Using Shredded Paper for Coop Litter - As Good As Wood Chips?

[gtaus]

This time of year, if I have paper I don't want to recycle (bank statements, etc.; yes, I still get paper statements!), it often ends up as fire starter in the wood stove. I shred more in the warmer months.

I used to have an old burn barrel stove in my garage, and we would save up all our old newspapers to start a fire with junk wood piled up from the summer. Free heat in the garage for the winter months. Worked good for many years until the burn barrel wore out.

 

[gtaus]

That is very good! So at least for you my concerns regarding the use of shredded papers in the coop are not applicable.

Sadly, here in Germany that is not (yet) the case.

I am all for recycling and repurposing materials as long as there are no toxins in the way.

I am surprised to hear that the USA is ahead of Germany in anything relating to the Green philosophy. I believed we were about 20 years behind most of our European friends in recycling and such. But, yeah, our newspapers use a soy based ink that is compost friendly. I think we got that right. I don't know if our glossy magazines are fit for a compost pile, however, and am trying to find out about them. I suspect the soy based inks are not vibrant enough for the glossy paper, but I really don't know.

My personal philosophy is to Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, and then Recycle. In that order.

Sometimes I get lucky and am able to buy a product with an afterlife already contemplated. For example, this past summer I pickled beans for the first time. However, we did not have any good jars for pickling. I went to our local store and found some Applesauce jars the perfect size for my pickled beans. I bought a few jars, cleaned them up good after we ate the applesauce, and used them to make my spicy pickled beans. I ate all the beans now, but I saved the jars for next year.

 

[gtaus]

I am cleaning out the litter that has built up the last two years, it will be about 30 wheelbarrows full I am guessing.

I have been cleaning out my wood chip coop litter twice a year, not so much because the coop needs cleaning, but because I am adding it to my chicken run compost system and the wood chips don't really start to break down until they are outside and getting wet from the rain. I don't remember how many muck buckets I had filled when I cleaned out the coop, but it was a lot.

I suspect that I will have lots of paper shreds to haul out this spring, but I think they will be less heavy - compared to wood chips. That would be a benefit at my age on my back. I replaced my wheelbarrow with a 4 wheeled Gorilla cart and love it. It holds so much more material, is easier to move around, and it does not tip over. My Gorilla cart can hold up to about 1000 pounds, but if I ever fill it up with something really heavy, then I just pull it behind my riding mower.

As I get older, I buy better tools to protect my back. As an RN, I have had too many (younger than me) patients with bad backs and they suffer all the time. Anyway, I am at a point in life where I will gladly spend some extra money on buying something that will protect my back from injury.

 

[gtaus]

I actually use towels for the bottom of my brooder.

I have tried many different types of litter in the brooders over the years. My last batch of chicks I used wood chips and that was the best so far. Instead of constantly cleaning out dirty litter in the brooder, I would just fluff up the wood chips and/or add some more wood chips on top of the old litter. I did not clean out my brooder for the 8 weeks I had the chicks in there. Back in the day, especially with straw, I was cleaning out my brooder maybe 3 times a week.

I plan on trying paper shreds in the brooder this spring if I get a new batch of chicks. But I also have a pile of wood chips to fall back on if I don't like the paper sheds in the brooder. I know I had great success with the wood chips.

 

[3KillerBs]

I replaced my wheelbarrow with a 4 wheeled Gorilla cart and love it. It holds so much more material, is easier to move around, and it does not tip over. My Gorilla cart can hold up to about 1000 pounds, but if I ever fill it up with something really heavy, then I just pull it behind my riding mower.

I love my gorilla cart. It moves so easily that my little grandaughter can tow it empty on flat ground.

 

[LaFleche]

My personal philosophy is to Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, and then Recycle. In that order.

Exactly!

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

As I get older, I buy better tools to protect my back.

Me too..

My new coop in progress will have a way to sweep out the shavings, directly into the bucket of my tractor. This coop will not be DLM, it has a floor so no dirt. Will be managing a separate compost pile.

 

[gtaus]

I love my gorilla cart. It moves so easily that my little grandaughter can tow it empty on flat ground.

I paid more than double of the cost of a wheelbarrow when I bought my Gorilla cart, but it was worth it. I wish I would have had one years ago when my father was alive. He always bust his gut loading up our old wheelbarrow and moving it around, trying not to tip it over.

FWIW, I am using the term Gorilla cart because most people know that design. I actually bought my non-Goriila brand 4 wheel cart from Menards, on sale, for about $75.00 less than the original Gorilla cart. But it does the same thing without the name brand. The biggest thing for me is that the handle can switch from manual hand pulling to towing behind the riding mower using the hitch.

Dear Wife is just a small girl, but she can load up the Gorilla cart with compost or mulch and move it around her gardens without any problems. Well, more precisely, she has me load up the cart but then she is on her own for the rest of the task. She has no problem pulling the cart behind her even when fully loaded.

 

[gtaus]

My new coop in progress will have a way to sweep out the shavings, directly into the bucket of my tractor.

I only wish I had a tractor! Been thinking about getting a front end scoop for my riding mower as a compromise. Have not decided yet.

I designed my elevated chicken coop with a back door panel that flips down. I can then just shovel or sweep my deep litter into a Gorilla cart and haul it away.

 

[gtaus]

This coop will not be DLM, it has a floor so no dirt. Will be managing a separate compost pile.

Not exactly sure what you mean here. My elevated chicken coop has linoleum over the flooring, and I just pile in the wood chips, leaves, paper shreds, whatever into the coop. You don't need direct contact with the dirt for the dry deep litter method.

Having said that, there is always some discussion about the term deep litter method. I typically use a dry deep litter like wood chips, or this winter I am trying out paper shreds. The dry deep litter is not designed to really compost in place. Other people might consider a deep litter method as an active composting system inside the coop. There you might want to actually have contact with the dirt and probably hose down the litter to help with the composting process. I don't expect any composting to take place with my dry deep litter until I removed the soiled litter from the coop and dump it outside into the chicken run composting system.

I used to have only separate pallet compost bins, but since I got chickens and turned my chicken run into a composting in place system, almost everything organic gets thrown into the chicken run now. The chickens scratch and peck through the litter in the chicken run and make compost much faster than I ever could using the pallet compost bins. So, win-win for me.