Best wood for poultry bedding

skbjornson · February 08, 2011, 03:33:52 PM

What type of wood is the best for poultry bedding? (central minnesota)

Jeff · February 08, 2011, 04:15:04 PM

I dare say aspen is about the best stock bedding you can get, and it should readily decompose mixed with the chicken poo.

SwampDonkey · February 08, 2011, 05:12:12 PM

I'll second that.

Dad used to buy van loads of chicken farm poo for his farm fields to prolong the growing of "Norkota" potatoes. Cheaper than soluble nitrate as a foliar application. ;D

Ron Wenrich · February 10, 2011, 05:54:07 AM

In our area of PA, we use any softwood. We don't have aspen, but we do have tulip poplar. We also send any type of pine and hemlock.

Are you going to do the shaving or someone else? I would think that aspen and red pine would be good species.

alan cox · February 13, 2011, 08:03:06 PM

i have a old neighbor who is about 90 now. he used to tell of a story of when he was raising chickens a long time ago about using white pine shavings from a chair factory. he got a big pick up load of them and shoveled them in the hen house several of the old laying hens started eating them and the eggs had a turpentine taste to them

wasnt a big deal really. kind of unusual however when these hens sat on two nests of eggs in the spring time. they hatched out 14 baby chicks and 8 little wood peckers.

no joke he said. seemed that was ok too untill they got a little older. he wasnt paying much attention untill one windy day the hen house almost tipped all the way over. seems those little wood peckers had eaten half of the bottom of the hen house off on one side.

so be carefull on the white pine shavings. his name is fuzzy holms. he is from Luther Mi. grrrreat guy that loves to laugh. b good. al coxx :D :D :D

kderby · February 21, 2011, 11:10:24 PM

He got a laugh out of me as well. Welcome to the Forum.

kderby

Buck · February 22, 2011, 07:34:52 AM

lol that was good! Welcome!

isawlogs · February 22, 2011, 08:51:32 AM

At home we always used cedar shavings in the hen house , thats what we had and was available. But on a side note I remember hearing about not using helmlock because of the tannin in it, was said to be not good for the chickens if they ate it, then again we made the horse stall out of it and some of those hay burners chewed those peices till they needed replacing. :

SwampDonkey · February 22, 2011, 11:26:20 AM

I think most of the shavings around here are off softwood planers in sawmills. But as Jeff said, the aspen would break down quick if your going to use the hen poop for fertilizer. I don't remember much for chips in the hen poop dad used, it was either rotted or real fine chips.

ErikC · February 22, 2011, 11:32:05 AM

I use pine or fir, just sawdust from the mill. I hesitate to use cedar because it all goes in the garden, and cedar is slower to break down. I think as far as the chickens are concerned though, it would make no difference. Chicken coops would smell better if you put cedar in them, for sure.

woodmills1 · February 26, 2011, 12:14:00 AM

having seen the tulip poplar in good ole WVA I would say our quaking aspen up here in NH is a poor substitute when it comes to lumber but wood be right near close when it turns to animal bedding

shinnlinger · February 26, 2011, 08:12:23 AM

I've been using white pine chips from the high school shop dust collector from years and have fortunately avoiding the problems Alan cites :D :D :D

Ironwood · March 10, 2011, 07:12:34 PM

OK, lets talk about WHAT'S under the shavings, I just pulled a 8 x 8 shed down the road from a neighbors house, and am making it into a hen house. I put a pine floor in it (was on a concrete floor before it was moved). Can I seal the floor with something to keep the poop from soaking in? New to the egg game.

Ironwood

shinnlinger · March 10, 2011, 09:25:19 PM

If you haven't laid the floor yet, I would just go dirt with hardwarecloth to keep out rats. but if it is down, I suppose a coat of paint wouldn't hurt anything, but I am a fan of deep bedding. Build up a threshhold or hang your door high and just keep spreading fresh shavings as your nose dictates. The bacteria that lives under the fresh is actually beneficial for chicks and will put off heat as it composts. At the end of the season you are shoveling out half composted soil vs dripping wet poo which is alot easier and you are only doing it once a year vs all the time. If it gets stinky you need to add more shavings.

Lud · March 10, 2011, 09:49:42 PM

We had 600 leghorns in the early 60's-late 50's in an upstairs block building. We used peanut shell sometimes and corncob too. What's the great memory is my Dad using a rototiller to stir it up and how it chipped the oak tongue and groove flooring !! :D :D :D

isawlogs · March 10, 2011, 09:51:30 PM

We always used pin for the floor, "cause that is what we had most of, 8" of cedar/pine shavings was put over the floor boards. May of had a white wash on it done once a year I don't think that a sealer will do anything to the floor. The white wash was more an insect/parasite thing.

Ironwood · March 11, 2011, 07:39:51 AM

Door is an outswing, so no problem on depth. Building is a bit "fancy" for my taste, suburbanites live near by, and it was painted to match their house and all trimmed out in aluminium soffit and facia. Will be fine, just a little too "finished" for me. Actually the stain matches our house as does the roof line (gambrel), so little embarrassing :D I would NEVER put that much effort into a shed! It will be portable, on 4x6 treated skids and has a 1 1/2" steel rod thru all three skids on each end to be able to be drug around. I will get a pic.

Ironwood

SwampDonkey · March 11, 2011, 07:50:22 AM

Just call it the chicken palace. ;D

Ironwood · March 11, 2011, 08:17:08 AM

;D

red oaks lumber · March 11, 2011, 07:12:22 PM

mine are mostly free range chickens so my coop only gets a layer 1" thick and gets replaced(cleaned) every week. bedding is softwood shavings, have noticed basswood shaving breakdown real wellthe coop floor is 1/2'' osb

Ironwood · March 11, 2011, 07:48:49 PM

The COOP has been offically named "The Chicken Palace"

Thanks Ironwood

isawlogs · March 11, 2011, 07:55:54 PM

How many birds are you planning on getting, white eggs or brown layers ???

Ironwood · March 12, 2011, 02:00:27 AM

I think 6-8 birds, BUT, I am just the guy outfitting the palace, I have no idea what type of Prinesses we are getting. :D

Any input would appriciated and directed to the appropriate personel in the Kingdom.

Ironwood

SwampDonkey · March 12, 2011, 05:36:52 AM

I'm no expert on chickens, but what I remember mostly up here were Plymouth Rock and Rhode Island Red. I liked them because of their feathers. Can't comment on the eggs, but I bet they are as good as any. Those Plymouth Rock roosters were real mean buggers when they had a little harem. A good club and a boiling pot is always handy. :D

Foxes are too thick around here and I've never seen a fence that would keep a chicken in and all the wildlife out. :D

isawlogs · March 12, 2011, 08:41:32 AM

If you are looking at production egg layers , get white leghorns. They laye white eggs year round. If you want brown eggs , most of the " reds " will laye brown eggs at a good rate also . I have road Island reds here, they laye 5 to 6 eggs/week each. I also have a few little BAntys that are great at nesting, but that would need for you to keep a rooster, don't know if that is part of the palace, would the King have a thrown ???