Update on GROUNDS Coffee Ground Bedding for your coop!

[HiEverybirdy]

The coffee is “decaffeinated” because it’s already been brewed. If you read through the thread I posted several research articles which used coffee in feed with no positive nor negative side effects. I used it myself for eight months and loved it. I currently use it on the poop boards.


Used coffee grounds are considered decaffeinated because the caffeine is extracted during the brewing process. Again, I’ll reference the research articles noted in this thread as well as my experiences with using it successfully. The chickens don’t eat it.



I’ve used it to read chicks but mama hen was with them. The chickens nor the chicks have ever expressed interest in the coffee grounds. You better buy it while you can because from what I’ve heard chick days will be the only time of year it will be stocked at tsc. I bought every bag they had!

I love this thread and this idea – working through some version of it myself because there's no perfect bedding, and our household produces an enormous amount of coffee grounds, and we love the smell – but there is caffeine in spent grounds.

Can't remember why I know this, but here are a few links. I'm not sure if that's a concern if the chickens aren't eating the grounds, but I'd personally be a little sketch on whether it could be absorbed through the skin.

https://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-content/coffee-grounds
https://fullcoffeeroast.com/do-old-coffee-grounds-have-less-caffeine/

 

[Mutchi]

Sounds interesting definitely following

 

[humblehillsfarm]

– but there is caffeine in spent grounds.

From what I’ve read used grounds are on par with the caffeine content of decaffeinated coffee. Comparatively speaking I’d rather my chickens eat coffee grounds than pine shavings or straw. Regardless, the Powered by Coffee ground has sold out nationwide two years in a row and there have been no reports that I have seen of any flock illness or deaths due to coffee grounds. I’ve used them myself for eight months as the sole source of bedding and now as litter for the poop boards. I’ve dropped a feed bucket in the coop and watched the girls meticulously pick through the grounds for the feed. I’ve never had an illness while using the grounds as the sole source of litter. I personally feel very comfortable recommending it as the cleanest litter choice I’ve ever used.

 

[analyticalblonde]

Hi @humblehillsfarm and fellow chicken lovers!

Yes...www.powerbycoffee.com does have a website and it does state that the product would be available in February 2021 at Tractor Supply but that is not entirely true. There is a "Buy Here" button on the landing page but takes you to a 404 Error. Also, I got the last two bags from TSC about two months ago (both bags ruptured and given a discount. Going onto TSC website to order more, even though the website stated they had 4 bags available, which I immediately snatched up and purchased, I received a phone call from them saying their in-store inventory management system showed no product at all and they cancelled my order. I asked if there were any other stores that had the product on hand and was told there were 6 bags available at a TSC 120 miles south of where I live. That's a 4-hour total trip for me.

After reading this thread in its entirety, and seeing that @humblehillsfarm has kept everyone up to date with their experience with the use of spent coffee grounds, I decided to call my local Starbucks (there is only one in my town) because in the past I had picked up grounds from them for garden composting. I was shocked and disappointed when they told me they don't give out their grounds anymore.

There are two small, Mom & Pop, drive-up coffee shops in my town and I called them to see if they give away their grounds. The first shop said yes and I went out to pick them up. It was about 10 lbs of spent grounds, both coarse and fine. I went to Walmart and purchased 4 large aluminum roasting pans and poured the grinds into these pans while breaking up the larger clumps. These pans are now on my west-facing deck drying in the sun. I got the aluminum pans because although we live in the high desert with humidity hanging around 20-30% and we do get a good amount of snow in the winter, I wanted to have a pan to do the drying process using my oven over winter.

With my previous purchase of Grounds by Power by Coffee, I have it in my roosting tray in my girls' coop. It is absolutely fantastic and clean-up is such a breeze! Someone in this thread was asking about a pooper scooper...I use this one and it works like a charm...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07W6NSRFS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Because TSC cannot manage to keep Grounds in their stores, I am doing it myself and I am grateful to those who have chimed in on this thread.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Hi @humblehillsfarm and fellow chicken lovers!

Yes...www.powerbycoffee.com does have a website and it does state that the product would be available in February 2021 at Tractor Supply but that is not entirely true. There is a "Buy Here" button on the landing page but takes you to a 404 Error. Also, I got the last two bags from TSC about two months ago (both bags ruptured and given a discount. Going onto TSC website to order more, even though the website stated they had 4 bags available, which I immediately snatched up and purchased, I received a phone call from them saying their in-store inventory management system showed no product at all and they cancelled my order. I asked if there were any other stores that had the product on hand and was told there were 6 bags available at a TSC 120 miles south of where I live. That's a 4-hour total trip for me.

