on this cutter is less expensive than any other options I have found. And, it works great for cutting cardboard into strips.

Of course, you can also use the power cutter for many other applications as well. I use it often to cut the plastic off blister packs when I buy new stuff. I hate that plastic molded stuff. I think originally it was used to cut fabric. In any case, it works on lots of stuff.

Thanks! All great ideas. I wish I had a better shredder.

 

[gtaus]

Thanks! All great ideas. I wish I had a better shredder.

I bought all my shredders, used, at our local church charity Thrift Store for less than $5.00 each. Some are better than others, but at that price, I use them until they die, and I still have an extra one or two shredders to put into service sitting in the closet.

I would love a commercial or business quality shredder, but my 10-12 max page paper crosscut shredders have worked fine for about the last 3 years. They shred all my paper, newspaper, and cardboard.

My older 5-page strip cut paper shredder will jam if I feed it newspapers. Newspaper will wrap around the cutters in that shredder and jam the unit. Regular paper does not seem to jam nearly as much. And the 5-page strip cut shredder has a hard time shredding cardboard. I only keep it as a backup now.

Also, I shred most of my paper products as I get them. My small home quality paper shredders can only run for about 5 minutes before you have to give them a good 10–15-minute rest to cool down. If I shred my paper as I get it, then I never have to let the machine cool down. I'm usually done in about a minute or two every day with the amount of paper we get.

 

[Laurie Williams]

This is great info, thank you so much. Cardboard boxes are my nemesis, now I know what to do with them!

 

[paintedChix]

My only experience using shredded paper was in nest boxes. Our shredder only shreds in one direction and the long strands bothered me as they would get caught in the chicken's toes and be strewn about where I didn't want them. I'm curious, @gtaus and @BigBlueHen53 , what kind of shredded paper do you use?

I'll chip in here. Our old shredder, used from 2013 to 2023 for bedding (had shredder long before that). I dont have pics until 2016... The shred was short, narrow pieces. It was a Staples brand, 15 sheet shredder.




I found it didn't work as well in nesting boxes. The shred stuck to the still wet bloom on the eggs. So we used purchased bedding but prefer natural litter - mostly leaves. Or mixed shred & leaves.



Since 2022, when I started building raised garden beds, I've used shred in raised garden beds. I put juvenile chickens in the beds to work the shred & compost it while growing out.




Here is our original shredder & some of the paper, cardboard & the results.



And the new shredder. Quieter, but persnickety... and the rechargeable cutting tool that is used to part out boxes. It's a hand & shoulder saver.