I've been using it inside a deepliter 5x10 henhouse and a 10x14 run with 14 chickens. Zero mold, no smell, no flies, nearly dustless and very cheap compared to hemp.
The straw quality is really soft, not dusty and take in wetness just like all the great quality of the hemp. However, I will be paying a little extra and staying with the hemp because it is firmer and the straw is much lighter and clingy
To be honest, and since I heard y'all talk about it on our (almost) weekly TY-Cast a few weeks ago I put that in my run and it's been awesome. Even with our foster-bunny running around with my 11-week olds, it's been fantastic and I've seen a noticeable reduction in flies and not the least bit dusty. Love it and highly recommend.
Thank you for your experiments. Maybe for the winter we may do this in our run for our 28 ladies and 1 rooster in Michigan. We ground down a stump last year of a pine tree and that is in one corner along with grass so once the grass is turned over I'm putting down coarse sand so I can clean it daily.
I'm in Puerto Rico, I can only find pine shavings or hey, but I'm planning on getting a chipper to see if I can cut up dried banana 🍌 leaves, banana leaves were used back in the day for barns and pig pens.
@CarolinaCoopsVideos - Could you all do a duck only video. it's rather challenging to deal with waters and manure in my duckhouse run. Thank you. Love the videos.
What is the advantage of putting this in the run opposed to just leaving it as natural dirt? Isn't it good for the chickens to scratch around in the dirt to get bugs and stuff?
You are absolute correct! The straw helps enrich the dirt by breaking it down over time into a soil that contains more biological organisms. This creates a richer run for your chickens to do those things you mentioned.
The chickens have no interest in eating the straw. The pieces are small and finely chopped so if they did ingest some, it wouldn't be a problem. The problem is with long stringy things. Thanks for your question.
The chickens will make a dust bath anywhere, they will scratch a hole inside the run and do the same outside the run. Chickens will do what chickens are gonna do. Thanks for watching.
I've been using it inside a deepliter 5x10 henhouse and a 10x14 run with 14 chickens. Zero mold, no smell, no flies, nearly dustless and very cheap compared to hemp.
The straw quality is really soft, not dusty and take in wetness just like all the great quality of the hemp. However, I will be paying a little extra and staying with the hemp because it is firmer and the straw is much lighter and clingy
To be honest, and since I heard y'all talk about it on our (almost) weekly TY-Cast a few weeks ago I put that in my run and it's been awesome. Even with our foster-bunny running around with my 11-week olds, it's been fantastic and I've seen a noticeable reduction in flies and not the least bit dusty. Love it and highly recommend.
Thank you for your review. That's great to hear.
Ordering the 6x12 American coop and will be sure to get a couple bags of this as well! Thank you for your excellent videos. They are very informative.
Thank you for your experiments. Maybe for the winter we may do this in our run for our 28 ladies and 1 rooster in Michigan. We ground down a stump last year of a pine tree and that is in one corner along with grass so once the grass is turned over I'm putting down coarse sand so I can clean it daily.
I had to order it delivered to my local Tractor Supply store but it was totally worth it - both for the price and for the girls!
Thank you so much for doing these reviews! About to put it down in the run!❤
You're welcome! We need to stand by whatever we sell.
Thanks for all the pro tips!
Yay!
Keep these videos coming
Great video!
I'm in Puerto Rico, I can only find pine shavings or hey, but I'm planning on getting a chipper to see if I can cut up dried banana 🍌 leaves, banana leaves were used back in the day for barns and pig pens.
@CarolinaCoopsVideos - Could you all do a duck only video. it's rather challenging to deal with waters and manure in my duckhouse run. Thank you. Love the videos.
We are using mulch in our run, but we may consider trying this instead.
Thank you for being so informative and educating us non-"chickenistas"! Although, someday with your help, I wish to have the title of Chickenista ;)
❤👍Great info 💚♻️CARBON!!
Turn it over sir it up or leave alone?
What is the advantage of putting this in the run opposed to just leaving it as natural dirt? Isn't it good for the chickens to scratch around in the dirt to get bugs and stuff?
You are absolute correct! The straw helps enrich the dirt by breaking it down over time into a soil that contains more biological organisms. This creates a richer run for your chickens to do those things you mentioned.
Can we put a little DE in the farmstraw?
Yep, DE can be used almost anywhere.
SO WHAT WAS THE WORMS? WILL THE CHICKENS EAT THEM, HAVE THEY? THANKS
Yes, free chicken food.
How long do you leave it in the run before removing?
We are going to leave it until it completely breaks down.
What about the chickens consuming the straw? I’ve heard straw is bad to consume.
The chickens have no interest in eating the straw. The pieces are small and finely chopped so if they did ingest some, it wouldn't be a problem. The problem is with long stringy things. Thanks for your question.
Do you find a blend of the two coarse and fine pair well or would you recommend one over the other ?
We think the coarse will work best. There's not much difference between the two.
Do they have a sand bath in there? How do you keep it clear of straw?
The chickens will make a dust bath anywhere, they will scratch a hole inside the run and do the same outside the run. Chickens will do what chickens are gonna do. Thanks for watching.
Did you clean the poo before you went in there?
No, we let the beneficial microbes do their work. Work smarter, not harder is our motto!