Yet Another DLM Thread!

[HennaRose]

Sorry, folks.

I live in Florida, Tampa Bay area, so hot and humid much of the year. Coop is being built, will be walk-in sized, have wood walls and a dirt floor. There will be two windows in every wall, so plenty of ventilation.

Everything I've read so far says to use pine shavings as bedding. Unfortunately, one of my kids is highly allergic to pine, so we need another alternative. We have two oak trees on property that drop a lot of leaves year-round; can I use mulched leaves as bedding, or would something else be more suitable?

 

[frillydishes]

I've used Oak leaves and I'm not a fan...I still use them in a pinch because we've got hundreds of trees and there's an endless amount. I didn't mulch them and maybe that's the problem but they seem to stick together and mat down pretty quickly, not stay fluffy and clean feeling. I'm going to be switching to sand this year in hopes to clean it more like a litter box and reduce the wood litter in the compost pile. It's worth looking into while you're thinking about it.

 

[PapaChaz]

last coop I had with a dirt floor, I didn't even put bedding in it. I don't see why you couldn't mulch some of those oak leaves, man talk about something that would be even MORE fantastic on the garden spot and in the flower beds! compost that and turn it in the garden spot a month or so before planting time......

leaves are great for a garden anyway