Bedding

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Hi
Can anyone recommend a good dust-free bedding to use on the floor of the coop? Until now I have been using newspaper but I have to change it every day, so thinking of moving to an alternative bedding material. My chickens have all suffered with respiratory problems in the past so I don't want anything that is going to produce excess dust. Any ideas?
 
hi,
I've been using shredded cardboard,Earthly sells it and somewhere on the site Tim has written a review on it.It is completely dust free.
 
I'm using wood shavings with a bit of straw at the minute. I haven't noticed much dust but I do give it a shake off before it goes in their houses. It took a few goes to get the balance right between holding it loosely enough for the tiny bits to fly off without holding so loosely that everything just falls on the ground, got it cracked now though!

When I'm using my chainsaw I've found that you can get good dust free long shavings if you cut with the grain of the log rather than across it. As an added bonus, it costs nowt and I found a use for something which would normally be allowed to blow away as waste!

Not much help if you don't have a chainsaw of course!

Osric
 
I have tried different types of bedding - although not the type you use Lydia - and always come back to shavings for some reason. I really like it for the birds but the downside is that it doesn't compost down very quickly.
 
I really liked the chopped cardboard (Ecopetbed sold by Earthly Enterprises) because it does rot down quickly on the compost heap and is dust free. Lots of people use wood shavings, me included but make sure they are dust extracted and suitable for animals - sawdust is really dusty and can cause lots of repiratory problems. You can usually buy bales of woodshavings at large pet shops or equestrian shops - they use it for horse bedding.

Newspaper gets wet too quickly and isn't very absorbant as you are probably finding.

Here's the review of Ecopetbed where you can see some pictures of it too. There is also an article on the best bedding for chickensthat looks at some of the options..
 
Hi
I have been using bedmax horse shavings for the past 6/8 years and never had a problem with it. Is relatively dust free and the chooks seem to like it.
 
Hi Gretl,
Since joining this forum I changed to wood shavings on someone's suggestion & found it to be a good solution. I buy a large bale from an equestrian supplier & its very economical, absorbent & the chooks seem to like it!

Only minor problem is that it blows around if its a windy day when I'm cleaning them out!
 
With this weather being so cold I can't help fretting about my animals and birds - in fact I have to keep giving myself a good talking to !

My animals such as goats I give lots of straw to and I keep having this picture in my head of all my birds cuddling into a nice bed of straw also BUT I think I'm right in saying that it will encourage mite - Am I right? Also - touch wood - they have always been ok as long as I keep the shavings dry so perhaps I am just being neurotic - again!
 
Anne, I'm the same. :) Its been sooooo cold today & I've got one poor chook whose moulting so the poor thing is at a real disadvantage. I put a pile of straw for her to huddle against in the shelter but all the others went straight in & scratched it out again! If she was a dog I could put a coat on her but somehow I don't think Henny would like that much!
Unfortunately there's not much else we can do, we can't change the weather, & there's worse to come aparently :o
 
I know - just looked at the 5 day forcast - just hope they all hold out. i have lots of different animals and it's taking me 3 hours todo what would normally take 1 hour :o It's a good feeling though when they are all chomping or pecking happily - knowing they are all alive and well.
 
I have found some dust free wood shavings which I am going to try. How often would you recommend changing it? I have 6 chooks, although 3 are buff orpingtons so very big. With the newspaper I have to change it every day!!
 
It really depends on how big an area they are messing up but in general, once a week is usually good enough.

If the weather is really bad or I have fewer birds in a house, I add another inch on top of the old which can get me through another week but I try not to make a habit of this.. If the house has lots of chooks in for some reason (I put all of my hens together and all of my cocks together in two separate houses over the winter) then you can't really do this, it gets too smelly.

The biggest danger from not cleaning (or poor ventilation) is ammonia (smell at night / morning before they come out) as this can damage their respiratory system.

Anne:
Mites that live in the house are Red Mite and are dormant at this time of the year (May-October they are a problem) - they live in cracks in the wood / house usually around the ends of perches etc. Straw should not be a problem - as long as it's not dusty. It's hay you need to avoid because of mould spores that can cause Aspergilliosis.
 
Thanks Tim - didn't know mites are dormant this time of year - clever little blighters aren't they?
 
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