Pine Shavings

[Chicken Chaser]

Howdy,

I was wondering if pine shavings were safe bedding for chickens. And if there are any alternatives. -Chicken Chaser

 

[chrismahon]

Pine is a softwood CC and we use softwood shavings as bedding. It is dried though and then packed in large plastic bags. We did look at using sawdust from all my woodworking, but it was far too dusty. Damp or dusty bedding is bad for chickens.

Where would you get your pinewood shavings from?

 

[Marigold]

There are quite a lot of alternatives, including shredded hemp stems (Aubiose or Hemcore) or Cosibed, which is shredded wood but nice and soft. If its to go inside the coop floor you can just use sheets of newspaper and parcel up the droppings as they collect. Or if its for on the floor of the coop many people use wood chippings. E.g. from a tree surgeon.

 

[NovaAman]

I use pine shavings in the coops. I use bagged leaves in the run for winter. I love the pine in the coops themselve, make cleaning so much easier. You can save empty feed bags, and use them for clean up of the poop an taking off the top layers of pine as needed. I know a guy who shreds newpaper and mixes it in with the pine so it makes the pine last longer, and it helps in the burning of it in the burn barrel or pit later on. Composting is nice too, take longer to compost the pine, though.