What on Earth did I Buy?!

[hokankai]

So I've been using the courser pine shavings as bedding for the brooder and will probably use them in the finished coop, but this last time I bought from a different store, asked for "pine shavings" and she handed me this big ol' white bag with a horse on the front. Took it home and opened it up to use and it is NOT what I was expecting. It's soft and fluffy, very fine shards of wood that just fell in between the leftover shavings I already had in there. Are there different kinds of pine shavings or something?! Is this stuff safe for them? it looks more like this: http://www.weaberlumber.com/Portals/33/images/Lg-sawdust.jpg than what i had before which was this: http://www.weaberlumber.com/Portals/33/images/Lg-shavings.jpg

Just want to make sure it's safe to use! Thanks

 

[Camelot Farms]

Hm. I get the white bag with the horse too and mine dont look like that. Once in a while I will get a 'bad' bag that has too much fluff or too many sticks so I just mixed 2 or 3 bags together to get it to even out. Maybe you got one of those 'bad' bags.

 

[joletabey]

I have had that happen to me also, I don't know if it is from the end of a run or what- I actually sort of like it.

 

[Willow's Meadow]

I get a white bag too....dosent have a horse on it though. But I love it! Its called mcfeeters shavings. You probably got kiln dried wood shavings the first time(I hate those! they are not absorbent!). But my'n does not look like yours.....not sure what it is. But I would recomeend mcfeeters.

well my'n look like the second pic.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

As long as it isn't red and doesn't have a strong smell, I wouldn't worry about it. There can be a lot of variation in all the different types of wood shavings. At least there's a lot of variation here.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Many, if not most feed stores sell both large and small shavings. I much prefer small, although I do NOT like sawdust. You DEFINITELY need kiln dried. I've known people who did not get kiln dried shavings, and there were bugs in it that infested their birds. THere should not be a difference in absorbancy, in fact, drier shavings should absorb more. Different KINDS of wood may have different absorbancies, though.

 

[hokankai]

hmmm, well now i'm a little worried. It's not red, it's definitely pine, but it does have a pretty strong pine smell. I do NOT want bugs in my bedding! Should I toss in some DE just in case? It was 8 cubic feet for 8 dollars...should I just toss it and get the courser stuff?! I just want the best for my little chickies

 

[DarkWolf]

That happened to me, too.. In fact, looked just like that.. In fact (fact).. What I get looks like THIS, which is way larger than what you seem to get normally.

http://www.cvcshavings.com/picts/A-Green-and-Dry-Mixed-Shaving.jpg

I normally get SHAVINGS, but once I asked the wife to buy a bag on her way home one day and she picked it up from another county's coop. Blasted stuff was basically saw dust.

Worked well in the nest boxes but sucked in the coop.. And sucked WORSE for the rabbits, who are kept in the house.. Blasted saw dust all over from the rabbits running around in their cages.

 

[hokankai]

yeah that's the stuff i had before. i'm thinking these "shavings" are in fact saw dust...ugh how annoying! so what should i ask for from now on? course pine shavings?

 

[aduplantis]

I buy mine at Wal-Mart in the pet supply department. It's a little over $5 for a big bag and it is large shavings. I use it in my coop and never had a problem with it so far.