Rice Hulls Bedding is Magic

[manoktok]

although its convenient but if you try it over in an open space lot it will be plagued with ants or insects especially black beetles or bugs.why not try mixing carbonated ricehull with hydrated lime its much convenient and safer for your chicks and chicken or in any poultry breeds.

 

[ozexpat]

although its convenient but if you try it over in an open space lot it will be plagued with ants or insects especially black beetles or bugs.why not try mixing carbonated ricehull with hydrated lime its much convenient and safer for your chicks and chicken or in any poultry breeds.

i have done some research on carbonated ricehull with hydrated lime and it certainly looks viable. I will see how we go carbonizing.

 

[luvmyduckies]

I have a 10' x 20' pen for 11 ducks that is made from a dog kennel attched to a 4' x 8' duck hut of the ground. On the outside I have chicken wire as well as hardware cloth attached to the bottom 4 feet. They have access to a large pond all day but started putting them up at night when I lost some ducks to predators 2 winters ago. I was putting straw down but as most of you have found it is not an easy substance to clean up especially here in OH where we have had so much rain so I need a better solution.
I was wondering if I use these rice hulls will I need to add an additional barrier, or will my three layers of fencing be enough to keep the hulls from blowing out of the pen. In addition do I need to put something under the rice hulls as well, and finally how deep do you suggest the layer of hulls to be to work best?
Thanks for any additional advice. Eileen

 

[Deelittle6]

I was watching a video on hull for the chicken coop and they said you don’t have to change it out in the coop. Does anyone know if this is true?

 

[Enid Stowers]

I did not find the hulls cheaper than pine shavings…. Our feed store did not carry it, and it was $70 for a 45 pound bag! Also, if it does not absorb water, I can’t see how it will decompose unless it just breaks up into dust and is added to the ground. Someone told me the chickens scratching in it eventually causes it to break into small pieces, but she hasn’t removed it yet so where to put it if you don’t have a dirt hill or land to dump it? Will follow this thread to find out what people do with it!