What is the least dusty bedding in cold climate?

[WaveyCreekChickens]

Thank you so much for your detailed report. This helps a lot!

This year I used the chopped flax straw, plus some hay that was fine and too dusty for the goats. After I read that most of the dust comes from the chicken dander, I wasn’t so unhappy with it anymore.
But getting bedding for free is definitely something I will try for next year.
Now that you told me how long it takes to make wood chips, I won’t try and make enough chips for the bedding, as my coop is large. But I will most probably try the shredded paper.
Thanks again!
One question for you, do you just clean out the chicken coop once a year?

 

[3KillerBs]

I won’t try and make enough chips for the bedding,

Often it's possible to get wood chips from a tree trimming service -- if you have room to have an entire truckload dumped in an out-of-the-way place to age before using them.

 

[gtaus]

Now that you told me how long it takes to make wood chips, I won’t try and make enough chips for the bedding, as my coop is large. But I will most probably try the shredded paper.

It's really hours of work to chip up branches and such at home - compared to the amount of wood chips I can load up for free at our local county landfill in just 20 minutes. I typically chip up all the branches and debris that falls in the yard, but it takes a long time to even make a bag full of chips. Those people selling wood chippers don't bother to tell you how long it really takes to make wood chips, if that is your goal. But, I still chip up everything I can instead of hauling it off to the landfill or stacking it up on a pile to burn.

My coop is 6X12, and I can shred enough paper to lay down a couple inches of litter without much problem. After that, I just shred the paper as I get it. It's really easy to store in plastic bags as the paper is dry. I fill up a large plastic shopping bag, or two, about every 2 weeks and then I dump it out in the coop. I have been doing that all winter and I am up to about 6 inches deep in the coop. My coop was designed to hold as much as 12 inches of deep litter, so I can dump even more shreds in there if I wanted.

Shredding paper is faster, and easier, if you want to make a large enough volume to use as coop litter rather than chipping wood at home. In either case, you don't have to start off with 6 inches of litter in the coop. I start my base litter layer at about 2 inches deep, and then continue to add to the litter throughout the winter. I did that with the wood chips, and now the paper shreds. The big difference, for me, is that I cannot really chip up any wood in the winter with everything under the snow, but I can still shred paper in the house without any problem.

Some people use ChipDrop.com to get some wood chips delivered to their house. Nobody in my area was on that website, so I ended up just going to the county landfill myself and loading up a trailer full of chips at a time. I really like using wood chips, but if I had to pay them, I'd be more happy just using my free paper shreds. My goal was to find free litter to use in the coop that worked good. I have been successful with both wood chips and paper shreds.

One question for you, do you just clean out the chicken coop once a year?

I use a dry deep litter method in the coop. I have been cleaning out my coop in the spring after the snow melts. All the coop litter gets dumped in the chicken run compost system. Then, in late fall just before the snow drops, I will clean out the coop again and start my base litter layer for the winter. As I mentioned, the only "soiled" litter is really just under the roosting bar. I could easily just clean up under the roosting bar and not clean out the entire coop. However, I am big into making compost with the spent litter and that is why I clean out the coop twice a year.

If I really wanted, I think I could probably get by with not cleaning out the coop for longer than one year. Almost all the chicken poo automagically disappears into the deep litter and is pretty much self cleaning in that respect. If I see an area in the coop that needs a bit of turning, then I will just throw some chicken scratch on that area and the chickens themselves will scratch and peck the litter to get to the treats. That constant turning of the litter makes the poo disappear down into the litter while bringing the fresh litter to the top. It's really a great system.

My roosting bar is on the far end of the coop, and there the chicken poo will freeze and build up over the winter months. Like I said, it's as hard as concrete and I don't even try to remove it until spring thaw. My method is to throw a fresh layer of litter on the area below the roosting bar every few weeks to keep it looking clean. Because my roosting bar is on the far end of the coop, my chickens really don't use that floor space for anything.

I don't bother with poo boards and/or daily cleaning in my setup. All the chicken poo falls on the litter below the roosting bar and most of the year just automagically disappears by itself. Despite having a large mound of poo under the roosting bar by the end of the winter, I have really no smell in my system. Frozen poo does not smell, and I keep covering it up with a fresh layer of litter every 2 weeks. I suppose results may vary depending on the size of your coop and the number of chickens you have. My chicken coop has almost 8 square feet per bird. I designed it that way because I knew that my chickens would be living inside the coop most of the winter.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Often it's possible to get wood chips from a tree trimming service -- if you have room to have an entire truckload dumped in an out-of-the-way place to age before using them.

x2, and depending on availability in your area this is a very efficient and free source of chips. A single truckload of chips can last you for years.

 

[gtaus]

x2, and depending on availability in your area this is a very efficient and free source of chips. A single truckload of chips can last you for years.

The key word is that wood chips should be free to you. I hear that some places the arborists are trying to collect a fee for dropping off the chips at your house. To me, that is just a big rip-off because the arborists are indeed charged a disposal fee at the landfill (at least where I live), so they are already saving money by not having to drive out to the landfill and being charged to dump a load of their debris in the landfill.

I have a small 4X8 trailer with 12 inch high sides, and a trailer full of chips will last me at least a couple of years. I cannot imagine how long I would be using a truckload of chips. But, I do consider wood chips almost like money in the bank because there are so many uses for chips in the garden, in the pathways, in the compost pile as well as in the coop and run.

 

[Sara S]

I use straw, from bay, it makes no dust pretty much. I do put so,e shavings just to have becuase they like nesting in it

 

[rosemarythyme]

The key word is that wood chips should be free to you. I hear that some places the arborists are trying to collect a fee for dropping off the chips at your house. To me, that is just a big rip-off because the arborists are indeed charged a disposal fee at the landfill (at least where I live), so they are already saving money by not having to drive out to the landfill and being charged to dump a load of their debris in the landfill.

I have a small 4X8 trailer with 12 inch high sides, and a trailer full of chips will last me at least a couple of years. I cannot imagine how long I would be using a truckload of chips. But, I do consider wood chips almost like money in the bank because there are so many uses for chips in the garden, in the pathways, in the compost pile as well as in the coop and run.

In my area the arborists I work with openly admit it's troublesome to get rid of chips (and I see many chipper trucks with "Call for free chips!" bumper stickers), so anyone who wants free drop offs, they'll be more than happy to drop a ton of them on you.

I also use mine in the garden and the chips that were left from my most recent tree service went to filling in some boggy depressions along our long driveway.

 

[ChookieG]

In my area the arborists I work with openly admit it's troublesome to get rid of chips (and I see many chipper trucks with "Call for free chips!" bumper stickers), so anyone who wants free drop offs, they'll be more than happy to drop a ton of them on you.

I wish the local chippers were so generous here.. everybody here are so greedy as they charge for everything.. if they can sell you a rotten apple they would!

 

[WaveyCreekChickens]

Thanks @gtaus , for answering my question!

Wood chips here are “almost” free ($10 a trailer full), but I don’t have a trailer, so that’s out. I will try the shredded paper.
My coop is 12x16 feet, so I better start shredding for next winter!!

 

[ChookieG]

I wish the local chippers were so generous here.. everybody here are so greedy as they charge for everything.. if they can sell you a rotten apple they would!

For example I wanted to buy a ton of mulch from the local landscaper and he wanted to charge me $20 delivery ... I was 5 mins away! And they're pretty dishonest.. I once ordered 2 tons and I'm pretty sure they only trucked a ton. Another time I ordered top soil and they trucked in sand!