Update on GROUNDS Coffee Ground Bedding for your coop!

[TheCrackedEgg]

Toward the end of February this year I picked up 3 bags of grounds coffee ground bedding from Tractor Supply and immediately fell in love. With three bags I had a roughly 4" layer in my 4x6' chicken coop. My coop smelled wonderful and the grounds were so light weight and compostable. The very best part though is the scoopability of the coffee grounds. Fast forward to today, roughly five months later, and the litter is largely poop-free as I am able to scoop it daily. It hasn't broken down into dust as wood chips do after a couple of months. It doesn't smell, isn't moldy (but I don't leave water in the coop either). The downside is this bedding as disappeared off the shelves of TSC. You can view product info at poweredbycoffee.com but sadly, they now only ship locally within 25 miles of Indianapolis. I contacted the company directly and received a response. They said they are hoping to be back in TSC by the fall, but that's not soon enough! I have been saving my own coffee and drying it to replenish what is lost, but within the last month I've finally decided I really need more. I hate the thought of switching back to pine, and I don't want to use sand at all. It is too heavy and too difficult to find dust-free sand. It also isn't compostable.

What to do? I called the Starbucks located next to my work office and they said they'll give me a huge box for free. I am picking it up today at lunch and plan on spreading the grounds on a tarp in the sun to facilitate drying. I am only nervous that they use a fine grind, but we shall see. I'll update if it works. If this is successful, this will mean a free source of bedding that is recycled, compostable, smells fantastic, scoopable, longer lasting. I really can't see any downsides!

I'm late to the coffee ground game and it's sold out everywhere. Rural King sells it and another place that isn't near me. Did you ever find a replacement? A blogger suggested hemp bedding but it didn't look as scoopable.

 

[Yakisugi Coop]

I'm late to the coffee ground game and it's sold out everywhere. Rural King sells it and another place that isn't near me. Did you ever find a replacement? A blogger suggested hemp bedding but it didn't look as scoopable.

I’m sad about this too. I’m on my last bag that I bought from TSC a while back. I wish it were easier to get.

 

[DavioSanchez]

Toward the end of February this year I picked up 3 bags of grounds coffee ground bedding from Tractor Supply and immediately fell in love. With three bags I had a roughly 4" layer in my 4x6' chicken coop. My coop smelled wonderful and the grounds were so light weight and compostable. The very best part though is the scoopability of the coffee grounds. Fast forward to today, roughly five months later, and the litter is largely poop-free as I am able to scoop it daily. It hasn't broken down into dust as wood chips do after a couple of months. It doesn't smell, isn't moldy (but I don't leave water in the coop either). The downside is this bedding as disappeared off the shelves of TSC. You can view product info at poweredbycoffee.com but sadly, they now only ship locally within 25 miles of Indianapolis. I contacted the company directly and received a response. They said they are hoping to be back in TSC by the fall, but that's not soon enough! I have been saving my own coffee and drying it to replenish what is lost, but within the last month I've finally decided I really need more. I hate the thought of switching back to pine, and I don't want to use sand at all. It is too heavy and too difficult to find dust-free sand. It also isn't compostable.

What to do? I called the Starbucks located next to my work office and they said they'll give me a huge box for free. I am picking it up today at lunch and plan on spreading the grounds on a tarp in the sun to facilitate drying. I am only nervous that they use a fine grind, but we shall see. I'll update if it works. If this is successful, this will mean a free source of bedding that is recycled, compostable, smells fantastic, scoopable, longer lasting. I really can't see any downsides!

Our stories are exactly the same except that I have been using the Grounds from TSC for about three years. We found out about the non-availability just days ago, so my black 6x6 drying tarp will be here tomorrow and we are to pick up used grounds from Starbucks and from Elements coffee shops tomorrow. Great minds think alike!

For anybody wondering about using the grounds: It is THE ANSWER. No downside (except that Tractor Supply no longer carries it). We temporarily had to go back to the $$ hemp bedding (I had some left) and in 3 days it stinks already and cannot be scoop-cleaned like the coffee grounds! THERE IS NO GOING BACK! Grounds neutralize the odor, dries the poop, does not stain the wood of the coop floor or lower walls, etc. Put about an inch of grounds down. NOTHING else. Do NOT mix it with other deep bedding as that defeats the purpose. PDZ is no longer needed when you use the grounds! NOTHING ELSE is needed.

