Thoughts on hemp bedding?

[Susan Skylark]

Thoughts/opinions/experience with hemp bedding? From what perused on here it looks like people either sift it daily (like sand) or use deep litter method. The bag says 4x more absorbent (than what?), so I compared it with an equal volume of pine shavings and found both absorb equal amounts of water (pine got soggy and hemp floated on excess water) after an hour. I like the less dust/allergy friendly/no smell, especially for indoor use, but as far as cost and availability I think I’ll stick with pine. What are your thoughts?

 

[ChickyCh00k]

I've used pine, aspen, hemp, and sand in my coop in the past (I now use a product called SaniCare). I use woodchips in my covered run, but my girls spend most of their day in a large, grassy chicken yard. It really depends on what your preferences are.

Is this for the coop or run or both? Do you have a shelf in the coop?

If you do have a poop shelf, it's easiest to use Sweet PDZ or First Saturday Lime for sifting and odor-killing purposes. I don't know how people use hemp on a poop shelf because, in my experience, is is not "siftable"...then, you can use whatever you want on the floor because it will rarely get poop on it (unless they're confined to the coop for long periods).

If you aren't using a poop board, is your plan to do the deep/dry bedding method? If so, pine or hemp would work. In that scenario it's more about proper ventilation, staying on top of the moisture/adding dry bedding/mixing when needed.

When you mention "indoors", are you asking about what's best for brooding chicks? Again, it's more about moisture control, ventilation, and regularly replacing the bedding. Pine, aspen, hemp all work fine.

 

[Susan Skylark]

Sorry, I have quail, chicks are inside the house, could even keep the adults inside if I had to. I have solid floored pens, a couple in the garage and an outdoor rabbit hutch for summer.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

Sorry, I have quail, chicks are inside the house, could even keep the adults inside if I had to. I have solid floored pens, a couple in the garage and an outdoor rabbit hutch for summer.

Oh! Haha. I know nothing about quail.

 

[gimmie birdies]

Like Tobacco, hemp is hard on people's hands, IKD how they would be on chickens. Also, chickens will eat the green straw bales, IDK if they would eat hemp.

 

[The Welch Chickens]

I use hemp for brooders, coop floor, and nest boxes (they wouldn't lay on anything else!). Deep litter method works great.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

Like Tobacco, hemp is hard on people's hands, IKD how they would be on chickens. Also, chickens will eat the green straw bales, IDK if they would eat hemp.

The kind of hemp that is sold as bedding/litter is not hard on chicken feet and they do not eat it either (they might peck at it here and there, but they aren't eating any significant quantity). This person has quail, though, so it might be a different situation.

@Susan Skylark , you may want to edit the title of this thread and include "for Quail"... so you get the best info for your specific situation. Otherwise most people will assume you're referrring to chickens (if they dont read all the comments).

I don't know if there are major differences in what quail need vs chickens, but it likely will behoove you to edit the title and or your initial comment to include that this is for quail.

 

[Blingchix6]

I just started using hemp on the floor of my coop in the past year and I Will never go back to using wood shavings. There is no smell, and the hemp absorbs much better than the wood chips. Even though the initial cost seems higher, the fact that the hemp lasts much longer makes it (to me) worth it in the end. I can also put the used hemp in my compost pile; apparently it breaks down quickly.

 

[Blingchix6]

The last time I replaced the hemp was this past December. I would never be able to go 7 months with using wood chips. I have poop boards and when the hemp starts to look like there’s a lot of poop on it, I just sprinkle on another layer.

 

[HempysHeart]

The kind of hemp that is sold as bedding/litter is not hard on chicken feet and they do not eat it either (they might peck at it here and there, but they aren't eating any significant quantity). This person has quail, though, so it might be a different situation.

@Susan Skylark , you may want to edit the title of this thread and include "for Quail"... so you get the best info for your specific situation. Otherwise most people will assume you're referrring to chickens (if they dont read all the comments).

I don't know if there are major differences in what quail need vs chickens, but it likely will behoove you to edit the title and or your initial comment to include that this is for quail.

Quail love hemp grains, that's for certain!