switch from pine shavings to pine pellet bedding?

[chickenmomma1108]

Hi everyone,
We've gotten over a good dump of snow in Nebraska here the last 2 weeks and very cold temps (some days were -20 degrees F and very windy making the snow drift right back over places).
Reason for posting this discussion is I have been searching all over BYC forums for what everyone's thoughts are on the pine pellets (labeled for horse bedding)? Currently we use deep bedding in our coop of the fine pine shavings, but have read on a few posts here that one may have less issues (less dust, less turning or maintenance? of bedding, etc.) with the pellets.

What has been your experience been like using pine pellets as a deep bedding method? Do they last you/your chickens at least 6 months to a year before complete cleanout of coop and new bedding? Do you use any other bedding with the pellets or like the pellets as is? What happens with the chicken poop in the pellets - does it kind of get absorbed and turn to dust with the pellets? During the time you use pellets do you have to add some new pellet bag(s) to keep it topped off for deep bedding?
Our coop has a wood floor and the chickens have done fine with the pine shavings...it is just time for new bedding. We had them safe from frostbite in the coop with infrared heater, food, and water for the worst days and had to clear out I'd say half of their run of snow for them to be able to go outside. The weekend projects are: finish clearing snow from their run and new coop bedding.
We're trying to find something to be budget friendly (I do love the sound of hemp bedding, but can't afford that right now) and function as nicely as the pine shavings do. I am reading that if they get damp they kind of break down into pine sawdust, so am hoping that our chickens won't mistake them for food but I always have someone that taste tests stuff anyways. Especially if I have something in my hands, it has GOT to be FOOD


chickenmomma1108 - Elizabeth

 

[Debbie292d]

I’ll tag @Debbie292d. She uses pellet bedding and will be a good source of information about its use.

Sorry I missed the tag but since I was typing about horse bedding pellets I saw this thread.

Hi everyone,
We've gotten over a good dump of snow in Nebraska here the last 2 weeks and very cold temps (some days were -20 degrees F and very windy making the snow drift right back over places).
Reason for posting this discussion is I have been searching all over BYC forums for what everyone's thoughts are on the pine pellets (labeled for horse bedding)? Currently we use deep bedding in our coop of the fine pine shavings, but have read on a few posts here that one may have less issues (less dust, less turning or maintenance? of bedding, etc.) with the pellets.

What has been your experience been like using pine pellets as a deep bedding method? Do they last you/your chickens at least 6 months to a year before complete cleanout of coop and new bedding? Do you use any other bedding with the pellets or like the pellets as is? What happens with the chicken poop in the pellets - does it kind of get absorbed and turn to dust with the pellets? During the time you use pellets do you have to add some new pellet bag(s) to keep it topped off for deep bedding?
Our coop has a wood floor and the chickens have done fine with the pine shavings...it is just time for new bedding. We had them safe from frostbite in the coop with infrared heater, food, and water for the worst days and had to clear out I'd say half of their run of snow for them to be able to go outside. The weekend projects are: finish clearing snow from their run and new coop bedding.
We're trying to find something to be budget friendly (I do love the sound of hemp bedding, but can't afford that right now) and function as nicely as the pine shavings do. I am reading that if they get damp they kind of break down into pine sawdust, so am hoping that our chickens won't mistake them for food but I always have someone that taste tests stuff anyways. Especially if I have something in my hands, it has GOT to be FOOD


chickenmomma1108 - Elizabeth

Sorry I'm late. I just noticed @WoDia's tag.

Yes, we've used them in the coop since we started 7 years ago. We put down about 3-4" in the spring, then do nothing until the next spring. Then we clean out what by now is mostly sawdust and powdered poop and put some in our garden, around trees/shrubs, and in the compost bins. There is no odor, no dust, no maintenance.

As of about 6 months ago, I started using them in the brooder after a week. Holey moley is that a game changer! Those I have to stir every few days as they can't scratch around like the big chickens do. I also provide grit as sure as I'm sitting here, they'll all probably try a little piece if they find one. It's 100% pine so won't hurt them and I've never lost a chick in about 60-80 or so that have been in this brooder so far.

These got switched to pellets yesterday.

 

[WoDia]

Hi everyone,
We've gotten over a good dump of snow in Nebraska here the last 2 weeks and very cold temps (some days were -20 degrees F and very windy making the snow drift right back over places).
Reason for posting this discussion is I have been searching all over BYC forums for what everyone's thoughts are on the pine pellets (labeled for horse bedding)? Currently we use deep bedding in our coop of the fine pine shavings, but have read on a few posts here that one may have less issues (less dust, less turning or maintenance? of bedding, etc.) with the pellets.

What has been your experience been like using pine pellets as a deep bedding method? Do they last you/your chickens at least 6 months to a year before complete cleanout of coop and new bedding? Do you use any other bedding with the pellets or like the pellets as is? What happens with the chicken poop in the pellets - does it kind of get absorbed and turn to dust with the pellets? During the time you use pellets do you have to add some new pellet bag(s) to keep it topped off for deep bedding?
Our coop has a wood floor and the chickens have done fine with the pine shavings...it is just time for new bedding. We had them safe from frostbite in the coop with infrared heater, food, and water for the worst days and had to clear out I'd say half of their run of snow for them to be able to go outside. The weekend projects are: finish clearing snow from their run and new coop bedding.
We're trying to find something to be budget friendly (I do love the sound of hemp bedding, but can't afford that right now) and function as nicely as the pine shavings do. I am reading that if they get damp they kind of break down into pine sawdust, so am hoping that our chickens won't mistake them for food but I always have someone that taste tests stuff anyways. Especially if I have something in my hands, it has GOT to be FOOD


chickenmomma1108 - Elizabeth

I’ll tag @Debbie292d. She uses pellet bedding and will be a good source of information about its use.

