Diana1 Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 I'm sure I've seen this debate before but can't find it quickly. What's the best all rounder taking into account the expense? My aubiose supplier has just decided not to stock it anymore Is hemcore just another work for aubiose? Bark chips I have used before but felt they attracted mould growth and its not so easy to compost as aubiose. Now that the weather is more wintry the mud situation gets worse and i'd like my girls to get the best. So what do others recommend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 Can you get Easibed? I prefer that to Hemcore as I find Hemcore slightly fluffy - it sticks to the eggs . Hemcore tends to be more expensive (if you can even get it!). They had a fire at their warehouse a while back, I seem to remember, and the price rocketed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C&T Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 Hemcore is just another brand of horse bedding - and has the advantage of being treated with Citronella, so great deterrant to flies in the summer! We use it, and while can't compare the cost to Auboise (as never used that), have never had a problem with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 Aubiose is fab. Light, fluffy and absorbent. The hens love it. (Not so light when it has 6 weeks worth of poo in it!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 Have you considered wood chip as opposed to bark chips? I fiind them very good If your run is covered then Aubiose has to be the king although I am trying an alternatve product called Softbed that is about £3 cheaper than Aubiose that seem to be doing a good job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 Hemcore is lovely and I change it every 3 months, it smells great and dries easily but like ANH the last couple of bales have had a lot of fluffy fibre in. I'm going to give Easibed a try and will report back. I have used woodchip and prefer the softer playground one to the hard stuff. It copes with the poo fine and is easy to rake but when you have tried a horsebedding there is no going back. Its so easy to rake out the poo in little clumps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docsquid Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 Could you use Aubiose if you cover the Cube run with a clear plastic roof? I have the winter shade on and it keeps pretty dry but obviously not completely dry. I'd like to use the horse bedding if I can, maybe on a base of slabs with some drainage built underneath i.e. a good base of gravel/hardcore underneath. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jomaxsmith Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 I've tried everything in my eglu run which is covered so the bedding stays dry. Aubiose and Hemcore were both brilliant but cost too much so I swapped to Easibed, which worked really well but is quite dense and doesn't composted well. I tried a bale of Miscanthus from a local farm and thought that was brilliant, if a little spiky, but couldn't get hold of it again. I've tried Bliss (chopped rape straw) but only for one bale as the hens went mad for it (there must have been seeds still in it) and would peck it and kick it out of the nest box and run whenever they could. I'm now back to chopped wheat straw which is what my local poultry centre (Thornes) stocks. It works well, is light and composts easily. Only downside is that it costs about £8 a bale (Easibed and Bliss were much less than that) and the smell is a bit bizarre. In the uncovered free ranging bit of the run I have bark chips. Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoxy Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 Can I pop in and ask a question please? I have my Eglu and run within a fenced off, uncovered freeranging area. On the floor of the Eglu run are wood pebbles which don't disappear like bark chippings and seem very effective...although I have to replace them every year or so because they become smelly In the freeranging area I put approx. 15 bags of bark chippings but they have disappeared over time. It is now very muddy...can anyone suggest what I can put in the freeranging area instead of bark. Would Aubiose, Hemcore, Easibed be suitable bearing in mind the area gets very wet? Thank you. Confused Lou X Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jomaxsmith Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 Lou, The beddings you mention are only really suitbale for covered areas as they absorb moisture. Bark is probably the best for open areas (or something like rubber chippings). I use bark in my 'chicken garden' and replace it a couple of times a year and I am always surprised by how much of it has disappeared Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoxy Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 ah thanks Jo...looks like I may have to stick with the bark then...I have to buy about 15 bags of it so it can be quite expensive. I buy it from B & Q. Where do you buy yours? I notice you are in mid-beds...my geography is terrible. I'm in Dunstable...is that near you? Thank you. Less confused Lou Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAJ Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 Jopack and Equisorb are different brand names of products almost identical to aubiose, my local horsey place usually has at least one of these in stock. Tracy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 ah thanks Jo...looks like I