After reading this thread in its entirety, and seeing that @humblehillsfarm has kept everyone up to date with their experience with the use of spent coffee grounds, I decided to call my local Starbucks (there is only one in my town) because in the past I had picked up grounds from them for garden composting. I was shocked and disappointed when they told me they don't give out their grounds anymore.

There are two small, Mom & Pop, drive-up coffee shops in my town and I called them to see if they give away their grounds. The first shop said yes and I went out to pick them up. It was about 10 lbs of spent grounds, both coarse and fine. I went to Walmart and purchased 4 large aluminum roasting pans and poured the grinds into these pans while breaking up the larger clumps. These pans are now on my west-facing deck drying in the sun. I got the aluminum pans because although we live in the high desert with humidity hanging around 20-30% and we do get a good amount of snow in the winter, I wanted to have a pan to do the drying process using my oven over winter.

With my previous purchase of Grounds by Power by Coffee, I have it in my roosting tray in my girls' coop. It is absolutely fantastic and clean-up is such a breeze! Someone in this thread was asking about a pooper scooper...I use this one and it works like a charm...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07W6NSRFS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Because TSC cannot manage to keep Grounds in their stores, I am doing it myself and I am grateful to those who have chimed in on this thread.

Wow thank you for sharing your experience!

I no longer collect from Starbucks, because I got a new job which doesn’t take me close to a Starbucks. My boyfriend volunteered to get some from a Starbucks he drives by, but he is prone to forgetting, and I’m usually too busy at work to call to remind him.

I’m sad to hear your local Starbucks doesn’t give them away anymore! I wonder if that is a local decision or a national decision? It’s been about seven months since I’ve collected any.

I had collected, and still have, a full box of roughly 2’w x 1.5’t x 2.5’ long, and bought five bags of grounds from TSC this spring. Sadly it’s not enough cubic feet to safely til my coop so I either need to figure out a new collection plan or wait til next year and hope they stock it again.

We do still save and dry our morning grounds and it is enough to replenish what is lost on the poop boards, so for the time being that is their only use.

 

[Steph8208]

Wow thank you for sharing your experience!

I no longer collect from Starbucks, because I got a new job which doesn’t take me close to a Starbucks. My boyfriend volunteered to get some from a Starbucks he drives by, but he is prone to forgetting, and I’m usually too busy at work to call to remind him.

I’m sad to hear your local Starbucks doesn’t give them away anymore! I wonder if that is a local decision or a national decision? It’s been about seven months since I’ve collected any.

I had collected, and still have, a full box of roughly 2’w x 1.5’t x 2.5’ long, and bought five bags of grounds from TSC this spring. Sadly it’s not enough cubic feet to safely til my coop so I either need to figure out a new collection plan or wait til next year and hope they stock it again.

We do still save and dry our morning grounds and it is enough to replenish what is lost on the poop boards, so for the time being that is their only use.

Would it be ok to mix with “regular” bedding such as pine shavings?

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Would it be ok to mix with “regular” bedding such as pine shavings?

I mixed pine shavings with coffee grounds. It was fine it just didn’t look as clean and wasn’t scoopable.

 

[Halfpasthen]

Just to give an alternative. I used to really like walnut shell cat litter. I imagine it would give a similar result as the coffee grounds. They also sell walnut shell litter for pet birds but it's definitely cheaper to buy the big cat litter bags. The walnut shells are crushed to a similar texture to coarse coffee. Excellent at odor neutralizing.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Just to give an alternative. I used to really like walnut shell cat litter. I imagine it would give a similar result as the coffee grounds. They also sell walnut shell litter for pet birds but it's definitely cheaper to buy the big cat litter bags. The walnut shells are crushed to a similar texture to coarse coffee. Excellent at odor neutralizing.

I just looked up the price, and unless I could source my own walnut shells, the price wouldn’t be feasible for me at least.

 

[Halfpasthen]

I just looked up the price, and unless I could source my own walnut shells, the price wouldn’t be feasible for me at least.

Haha no I don't imagine the price is exactly comparable to coffee grounds but I imagine they would work even better (though I've never tried either for this specific purpose). For what's it's worth though I was always willing to pay the price of it compared to clay cat litter which is dirt cheap because is actually worked. I found the litter itself lasted a whole lot longer too. It may not be feasible for people with really large flocks. But I think it's worth a try if you have a smaller coop.