I thought I'd bring up an old subject that I know some people have issues with. When we are all scrounging for pennies and trying not to waste, little things like saving grass clippings help.
A lot of people have issues with using grass clipping in their coops or runs. There are issues with crop impaction, smelly mush once the grass breaks down, that sort of thing.
I've never had an issue with my birds crops or with a bad smell from my grass clippings, but I think that may have to do with the type of grass we have. It's a wild, Bermuda grass that requires little moisture to thrive. It dries pretty quickly in our open-air coop, so I use it as a bedding. It helps that our coop's floor is just dirt, though.
I use it to teach our chicks how to search for bugs. Plus, our quail get to roll around in the cool clippings. It's something they love considering how hot it can get in there.
And let's say you have a smelly coop, grass clippings on top of any feces can mask the scent until you can clean up the coop properly (I'm not saying to refrain from cleaning your coop, I'm just saying that it's a great temporary fix until you can clean up).
When I was raising my quail inside my room, I originally used hay. That ended up getting gross pretty fast, even though I changed the bedding every other day. Finally, I saw all the clipping my dad had left on the lawn from mowing. Before my chickens scratched at it, I gathered a couple buckets full. It masked the scent and allowed me to change the bedding every three days until I could fix my quail coop.
These are just some things I do with my grass clippings. I know it won't work for everyone but it certainly works for me! ^_^
A lot of people have issues with using grass clipping in their coops or runs. There are issues with crop impaction, smelly mush once the grass breaks down, that sort of thing.
I've never had an issue with my birds crops or with a bad smell from my grass clippings, but I think that may have to do with the type of grass we have. It's a wild, Bermuda grass that requires little moisture to thrive. It dries pretty quickly in our open-air coop, so I use it as a bedding. It helps that our coop's floor is just dirt, though.
I use it to teach our chicks how to search for bugs. Plus, our quail get to roll around in the cool clippings. It's something they love considering how hot it can get in there.
And let's say you have a smelly coop, grass clippings on top of any feces can mask the scent until you can clean up the coop properly (I'm not saying to refrain from cleaning your coop, I'm just saying that it's a great temporary fix until you can clean up).
When I was raising my quail inside my room, I originally used hay. That ended up getting gross pretty fast, even though I changed the bedding every other day. Finally, I saw all the clipping my dad had left on the lawn from mowing. Before my chickens scratched at it, I gathered a couple buckets full. It masked the scent and allowed me to change the bedding every three days until I could fix my quail coop.
These are just some things I do with my grass clippings. I know it won't work for everyone but it certainly works for me! ^_^
