When it comes to environmental impression, wood shavings stand out being a sustainable possibility. Not like A few other bedding products, they’re biodegradable and compostable, producing them an eco-helpful option for your coop.
This really is the ultimate bad choice for chicken coop bedding. Repeatedly when we point out the term “litter” with regard on the chickens we get puzzled appears to be like from Others, followed by the concern, “You imply cat litter?”
Extreme dust is without doubt one of the most important problems. Wood shavings could become airborne, creating respiratory problems in chickens, particularly when they may have pre-current circumstances like bronchitis or bronchial asthma.
Hemp has started to become a well-liked choice for bedding within the chicken coop. That is undoubtedly the most expensive of one's chicken coop solutions, but If you're able to pay for it, we think it’s the ideal bedding selection.
Furthermore, I’d want to point out a single specifically intriguing research that reveals how tricky it is actually to alter attempted-and-legitimate routines when it comes to animal husbandry.
For a person, diverse species of pine might be more or less harmful than Other folks. A extremely intriguing examine tested the toxicity of pine shavings bedding used in laboratories all around the world (Pelkonen and Hänninen, 1997). The research staff discovered that some pine bedding was appreciably more poisonous than others.
As compared to straw and sand, pine shavings are far better. Straw is sweet for nesting bins, but not as bedding. Sand won't take up moisture or offer comfort and ease. Cedar is unsafe to chickens; therefore pine is safer.
We often see newspaper being used in the brooder as bedding for newborn chicks, and must strongly caution against this. Flat newspaper is slippery, rendering it awful for chickens ft and legs, Particularly whilst they’re young chicks.
Retail store your wood shavings in a very dry, well-ventilated location, from direct sunlight and heat resources. You Buy Here can also include the pile using a tarp or plastic sheet to guard it from rain and dampness. This could enable prolong the daily life of your bedding material and keep it fresh for any time you have to have it.
In terms of sustainable wood shavings, there are plenty of eco-welcoming solutions to consider that won't only benefit your chickens but also the environment. Enable’s split down these aspects collectively.
Even when you don’t make use of the deep litter technique, you are able to throw your used pine shavings on to your compost pile. Pine shavings compost beautifully. Quite a few chicken keepers use the completed products on their gardens.
UPDATE: Exploration indicates that pine shavings bedding may very well be poisonous on your chickens. Check out my report, Pine shavings during the coop: The secret chicken killer?, for the summary of the present research.
*Side note: Sure, I've food and h2o in my coop for my chickens but I eradicated them to choose the photographs.
I bought my first flock of chickens thirteen years ago and have been in love with them at any time since. They’ve encouraged me to help make oodles of chicken artwork, chicken mugs, and publish everyday below with regards to the enjoyment I have in raising them.