TSC Premium Wood Shavings (contains a lot of wood chips)

[AlienChick]

I bought a few bags of the premium flake wood shavings from TSC and noticed that the shavings are very coarse and have quite a few wood chips in it.

I thought this might be too coarse to use in the nest boxes, so I am thinking about getting the "fine" wood shavings for the nest boxes.

Should I be concerned about the wood pieces in the shavings?

I also thought that since there is so much actual wood pieces that it may not be as absorbent as other pet bedding.


Your thoughts?



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[Fred's Hens]

The fine version is a mess, imho. So much sawdust. eeeewww!

 

[Raen]

Is this the kind in the white bags? I've got a bag of that, and don't seem to have the same problem as you're having, so I wonder if you've just gotten a bad batch? Maybe return the unused bags and get some new ones.

 

[BayouPoules]

It does sometimes have chips or even a stick in it,. but I like it because it's not dusty and too fine,. it costs less and the chickens seem happy with it,.. I just pick out any pieces that are too big for the nests,.. but some of my hens have laid eggs on sticks in the woods,. so I don't think, they really care,.. I really don't want them breathing in that dust from the finer pet shaving,.. when they flap their wings it's like a cloud,.

 

[AlienChick]

Good to know about the fine version.

And maybe I just have a bad batch.

I dig my hand in to spread the shavings and there are brown wood chips mixed with the shavings.

It didn't feel good on my hands, and I can't imagine it feeling good on a hen's chest.

 

[Michie]

I buy it, and the hens lay on it!! Never had a problem!!

 

[AlienChick]

Good to know that the chunks of wood are OKAY.

This is how the bag looks inside (the brown pieces are the wood pieces).

And today when I added more shavings to the brooder, this is what I pulled out:

This is my first time buy shavings from TSC.
My previous store NEVER had chunks of wood inside the shavings.
I really don't feel like I'm getting a great value from the TSC shavings, so I'll probably just keep buying from the other store.

Thanx for all your input.


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[F106A]

I've seen the same thing in the bag I got from TSC, but not any as large as the photos above. Maybe 2-3 inches long were the largest pieces I've found. When the chicks find a piece I've noticed they will peck at it, try to pick it up, and then ignore it for the most part. I just pull 'em out when I find them, and am not too worried about it. I do recall that the saleswoman at TSC specifically told me to avoid the fine shavings, but didn't say why, so the dust information is great! Thanks!

Mark

 

[AlienChick]

Yeah, I think I heard that the fine shavings are too fine and would make more of a mess than anything else.


And the wood chunks in the shavings is not a big deal.

I just wanted to know if this was common or had I gotten a bad batch.

In the wild I'm sure birds are laying around in wood, rocks, or whatever.

 

[audioguy]

I just stocked up from TSC. I opened one of the bags after reading your post and found some small bark pieces, but nothing as big as yours. I would return them for new bags.