Using Hemp; well do declare; who knew??

[Hip Hillbilly Acres]

Surfing You Tube this morning (0500) I stumbled upon Bok Bok Bouquet's channel (thank you Chickenlandia) and now I am learning about hemp for my brooder (and beyond).

She recommended Eaton Pet and Pasture which is free shipping via Amazon Prime. But, I have a habit of reading reviews. One person said the Eaton brand was too expensive and did not to the job sufficiently and highly recommended Carolina Coop. So, I went a searchin' for that. Well, the shipping is $26.00 (stupid UPS, I hate them) with the product being $45. I was thinking, well, dang can I get less product that the 33 lb bales? Anywho, long story short, paying via Pay Pal I was able to get the pay in four otherwise I did not want to spend that much today.

Here is hoping it lives up to the hype. One thing that caught my eye is how I can compost the stuff; that's always a plus in my book.

Stay tuned for when it arrives and I use it for my new brooding batch.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

Not sure where you are in the world but we do a lot of hemp in Canada, there’s a few big companies out west. They might ship to you or distribute to you if you’re not far.

 

[Hip Hillbilly Acres]

Not sure where you are in the world but we do a lot of hemp in Canada, there’s a few big companies out west. They might ship to you or distribute to you if you’re not far.

Waay down south in the US of A. This company is two states over from us.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

Waay down south in the US of A. This company is two states over from us.

Gotcha. Ok probably closer than Alberta

 

[Hip Hillbilly Acres]

Gotcha. Ok probably closer than Alberta

But hey, I just thought of something. IF this stuff performs as well as purported, I won't have to order and change it frequently as I am wood chips. That's something!

 

[DobieLover]

I've used both wood shavings and hemp. I do prefer hemp and I was using it up until the price spiked after Covid. But wood chips do decompose and compost so it's not like they won't. Hemp does a little bit faster.
But what really makes all the difference with how much bedding you go through every year is how you manage the poop load. Hands down, without a doubt, the number one thing that keeps me from having to clean my coop out more than once or twice a year are the poop boards.

 

[Hip Hillbilly Acres]

I've used both wood shavings and hemp. I do prefer hemp and I was using it up until the price spiked after Covid. But wood chips do decompose and compost so it's not like they won't. Hemp does a little bit faster.
But what really makes all the difference with how much bedding you go through every year is how you manage the poop load. Hands down, without a doubt, the number one thing that keeps me from having to clean my coop out more than once or twice a year are the poop boards.

My answer to that was to be deep litter (or is it deep bedding; I forget). The one where you clean a couple times a year; scoop it out and place it in the compost.

 

[DobieLover]

My answer to that was to be deep litter (or is it deep bedding; I forget). The one where you clean a couple times a year; scoop it out and place it in the compost.

I don't do that. I just scoop the boards each morning. When the litter bucket is full, I dump it in the compost pile.

 

[Mjvl]

I use hemp in my coop and love it.
I live in PA. I’ve ordered from both Carolina Coops and Old Dominion Hemp. While the prices have gone up, the hemp lasts a long time for me since I only have a 4x6 coop.

 

[Ninjanina]

I'm doing deep litter in my hoop coop run and have noticed the hemp I got recently from Rent A Coop (European Hemp) has a lot of thread like pieces that get tangled in the messy poops and then stuck to their feet. Anyone else having this problem? I'm new to chickens so I don't know if hemp is more likely to stick to their feet or if that's just a normal chicken bedding thing. I add new material daily and stir it too. It's just every once in a while it gets stuck and is a pain to clean off.

The Carolina Coop hemp from the pictures looks like it doesn't have this quality. But same sized bales are like 15 dollars more per bale.

Loving the hemp otherwise. No smell. I had hemp in my chicken brooder in my house and it didn't smell at all. Wish it was more accessible here in California.