Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: karlooben on September 26, 2009, 20:34
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as its now coming up to winter an the nights will be getting colder is there really a risk of using straw as i am reading a lot about straw an mites . my girls have had lice a few times this year but since the frontline use they have been clear finally :D but i would like to bed them with straw on the floor as well to give some extra warmth especailly in my little quarantine house thats back i use again with a poorly girl tonight . she was hunched down in the corner under the shelf i use to cover over the nest boxes an it really looked like she was being picked on quite badly , her wings were drooped pretty low an she felt cold when i picked her up . i have given her a deep sqaured tub for her to lay in that has flax bedding in but i would prefer to of used straw.
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I have had chickens for years and always used straw, also my chickens have never had lice (touch wood :unsure: ).
Michelle xx
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We've been using straw for 30+ years now, and don't seem to have had any probs.
Have a regular clean-out, though.
The straw/feather/poo mix is great for the compost heap :D :D
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thankyou , bedding seems to be another topic were theres so many different answers for . i want to re use straw for the winter months but after reading that it could harbour the mites made me wary of it .
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When you say "re-use", Karlooben, you mean re-used from what ?
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probably a daft question :wub: but ours now sleep on a perch so the straw on the floor wouldn't be any good for keeping them warm in the winter ... I'm assuming that they'll be fine on the perch and would come down and snuggle in the straw if they needed to (?) :blush:
xx
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i found it insulates the floor of the house so the cold does not rise. mine still perch but i get a face full of warm air when i open the house.
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:) :) OK thanks for that, never realised that ... straw for the floor then, we want nice cosy hens
xx
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Well if you are going to have mites, they will hide in shavings just as well as they do straw. the reason we don't use straw, is that if it gets damp from the urates then the hollow shafts could harbour mould spores which can give respiratory diseases.
So although ours girls roost on their perches, the shavings are just as, if not more insulating than straw as it covers the floor better.
That is only my opinion, as you know we all have our own opinions! ;)
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We use straw in the nest box and shavings on the floor of our fairly small, raised coop and have, touch wood, not yet had any mites.
Could you use hemp-based bedding (hemcor ?) or similar ?
Rob 8)
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wer use hemcore and easibed in the coop and nest boxes, thick layer on the floor, about 52 thick, sprinkled with stanoslan f, and also diatom and louse powder, just pick out the poop from under the perch each day, quick spray with vikron and turn the floor covering over.
nice and easy.
all goes to the compost.
martyn
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i use flax bedding which is similar to hemp tpye beddings also its the cheapest one out there as i get it for the horses .
i can understand that mites can hide away in any beding but if its changed weekly then there should not be a probelm really , i hate the flax bedding as one it doesnt burn easily an it doesnt root down like other bedding . i have shelving under my perches so the floor doesnt always get that dirty :D
reading other ppls opinions can be a good thing cant it grannie :D this is why i wanted to check first .
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i use straw and get on with it fine, i find its less messy than shavings, i use shavings with my guinea pigs and it forever falling out on the floor. Nickyx
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I'm now using shredded paper for the nest boxes which is taken out every/every other day and burned.
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i no longer use bedding in the nest boxes as the eggs were always getting broken now they have home made nest boxes with insert trays that is working really well now i only get 2 or 3 broken eggs a week , i'll probably start adding straw to the floor next week as its meant to be getting colder .
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There are such things as straw mites which infest old damp and dirty straw but they don't infest shavings. I once was using a shooting hide made of old bales of straw to shoot rabbits and the next day came out in a terribly itchy body rash over my arm and back which was due to resting on the straw bales and having an allergic reaction to the mites. However if you regularly replace it and don't let it become damp and smelly there's no particular problem. Chopped straw is best and you can mix it with shavings for more absorbancy. It's often used in this form for horse bedding. I use chopped straw in the nestboxes as the chx eat it less than shavings and I use shavings on the floor of the house and under perches which are designed so that the chx only walk on the central channel.
Regards
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I use shredded paper under straw in the ark over a layer of newspaper (all liberally laced with Diatom). It all goes in the compost whenever I feel like it. On the floor of the run (only recently complete) I've put a thin layer of straw which they love and which I plan to rake up regularly - again to the compost.
I noticed this morning it's a little whiffey, so that's a job for later today when they're out free ranging. I use Stalosan F on the floor, too.
I shall only burn it if we discover we have mites ... we don't have an ideal place for a fire in the garden.
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Hi Beulah, I assume from your post that you've probavly read this thread about Red Mite control http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=45792.msg536986#msg536986
A word of caution on sprinkling Diatom or indeed other dusts in the litter especially if the chx can walk in it. Chx are particularly susceptible to airbourne respiratory diseases and a single dust particle can carry enormous numbers of viruses (I think i've seen figures in the millions quoted) not to mention the undesirability of the mechanical effects of dust on the lungs. We all know about farmers lung, asbestos and coal dust caused diseases it therefore makes sense for you and your chx to try to keep dust down to a minimum. I use Diatom too in my red mite control and I think it's reasonably effective so i want to contine to do so, but to cut the dust down I now only apply it as a slurry painted onto the perches and into corners where I know red mite have colonised in the past. It dries to a light off white coating which isn't too dusty but non the less still seems to work. It also dries the droppings and stops them sticking to the perches where they fall through on to shavings on the floor where the chx can't walk. To mix the "paint" add the diatom to the water and mix as you increase the concentration to a creamy liquid slurry. Actually I use a disinfectant base rather than water, Vanodine W18, which i hope kills any viruses /bacteria too. I don't know for sure that his is any use as a disinfectant once it has dried but seems to make sense.
For more info on the possible dangers of using Diatom or similar products see http://www.shagbarkbantams.com/contents.htm
Best of luck
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OMG......... Makes you think though!! I use alot of diatom :(
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also shows we learn new things everyday :D