 

[RaesChicks]

I probably wouldn’t use them if it’s so cold in your area and the chickens can’t get outside. I have them in my coop personally but we are in the south and we don’t have issues like snow. I have just switched to flakes and pellets in my coop a couple weeks ago. It smells better and stays cleaner. That being said they are hard under feet I think, but they cut down greatly on maintenance and smell. The poops just sit on top of the pellets and get kind of dried out. I stir them up and the dust coats the chops and they disappear into the litter. I have 3-4 bags in a 32 sq ft coop for my 12 birds. I have half a bag for adding to the top and a bag of flakes to keep some softer surface area mixed in. I switched to cut down on how often I clean my coop which had been multiple times a week. I added a closer look at the pellets. They don’t really get mushy with the chickens in the coop because there isn’t enough moisture in their droppings to be that bad. The only time I had them puff up was on a cold day I put their water in with them and they knocked it over. The moisture still didn’t make it to the wood floor and I just stirred it up into the rest of the coop bedding.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

I just saw a post on pellets a week ago, keep searching it had many opinions. I don't have this problem anymore thanks to poop trays with sand/stall fresh. My wood floor stays clean and dry with a light layer of shavings. But back in the day when I did"deep litter," I found that pellets just turned to a mushy mess in no time at all. Shaving worked better for me. You could toss some Stall fresh / Sweet PDZ in for moisture control.

 

[chickenmomma1108]

I just saw a post on pellets a week ago, keep searching it had many opinions. I don't have this problem anymore thanks to poop trays with sand/stall fresh. My wood floor stays clean and dry with a light layer of shavings. But back in the day when I did"deep litter," I found that pellets just turned to a mushy mess in no time at all. Shaving worked better for me. You could toss some Stall fresh / Sweet PDZ in for moisture control.

Yes, I did just come across a comment that said "mushy" and that didn't sound good at all. With the snow drifts melting there is going to be enough mushy mud in their run, so maybe those pellets will come in handy for drying up a spot or two outside if it turns into a pool! And we may also give them some new flakes of straw to get them outside.
Thank you for the suggestion of the stall fresh / sweet PDZ, I will check that out.

We unfortunately aren't able to do poop trays as the chickens are on our "farm" acre and we live a few minutes away in town (during winter anyways - summer we live out there in our motor home ). We do have cameras to check in on them a lot during the day inside the coop and in their enclosed run, and both dear hubby and I look forward to being out there full time when it is "farm home".

 

[texsuze]

My experience with pine pellets has only been from using them in the horse stalls, specifically in the pee spots. The rest of my stall bedding was always pine shavings. Pellets, when used as stall bedding alone, are really designed to be moistened slightly when first put down or when refreshed. They puff up and absorb right away when moistened but it takes a lot to cover a stall floor=$$$.

That said, I've always had pine shavings inside my coops. Easy on the chicken feet (if deep or on top of a forgiving surface), can be spread lightly or deeply, absorbent right out of the bag, can be less expensive since you're not changing out a huge amount when cleaning coop. Shavings, even when they get wet, will not disintegrate into mush like wet pellets. I'd use shavings for coop floor.

Sweet PDZ, again my use was with horse stalls, is expensive and very dusty. I do dust a tiny bit on any chicken poops the girls leave on my concrete barn floor. It covers the poops and reduces smell until I can scoop up the poops.

 

[MamaPoult]

I've never personally used pellet bedding but have looked into it. In my oppinion I think they are harder on their feet and cold. It has been a week straight of 30 below zero here for the past week and I use pine chips mixed with straw if its really cold. I have turkeys and chickens and noyone has any frost bite! I hope this helps

 

[chickenmomma1108]

I’ll tag @Debbie292d. She uses pellet bedding and will be a good source of information about its use.

Thank you! I took a look at her coop setup and pretty sure she mentions they had some linoleum down on the floor of the coop, that would work good with those pellets if they puffed up after absorbing wetness. Our coop floor is wood, so that probably isn’t a good option inside if they happen to get a bit mushy.
We’re going to redo the coop bedding with pine shavings and save the pellets for the run if we get muddy spots or puddles

chickenmomma1108 - Elizabeth

 

[MamaPoult]

Yes, this helps a lot, thank you. Seems to be the opinion around that the pellets are mainly for soaking up liquids/puddles..I’ll keep my bag of pellets for the rainy season to maybe change their dust bathing pot holes from swimming holes (when rain fills them) to a pine sawdust bowl
gee, 30 below sure stinks- hoping for warmer weather for you. We’ve had some of the drifts melt, but have quite a bit of their run to shovel out yet..made use of some flakes of straw outside near food & water. Sure is nice when everyone can go outside & run around!

chickenmomma1108 - Elizabeth

Glad it helped!! Thanks we are hoping for warm weather too!! Hope your drifts dry up!!