What's on your floor Tim?

[Lucylou]

Hi Tim.

Just had a look at the webcam its great (haven't looked before) I just wondered what do you use on the floor of the house & is it different to what you have on the run? I think you've said before 20cm shingle but not sure if this is in fact what you have.

Thanks.

 

[Tim]

Hi Lucylou,

Inside the house I've been testing out a new Eco-Friendly bedding called 'Ecopetbed' from Earthly Enterprises. It's chopped cardboard about 15mm square. It is dust free and should rot down on the compost heap far quicker than the wood shavings I usually use. The chooks usually hoof the straw out of the nest boxes as it's chopped barley straw so is in small pieces and easily gets dislodged. I'm just about to upload a review of it on the website but need to edit the photos to the right size first.

Most of my runs are in the field - but the chooks are all together for the winter so they come and go into this run from the field. The run is a bit of a mess at the moment! The gravel is to the left, and needs topping up. The bit on the right is mud at the moment and the chooks have scattered straw everywhere. As this run is going to have ducks in it over the winter (so I can keep them in from the field on wet days) I plan to put hardstanding (bricks) down.... another job on the list of a million things to do

I noticed on the weekend that the lens on the webcam is dirty after I cleaned the house - I must take it down and clean it.

 

[Anonymous]

I noticed that ecopetbed,and,once i've used up the shavings bale I recently bought am thinking of getting it.
My poor chooks just have deep shavings,not let them have hay or straw.I don't trust hay or straw for mites after giving hay to my rabbits that did have mites, and ended up having to treat all the rabbits for mites.

 

[Tim]

Yes, if you get Mites in your hay or straw you need to burn / bin it. Red Mites only live in the house (well ok you sometimes find the odd one on a bird) so if you keep your straw / hay away from chickens it should be mite free.

Yes, I'm quite impressed with the Ecopetbed - it is absorbant, very easy to handle, excellent for the compost heap (there's no colouring in the card) and dust free - it just takes me a bit of getting used to, I'm so used to seeing wood shavings.

Ian the chap that runs Earthly Enterprises has placed a banner on the main site in the keeping chickens section and I'm really pleased since I really like their Ecological approach to products and business so I hope they do well.

 

[Anonymous]

We are using a new company called ASHecoproducts (www.ashecoproducts.co.uk) they offer a 100% recycled wood product that is very much similar to cozycoop, however they add a unique (patented) antibacterial agent that prevents problems in the house. Fred is great to deal with and they are very reliable. The company is new but is already growing quickly and has some big growers using the bedding. They are saving me money and time as its very easy to clean, also it makes a great fertilizer once you remove it from the house!

Any one else using it and enjoyed the same benefits?

 

[Tim]

I haven't used them before. It would be good to hear of other experiences.

The Ecopetbed Review is now on the main site by the way. I've put it in 3 houses this weekend and the chooks seem to be happy scratching around in it.