The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: langdon on February 26, 2010, 12:28:54 pm
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what is your prefered material for beding chucks.
i was just thinking yesturday that i used hay the last time cos i had no straw and it was just
after doing that that we had this outbreak of lice and redmites.
dont know if this is just a coincidence or could there be something behind this.
your thoughts on this would be app.
i have changed the bedding over to straw and also put some diatom on it plus the perch
and around sides and backs of nesting box.
also i have given the house a new lick of paint hoping that it will kill of some bugs.
ive got to still use the pecking spray that arrived too.
its a heart breaker when you see your chucks like this :( :chook:
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Never use hay; far too many problems with it;and it's a waste of feed material. We use a mix of shavings and straw;find straw on it's own is not absorbant enough.We also use stalosan in/on the bedding; it helps keep the bedding drier longer and reduces bugs and the ammonia.
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Gavo what was used before shavings were thought of.Say in the 50s and 60s?
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You must never use hay for chickens as the spores will cause respiratory problems.
Straw is not great as mites can hide in the hollow stems. Use shavings or newspaper
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Do you know shrek?
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Hi Langdon, I use Aubiose, which is mainly used for horse bedding. It is similar to hempcore I think. Very absorbent and decomposes quickly on the compost heap.
JD
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I shred junkmail and old letters and mix em with straw.
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Sage At last some thing usefull for all those trees that is cut down :farmer:
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ta, as i did say i was out of straw for bedding wouldnt have choose to use hay if not
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Aye George, they gotta be good for summat at least! It's them windowed envelopes I haven't got a use for though - I tend to strip the plastic bit off and recycle, but there must be summat I can do with them things.
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bedding i use dust free chopped straw as i got some shavings from an auction recently and there was loads of dust, for the nest box you could use shreaded paper if youve got a shreader for all your bank stuff etc thats clean. lick of paint wont kill anything, you need to use genuine creasote, from a farm supplier, not the creasote you get at a diy place thats no good. trouble is you can only get a 20ltr drum but it keeps well and kills everthing, use with care, ie glves and a mask. ive had a drum for about 3 years now, still plenty to use.
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ta for your reply lick of paint might not kill anything(i did think the chemicals would)
but boy is things looking clean still need to finish a wall.
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I use stalosan and wood shavings. Don't you find the straw just gets trampled down and a layer of muck forms on the top and the rest of the straw is clean underneath? whereas the shavings get kicked around and mix with the droppings and stay dry for longer. I've often thought the shavings are not so great for the compost heap but when you have 90 or so chickens you have to be practical.
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I use large bale BEDMAX. It is a large shaving used for horses etc. It is very absorbant and easily rots down. In the nest boxes I use DEEP fine sawdust as I have a problem with all my chooks wanting to lay in one nest box.Being on sawdust they cannot scratch it all away from the egg laying spot so the eggs are always cushioned against the wood base and being piled on by numerous chooks! Hermit
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Shavings, with some straw on top. Wouldn't use hay- unless I was totally desperate.
Beth
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I have been using shredded paper from work with straw on top but I would like to use shavings. Where do you all get shaving from? It is very expensive at the farmers store. :)
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got to be dust free.
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H have you ever seen an automatic bedder in action? :farmer:
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I canged from shavings to shreded paper before xmas, had no problems except a few of the girls have started to try and sleep in the nesting box. Best thing is it's free i was paying quite a lot for shavings, should i be mixing the both or is just shreded paper ok?
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Can chippings be used?
We generate sawdust from our coppicing activities which my darling husband uses in his stove in the garage on cold days (keeps him in there longer!!!). We recently bought a robust chipper for all the brash but I'm not sure what to do with it all - there's certainly more than enough for mulch, composting and some!! Would be great to use as chicken bedding (we haven't got ours yet)
Susanna
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H have you ever seen an automatic bedder in action? :farmer:
I think I dated one when I was younger ;D
Farmer, :farmer:
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Are you just showing off now farmer? :) :) :) :) :)
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Me Kirsty?....not at all....I mearly meant that a young lady of my acquaintance in days gone by worked in a printers setting 'copy' on the working bed of an automated print machine...her job title was an 'Automatic Bedder'...what did you think I meant? ;D
Farmer, :farmer:
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Ohhhhh Kirsty, Farmer if you haven't seen one I'm sorry you have no idea so in the search engine box type
Kidd 807 Straw chopper/bedder and a list will appear click Youtube Traynor Irelands channel and click the video start > in the center of the picture.There are several of these machines about one picks a round bale up on a platform and shreds it and blows it up to 50/60 feet away think of the dust I had to stand outside the cattle shed I could not bear being in with it Phew
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you live and learn!!!! :o
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Any views on chippings?javascript:void(0);
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Suzie CVF used only chippings from the mills in Gy at one time but like all things there are very few now.They don't rot down as easily as straw if thats of interest to you :farmer:
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Oh right.
I think we are going to start with reduced dust shavings from our local farm supplies shop and see how we go with that. I do like the idea of the Aubiose for its compostability though.
We have a little hen house - 3ft x 3ft base and two laying boxes (we are only getting three chooks) so will have to do a little economic evaluation once we work out how much shavings we get through.
Thanks
Susanna
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I tend to prefer straw, mainly because it rots down nicely in the compost. I have tried shredded paper, but didn't like it - I found it got very messy, especially in winter when the ground is muddy. I have used wood shavings successfully, but just doesn't rot down as well in the compost. I would agree with others - don't use hay unless you are desperate!
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We use shavings for the in ponies and straw for the sheeps :D
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Now look left is there a Wizard on the profile? No ulterior motives Helly.Will one of the university educated tell Helli and George why she has no sheeps She has 1 sheep she has a dozen sheep or she may farm 2000 sheep but not 2000 sheeps come on tell George and Helli why?OK then she also has a goose but she hasn't got 1/2 a dozen gooses has she.No nastiness intended Helli Ive often wondered and you have just written it to remind me to ask. Although you can have Thats the sheep's trough.but not the geeses.I dont know.??? ::) :-[ :D :D :farmer: :wave: