coldcreekchick
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free shavings by the semi load, now THATS a frugal moment!! looking forward to more "free" compost.
Leaves as deep litter in coop
- Thread starter Shiloh Acres
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Bubblingbrooks
Made in Alaska
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yeah, we have mills all over the place up here, and all the shavings are free.coldcreekchick said:
I plan on building a covered shelter this summer and filling it with several truckloads.
Marianne
Super Self-Sufficient
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Our property is pretty open and our leaves are blowing away before they hit the ground. I have used leaves that we got from friends in town. But the leaves weren't always dry and I have to buy him a box of good trash bags and then haul them back here.
I stored my bags up above in the coop rafters and under the nesting boxes. There were a few that had started to compost when I opened them up, so I dumped those in the garden. We also had a mouse family move into one of the bags but I suppose that's going to happen regardless...
I have access to lots of almost free straw, so I alternated straw and leaves, just a light layer of one, then the next layer is the other.
This year I'm going to try raking up dried grass clippings and storing those to mix with the straw. Then I can use the dog/cat food bags that I tend to keep as large trash bags. I have a piece of plywood over the top of the roost and I plan on stacking the more 'flat' bags of dried clippings there.
I stored my bags up above in the coop rafters and under the nesting boxes. There were a few that had started to compost when I opened them up, so I dumped those in the garden. We also had a mouse family move into one of the bags but I suppose that's going to happen regardless...
I have access to lots of almost free straw, so I alternated straw and leaves, just a light layer of one, then the next layer is the other.
This year I'm going to try raking up dried grass clippings and storing those to mix with the straw. Then I can use the dog/cat food bags that I tend to keep as large trash bags. I have a piece of plywood over the top of the roost and I plan on stacking the more 'flat' bags of dried clippings there.
Boogity
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Can anyone tell me about the drawbacks to using OAK leaves? We have about 50 gigantic old oak trees around our house and the leaves are a real problem here in the fall.
I don't believe there are any drawbacks to using red or white oak leaves.I mean as far as bedding and mulching. I get truckloads of shredded oak leaves at the town recycle center, and use them for a number of things.Wood shavings and hay/straw are to expensive here.I've used leaves for my chicken coops for about 5 yrs now.I need to do alot of mulching for weed control and moisture conservation.I put about 8-10 inches of shredded leaves in my blueberry patch every spring.I mulch my garlic and asparagus as well.Leaves are a great free natural resource, and i've see no ill effects at all.The hens love leaves to scratch in.You can't beat them for saving money, and when you clean out the coop, makes great compost.Oak leaves are acidic, so i add lime to one compost pile for non-acid likng plants and not the other acid loving plants..Blueberries love acidic soil so its a perfect amendment , weed control and moisture saver.Thank G_d for free oak leaves..!! 
Emerald
Lovin' The Homestead
I used a load of maple and oak leaves in the coop this last fall and the only thing that I didn't like was, if the chickens laid an egg on the floor(which clearly one of my gals does and refuses to lay in the boxes) that egg gets discolored by the leaves. The same thing happened with the grass clippings we put in the coop too for them to chow on , she laid her eggs in the corner on the clippings and her eggs all had brown stripes on them from the grass... I just kept them for family.
Emerald...haven't seen that myself, but sure believe it can happen.I have 55 laying hens, about once maybe twice a month i find an egg out of nest.I'm guessing the acid in the oak leaves stains your eggs shell.I'd just eat it myself as well, but for my customers paying five bucks a doz.they get the nice, almost perfect eggs..
Dawn419
Almost Self-Reliant
I use leaves in the coops/runs also.
Our first fall/winter (09). I just raked the leaves from around that area and had no problem.
We live on 17 wooded acres, so the spring of '10 I decided to rake up a bunch of the leaves around camp and burn them to help eliminate ticks and chiggers. Then I got to kick myself...I had to haul leaves from the woods for the coops...and still got to deal with ticks and chiggers. But the "yard" looked pretty...
After that lesson, I no longer waste a free resource or my time, raking the yard until I add leaves to the coop. The birds are putting a nice dent in the tick/chigger population, too!
This year, we bought a small, "new to us chipper/shredder" and I love it for adding shredded leaves to the coops/runs. And as added bonus, our dear neighbors are now bringing us their bagged leaves to use here. I'm really thankful for that as it's been too hot to even think of raking my leaves besides, I'm leaving them in place for mulch. As a thank you to them, I'll be taking over bags of shredded leaves for them to use as mulch in their flower beds and more eggs.
Dawn
Our first fall/winter (09). I just raked the leaves from around that area and had no problem.
We live on 17 wooded acres, so the spring of '10 I decided to rake up a bunch of the leaves around camp and burn them to help eliminate ticks and chiggers. Then I got to kick myself...I had to haul leaves from the woods for the coops...and still got to deal with ticks and chiggers. But the "yard" looked pretty...
After that lesson, I no longer waste a free resource or my time, raking the yard until I add leaves to the coop. The birds are putting a nice dent in the tick/chigger population, too!
This year, we bought a small, "new to us chipper/shredder" and I love it for adding shredded leaves to the coops/runs. And as added bonus, our dear neighbors are now bringing us their bagged leaves to use here. I'm really thankful for that as it's been too hot to even think of raking my leaves besides, I'm leaving them in place for mulch. As a thank you to them, I'll be taking over bags of shredded leaves for them to use as mulch in their flower beds and more eggs.
Dawn
