[langdon]

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

[gavo]

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.

[Wizard]

Gavo what was used before shavings were thought of.Say in the 50s and 60s?

[shrekfeet]

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

[Wizard]

Do you know shrek?

[JD]

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

[sagehen]

I shred junkmail and old letters and mix em with straw.

[Wizard]

 Sage At last some thing usefull for all those trees that is cut down

[langdon]

ta, as i did say i was out of straw for bedding wouldnt have choose to use hay if not

[sagehen]

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.

[harry]

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.

[langdon]

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.

[Elissian]

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.

[Hermit]

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

[ballingall]

Shavings, with some straw on top. Wouldn't use hay- unless I was totally desperate.


Beth