 

[lil missy]

I use 1/4 cup of grounds a day but I added more birds to my coop so they kick more out, and my boyfriend left for an extended vacation so I've been losing more and adding less and it's too low now. I thought five months was pretty good considering previously I was adding new bedding every week for deep compost, and changing every two months when I switched to using a droppings board.

I'm going to starbucks in the next 45 minutes so I'll get to see what kind of grounds I'm getting! Worst comes to worse, it'll make great compost.

The only issue in using your own coffee grounds is there is still caffeine in the grounds and caffeine is toxic to chickens. Even decaf coffee still has a small amount of caffeine in it. Just an FYI.

 

[NatJ]

I found only one official research article which included coffee as feed for chickens. The Inclusion of Coffee in Commercial Layer Diets, published in 2011, included 125 laying hens which were split into groups: a control, one fed 1.2% of their diet with caffeinated coffee (roughly 9 mg of caffeine per bird, considered a “moderate” amount), and the other fed a diet with 1.2% decaffeinated coffee. The study lasted between 21 and 35 weeks. The authors were assessing the affects coffee might have on the feed intake, egg production, and egg quality of commercial laying hens. What they found was there was no significant difference in feed intake, egg production, egg weight, egg mass, or feed conversion rate; however, egg shells were slightly thinner. They conclude by saying, “No scientific articles on feeding coffee to poultry were found, and therefore, further studies using coffee dregs, because it is a cheap byproduct and with economic potential, are recommended.” The unspoken conclusion here would be coffee does not appear toxic to chickens when consumed continuously in moderate amounts for a period of five to six months.

^ That was posted in July, 2020.
It appears that research is continuing. I found another study, dated September 2020, that involved adding straight caffeine to the diet of laying hens.

The title is, "Effects of Caffeine on Egg Quality and Performance of Laying Hens."
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2020.545359/full

Two quotes:
"The highest concentration of caffeine in the diet (450 ppm) promoted a significant increase in the mortality of hens (1.45% per week) compared to controls (0.23%). There was a reduction in feed consumption by hens, decreased egg production, and reduced eggshell thickness and percentage, with the increase of caffeine."

"The highest concentration was based in an earlier study that showed impaired egg production by laying hens fed coffee husks at 42.5 g/kg (3), that is expected to contain caffeine at ~10.0 mg/g (12), equal to 425 g of caffeine/ton of feed."

 

[DownwardDog]

Our stories are exactly the same except that I have been using the Grounds from TSC for about three years. We found out about the non-availability just days ago, so my black 6x6 drying tarp will be here tomorrow and we are to pick up used grounds from Starbucks and from Elements coffee shops tomorrow. Great minds think alike!

For anybody wondering about using the grounds: It is THE ANSWER. No downside (except that Tractor Supply no longer carries it). We temporarily had to go back to the $$ hemp bedding (I had some left) and in 3 days it stinks already and cannot be scoop-cleaned like the coffee grounds! THERE IS NO GOING BACK! Grounds neutralize the odor, dries the poop, does not stain the wood of the coop floor or lower walls, etc. Put about an inch of grounds down. NOTHING else. Do NOT mix it with other deep bedding as that defeats the purpose. PDZ is no longer needed when you use the grounds! NOTHING ELSE is needed.

Are they only giving you decaf coffee grounds???

 

[dirkandlorie]

I've been using my own coffee grounds in the coop for 4 years now, no not decaf. None of my chickens have died, none have thinner egg shells, far as I can tell productivity is good for the age of my chickens, and best yet.... none seem to get hyperactive from the caffeine like I do! Lol I don't think they could possibly consume enough of the grounds just from rooting around in it to affect them in any way. Being force fed caffeine in studies is far different from real life scenarios.

 

[Andrew67]

Wait, what? This is a thing?

Coffee grounds for chicken coop bedding?!?!

I've picked-up spent coffee ground from Starbucks in the past to use in my compost, but never thought about using it for bedding.

I guess I'm a bit worried about any potential negative side effects of caffeine, etc. (as stated above).

 

[BDutch]

Wait, what? This is a thing?

Coffee grounds for chicken coop bedding?!?!

I've picked-up spent coffee ground from Starbucks in the past to use in my compost, but never thought about using it for bedding.

I guess I'm a bit worried about any potential negative side effects of caffeine, etc. (as stated above).

The chickens don’t eat it. The risk in using coffee grounds is probably that it moults (fungi) when It’s not dry.
That’s why I don’t like to use it anymore.