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I've been reading a lot about various beddings, and I'll be using pellets in everything but the nest boxes; I'm being really old school for those, and harvesting and drying moss out of my poor beleagered entry yard perennial garden (the one that will eventually be repurposed as a banty run). When it stops raining (faith is a lovely thing, isn't it?) I'm planning on gathering and washing/drying waste hay from the pasture.
Straw is hideously expensive; no-till and short stem wheats have put its price at a premium (there are other minor straws, but except for oat straw, which is magical stuff, sweet smelling and soft, rye, barley, et'c are not distinguishable from wheat). It's pretty and relatively durable (and hard to compost, as a result) but it's also in need of protection from ground and rain, harbors rodents and insects almost as badly as two-wire hay bales, and is a problem to handle: I've got scars from dragging it across my hands making up show-cattle stalls. The best thing about straw is that it doesn't support disease pathogens; my BIL keeps some around for bedding sick piglets.
Wow! that's interesting! We got our straw in Echo Or, think we paid 3.00 a bale, I didn't think that was bad, guess I hadn't gotten it in a while. MY BF asked me if we should start using wood shavings, I'm just being frugal cause I have some straw left. So you are using pellets on the coop floor? I haven't' gone as far as pricing shavings vs pellets, I would assume tho that pellets are more expensive? I guess I'm thinking of the comfort factor, would it be more comfortable to walk on pellets or shavings? ( that's the vet tech in me) lol!
One bag of stall pellets, or wood stove pellets even, will cost you right around $5, and will cover aprox. a 4'x4' area, around 2" thick. Ive never actually messured the depth, but I use it ALL the time.
I've been reading a lot about various beddings, and I'll be using pellets in everything but the nest boxes; I'm being really old school for those, and harvesting and drying moss out of my poor beleagered entry yard perennial garden (the one that will eventually be repurposed as a banty run). When it stops raining (faith is a lovely thing, isn't it?) I'm planning on gathering and washing/drying waste hay from the pasture.
Straw is hideously expensive; no-till and short stem wheats have put its price at a premium (there are other minor straws, but except for oat straw, which is magical stuff, sweet smelling and soft, rye, barley, et'c are not distinguishable from wheat). It's pretty and relatively durable (and hard to compost, as a result) but it's also in need of protection from ground and rain, harbors rodents and insects almost as badly as two-wire hay bales, and is a problem to handle: I've got scars from dragging it across my hands making up show-cattle stalls. The best thing about straw is that it doesn't support disease pathogens; my BIL keeps some around for bedding sick piglets.
Wow! that's interesting! We got our straw in Echo Or, think we paid 3.00 a bale, I didn't think that was bad, guess I hadn't gotten it in a while. MY BF asked me if we should start using wood shavings, I'm just being frugal cause I have some straw left. So you are using pellets on the coop floor? I haven't' gone as far as pricing shavings vs pellets, I would assume tho that pellets are more expensive? I guess I'm thinking of the comfort factor, would it be more comfortable to walk on pellets or shavings? ( that's the vet tech in me) lol!
One bag of stall pellets, or wood stove pellets even, will cost you right around $5, and will cover aprox. a 4'x4' area, around 2" thick. Ive never actually messured the depth, but I use it ALL the time.
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