Update on GROUNDS Coffee Ground Bedding for your coop!

[humblehillsfarm]

They don’t eat the grounds? I can’t imagine my chickens on a coffee buzz!

I addressed all Q&As collectively from this thread here: https://humble-hills-farm.com/2020/07/24/using-coffee-grounds-as-chicken-coop-bedding/

In summary, the used grounds are considered decaffeinated. There has been no research to suggest caffeine is toxic or not toxic to poultry as they are to mammals. However I found a 2011 commercial poultry research article which fed coffee equaling up to 9 mg of caffeine daily (3x as much as used coffee will have) to commercial hens for 4-5 months and found no significantly ill effects on the hens.

In my own personal experience, my 18 chickens have never eaten the grounds. I've raised babies in there as well. I have also dropped feed on the floor and watched them pick through the grounds for the feed. I've been using it for five months with no ill-effects.

 

[Leov]

Hi folks. Maybe a silly question. My coop has a small run as well and that whole unit is inside a much larger run. Exactly where is the coffee grinds going?
-Where they sleep?, ( using coarse sand at the moment)
-Below that where they have a small run?(area3x5) ( never locked)
-where the main run is? 12’x10’ ( run size). Thanks

 

[Chickenmeme]

Interesting! Following also

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Hi folks. Maybe a silly question. My coop has a small run as well and that whole unit is inside a much larger run. Exactly where is the coffee grinds going?
-Where they sleep?, ( using coarse sand at the moment)
-Below that where they have a small run?(area3x5) ( never locked)
-where the main run is? 12’x10’ ( run size). Thanks

The grounds go in the coop and scooped daily of poop and remain dry. I have significant spillage of the grounds surrounding my coop outside and they look fine, but I'm not sure anyone has ever specifically used it as material for the run. Technically coffee is a "green" compost material whereas most run materials are "brown". I'm not sure what type of impact that would have outdoors.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

So I got about 20 pounds of wet grounds from the coffee shop yesterday and dumped it in the coop, the girls have already mixed it in. I am planning on doing this at least a few times a week, I think it will be a good addition to the compost.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

So I got about 20 pounds of wet grounds from the coffee shop yesterday and dumped it in the coop, the girls have already mixed it in. I am planning on doing this at least a few times a week, I think it will be a good addition to the compost.

So good to hear! I maybe got 5 pounds (wet) from Starbucks the first time, and when I called today they said, "we may not have enough by the end of the day". There's always an insane line there so I'm a little flabbergasted. I'm going to start calling daily to collect them to build up a supply and hopefully share with friends or neighbors.

 

[Chickamams]

Actually it was answered several times.....it is safe.

These grounds are 'spent', already used to make coffee to drink, so the caffeine is gone.

Please post a link to this article?
Drinking brewed coffee or tea is not the same as nibbling a few spent grounds.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-not-know-chickens-couldnt-eat-and-why.69941/
Also
https://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-content/coffee-grounds

 

[Chickamams]

Don't you read the whole thread?
Caffeine not present in these grounds.

https://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-content/coffee-grounds

 

[humblehillsfarm]

https://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-content/coffee-grounds

"A study conducted by The Department of Nutrition, Food Science and Physiology, School of Pharmacy, University of Navarra found that spent coffee grounds contained 3.59 to 8.09 milligrams of caffeine per gram of used coffee grounds." <---- Directly from the link you provided.



Here is information I have been providing in several responses throughout this thread:

I addressed all Q&As collectively from this thread here: https://humble-hills-farm.com/2020/07/24/using-coffee-grounds-as-chicken-coop-bedding/

In summary, the used grounds are considered decaffeinated (less than 9mg of caffeine for a human serving size). There has been no research to suggest caffeine is toxic or not toxic to poultry as they are to mammals.

I found only one official research article which even 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.

In reality, some bedding that we commonly use are also possibly toxic (I’m looking at you, pine shavings and straw), and yet farmers, backyard chicken keepers, and homesteaders continue to use them. I have been using coffee grounds in my coop for five months now to no ill-effects and will continue to use them. My chickens do not express any interest in eating the grounds, or if they have they have not had any objective health issues. Every chicken is different so my experiences may not align with yours. I think the economic potential of coffee dregs lies in it’s use as bedding, not feed.

 

[Crzy Chi Lady]

I use coffee grounds in my garden. I always wondered if I could use them in the coop. It just makes sense. A few things that kind of stopped me was will chickens eat it? Is it bad for them to eat it? This is interesting.