Pelletized Bedding / Shavings

We have a small Urban flock and live in a dry climate in Boise Idaho. We've used the deep litter method for almost 10 years and it works great! We have three hens and a nice size Coop. We clean out the entire Coop four times a year. I clean up the upper roosting area about once a week or as needed. In the Colder Weather the 4-5" of pine shavings help keep the coop warmer. In the summer we use a little bit less probably three to four inches. The great thing is there's no flies, no smell and it's easy to add extra Pine shavings do a top dressing as needed. I might consider the pellets but at this point the deep litter method works so good I can't see any point in changing

I have to say, I love the pelletized bedding. I hear what @chickiemomy is saying, and that’s unfortunate it may not be good for those that have dogs, but it’s great for my girls. It REALLY keeps the odor down and like @Audi0 says, totally provides a soft landing from their very high roost. So very glad I read this article before I set my coop up-bedding choice is a big deal and I couldn’t be happier that I went with these pellets.

Love the pellets! I use them under the roosts and shavings towards the front where they jump down for a softer landing. Also a dog pooper scooper with the small rake n shovel worked great for the line of poop under the roost. I keep an 5 gallon bucket to scoop it into and easy to carry to compost. Also easy to clean out of brooders w/chicks with a cat litter scooper.

there is a downside to using pellets that is not mentioned in this article. My dogs love chicken poop - I mean what's not to love, right? I used pellets for chicks one season, and left a used bucket of pellets outside unattended for a short while. Unbeknownst to me, one of my dogs ingested a bit. He later developed severe intestinal pains - I thought bloat. Took him into the vet where he underwent surgery for obstruction. His bowel was obstructed by now swollen pellets. He thankfully recovered, but nearly died. I no longer allow these pellets around my animals. All my dogs eat livestock poop. I will not risk their health, or lives with this dangerous to their intestines product. BTW, my chickens did not eat this -- and I'm pretty sure my goats would not have either -- but dogs? yep - they will when its coated by all that good poop. ETA - I did not initially suspect the pellets -- the vet was puzzled by the 'sawdust'-looking substance blocking the exit from his stomach. And he was otherwise fine.

I switched to these for all my coops but one , I also switched to these for my goats they are awesome! And require I think less work and defiantly keep the smell down!

Incredibly helpful. A method I’ve been researching as I try to figure out which litter method works best for our particular situation. Thank you for such a well-written article.

Great to the point info. I have used these under grating in cages & under grated flooring in my pigeon loft, because no one can reach it to peck or try to eat it. I did not try it in the coop because I worried the chickens might try to eat it. I guess some may peck at it, since it does resemble pellet food, but hopefully they will realize it has no flavor & won't ingest enough to do harm. I am going to try it out. Thanks, you have inspired me, cleaner coops are always better.

We've used horse bedding pellets for years in our coop. Most recently, we started using them in our brooder when chicks are just a few days old. The only difference between you and us is we don't touch the pellets in the coop for a year. Every spring, we put down about 3-4" of them in an 8x12' coop, and for 18 chickens, that lasts until next spring.

Pine pellets as chicken litter - who would have guessed such a solution existed. Thank you for documenting in detail how to get and use the pellets. I really like being able to use a plastic pitch fork to grab just the poop and dispose of that without having to throw out the good pellets.

If you are able to add how you keep the chicken waterer from expanding all the pellets I'd be interested in trying it myself.

Well written. I may try it in my small coop.

I love all the details you included! I want to say that I have been using horse bedding pellets in my chicken shed for a while now and I love them. When I first got my chickens I also used the regular pine shavings and hated them for the same reasons you did, especially the poopy feet. So then I switched to sand. It has a lot of good properties as bedding. It absorbs the moisture quickly and doesn't stick to their feet, and it can be scooped like kitty litter. I really liked it but it is dusty and you have to eventually remove the sand and put it somewhere. That's when I decided to try the bedding pellets. Initially I used the whole pellets but they shifted around a lot because the floor is covered with sheet flooring, and I found them a bit hard to walk on. So I sprayed them down with water and they expanded into very fine shavings. I have been really happy using it this way. It has all the same properties as the whole pellets, it absorbs and dries out fast, no poopy feet, and no odor. Plus it is fine enough that I can sift it with a scooper and it doesn't shift around as much, unlike regular shavings. Scooping allows for removal of smaller bits of poop. I have actually used this batch of bedding for about six months and am getting ready to clean out the shed and replace it. I should note that I also added some Sweet PDZ initially. I used to use 100 % Sweet PDZ in my poop boards under their roosts, but I switched to using the expanded pellet bedding and it works great. I scoop the poop boards daily. I found that I can use a piece of 1/4" hardware cloth instead of a kitty scoop and it sifts through a larger amount faster. There isn't much poop on the floor so I just pick up the fresh blobs with a pooper scooper and small rake. Your detailed description has inspired me to give the whole pellets another try. It seems like being able to clean up with a bedding fork might save time and it sounds like it works well. Thanks for all the info and the links!

This is an excellent suggestion! I have used it for cat litter for several years and it works quite well...best odour control no stinky perfume..I have some baby chicks now and will for sure try it out?also it's less expensive than shavings locally.

I will give it a try !