[joyfull]

hopefully Lindeggs will be able to help and advise about different plants from your side of the world  .
wood chipping and bark can be good, wood shavings, leaves are also generally good.
I use hemcore which is the chopped up stems from the hemp plant and that is dry, quite fine and quite woody, it is very absorbant and although I don't follow the deep litter system like Lindeggs or Annie I do throw into their coops a few seeds every couple of days and the girls turn it over making it longer between cleaning out - big clumps then get picked out. Hemcore is a horse type of bedding so perhaps you could look around for something similar.

[joyfull]

I have just merged all the posts from the last couple of days regarding the deep litter system so that nobody has to keep jumping from one topic to another (thanks for the suggestion Lindeggs  ).

[myfanwe]

I have just merged all the posts from the last couple of days regarding the deep litter system so that nobody has to keep jumping from one topic to another (thanks for the suggestion Lindeggs  ).

Terrific! Thanks, Joyfull. 

[Lindeggs]

Thanks for the merge, Joyfull. 

myfanwe I agree that pineapple offcuts would be too spiky and too fleshy.  Macadamia leaves are quite leathery so would need to be chopped up further and they aren't deciduous so you won't get a huge heap of leaves at once.  The macca nut shells are too spiky and the husks too fleshy and don't break down easily. (I know because I tried them!)

The tree in your yard sounds ideal (assuming it's not toxic).

In NZ we can't get the hemp products but I don't know about Australia.  I think the equivalent might be bales of rice hulls.  Do you grow rice in your part of Queensland?

[myfanwe]

Not sure whether rice hulls would be available here in QLD or not, I will need to investigate and see. In the meantime I will try and positively identify my tree and use the leaves if it's safe. I found a list of plants online which are potentially toxic to chickens and looked through it for the 'money tree' by botanical name and its two common names and it was not on there, so hoping that it is fine. I will ask at my local nursery.

Another thought I had was coconut husk but not sure if that would be good or not.

[joyfull]

I bet coconut husk would be ok.
have you had a look at this list:-

http://maxshouse.com/Toxic_Plants%20_Index.htm

[myfanwe]

That list is the same one I looked at, but it's on a different website. I can't remember the url of the one I saw, but it was an identical list. Money Tree is not on it under Money Tree, Honesty tree or Lunaria Annua. I'm just trying to positively identify the tree in our yard as that species and then I should be set to rake up some leaves tomorrow for bedding.

[joyfull]

could you post a photo of the leaves on here and fingers crossed somebody would recognise it  .
Shouldn't you be in bed now? Its 2 in the afternoon here 

[myfanwe]

Oh good idea about the photo!
It's only just past midnight here. The night is young. 

[Lindeggs]

...
The man who mows our yard uses a ride on mower ...

Aha!  The Lawn Mower Man might hold the key!

I just had a conversation with my Lawn Mower Man the other day.  He was complaining that he hates this time of year because of all the extra leaves he has to clear up... and sure enough in the back of his van he had a giant wool-bale full of leaves!

Maybe ask your lawn mower man if you could help him by taking some leaves off his hands.