What's the best litter for a "house" chicken's cage?

[susan9207]

Hi everyone! I've had Chicklet, a Rhode Island Red, for four years now, and over the years when she's had a problem, you've been a lot of help. Chicklet's home is in our living room and I've been using Care Free Pet Bedding, a ground up paper product, all these years. She does well with it, but I don't. The amount of dust created when this product breaks down from her scratching or walking on it, is incredible. I keep an air filter on next to her cage 24/7, and it can't keep up. This fine white powder is on the walls, floors, furniture, and even settles on the top of the narrow horizontal bars on her cage lid. I want something soft for her, but also something that she won't be tempted to eat. This dust is really aggravating my allergies. Any suggestions?

 

[V Chic Chick]

A much better alternative is pine (not cedar) woodshavings.

You can also shred all your junk mail using a paper shredder and use that instead.

 

[BirdBrain]

Or, what about those pine pellets you put in the bottom of bird cages. Those might not stir up so much dust.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

There's also shredded aspen. Crushed walnut shells is a small granular type of litter. I don't really like ground corn cobs, due to the possibility of mold growing on them when they get wet. They also make pellets out of wood, paper and grain stalks.

 

[susan9207]

Thank you all for your suggestions. Since I have a paper shredder full of unwanted credit card applications, I will try that first. The price is certainly right. If that doesn't work, I will try the wood products. I'll let you know how it's going in a couple of days. Thanks again!

 

[SpottedCrow]

In my coop I used the shredded paper and cedar chips mixed together...sort of 3/4 paper and 1/3 cedar. I like the shredded paper because there' so much of it and you can toss it in the compost when it's been used.

 

[susan9207]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Life is so much better now. I don't have to dust twice a day. The shredded junk mail is working out just wonderfully. I may add a mixture of the other materials in the future, but for the moment, this is a perfect solution.

 

[fowlweatherfriends]

Never tried this with chickens but...
There is a cat litter product called Yesterdays News. It is made of recycled newspaper and comes in pellet form. It didn't seem as if the bag would last long, but it did. AND, it virtually left NO odor! I have 3 kitties, and it worked great. As it gets used (wet down from waste) it kinda turns to a "compost"-might be able to toss it in the garden. Plus the best benefit is you wouldn't smell chicken droppings.

Best wishes!

 

[susan9207]

Thank you for the suggestion. I've seen it in the stores. It's good to know that it works. I'll keep it in mind in case the shredded paper stops working. I guess I'm lucky that Chicklet's poop isn't usually smelly, just when she has diarrhea which is very rare. We give her parakeet seed and some natural fish tank gravel to eat. Maybe this helps out in that department. Thanks again!

 

[thunderkitty]

I know it's late to get in on this but, I wanted also mention a couple of beddings I have seen but not bought because of the area I have to cover. One of them is hemp bedding, and the other is wood pulp bedding which is made by a couple of companies that I know if. I know little about the hemp but, the wood pulp one looks very soft and absorbent. They sell it at Walmart and I believe both petco and petsmart. If you get sick of what your doing and your looking for something softer then shavings I would give it a go.