may have to stick with the bark then...I have to buy about 15 bags of it so it can be quite expensive. I buy it from B & Q. Where do you buy yours? I notice you are in mid-beds...my geography is terrible. I'm in Dunstable...is that near you? Thank you. Less confused Lou Try your local tree surgeon for a tipper load of woodchips, they should last longer and may even be free Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoxy Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 thanks for that tip Tasha...I'll give it a go ))) Lou X Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 There is someone near me that fly tips fresh wood chippings, I am saving up feed sacks for a dusk visit to the woodchip piles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 There is someone near me that fly tips fresh wood chippings, I am saving up feed sacks for a dusk visit to the woodchip piles I just read that as duck visit. Wondered if you were getting more birds! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jomaxsmith Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 Lou - I only ever buy 3 bags at a time so I get them from the local garden centre or DIY shed. Asking a tree surgeon would be a good idea, or getting a one tonne bag from somewhere that sells mulches in bulk. I'm near Biggleswade! Not too far from you x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troyca Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 I had a tree felled as part of my preparations for hens in spring. The tree feller said he would happily supply me with chippings if I wanted any-for free. I need something that breaks down fairly quickly as providing compost is one of the girls jobs so I think I might go for something else as the run will be covered. I was thinking of shredded paper for the nest box-there is something pleasing about getting my bills pooed on. Does anyone else use shredded paper for this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gelbel Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 Wow - I am shattered. I have made use of the lovely sun to take out all of the bark from my run; it's just about 3 months old and was getting smelly due to all the rain. My run is covered but driving rain will get in the sides and the girls will insist in playing out and come in all dripping wet. Anyhow, I've been thinking about a change and popped out to get a bag of easibed. So I moved all the old bark out, painstakingly put a border of that grass edging stuff all around the bottom of the run as I am fed up of the girls kicking the flooring out of the run and installed easibed. It smells lovely, the girls were a bit hesitant but eventually went back in - well except for Grace who ran into the nest box! My lovely Rita is having a lovely time and buried herself in the easibed. I'll give an update on how I find it for absorbing chicken poo, if it gets messy in monsoonlike down pours and how economical it is. I paid £8 something for a 25kg bag (bet I can get it cheaper but I went where I knew they would have it, fairly close to home) and used about 1/3-1/2 of it for my run. Seeing as I have worked my butt off; I am going to plonk myself down in front of the telly and ogle at Jonny Wilkinson with a rather cheeky bottle of red (that's me with the wine not Jonny and who cares that it's a bit early for a slurp?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beulah59 Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 Does anyone else use shredded paper for this? Yes, a base layer of paper topped by straw (not that it stays like that!) ... it's fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jomaxsmith Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 I use shredded newspaper in the nestbox occasionally (if I run out of straw) and it's fine but I do find it sticks to the eggs and leaves print on them and is also seems to get quite damp. I prefer straw Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gelbel Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 I use shredded newspaper in the nest box but don't have any problems with print on eggs nor damp - and my girls sleep in the box (and poop for England while they are at it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 Wow - I am shattered. I have made use of the lovely sun to take out all of the bark from my run; it's just about 3 months old and was getting smelly due to all the rain. My run is covered but driving rain will get in the sides and the girls will insist in playing out and come in all dripping wet. Anyhow, I've been thinking about a change and popped out to get a bag of easibed. I've just done exactly the same today. The easibed does smell nice. We'll have to compare notes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackthelad Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 We have used easibed for the eglu run which isn't covered except for an omlet shade at the end and so far it had held up well even with all the rain we have had the last week the chickens have only been with us 4 weeks but so far so good. As for the nest I have been bringing paper for the bin home from work and putting it through a shredder seems to do the job and its free!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkysmum Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 I was going to suggest the same I use tree surgeon wood chips & they are either free or £1 a bag. Whilst the quality isn't always brilliant - ( depends on what is being chipped) the hens do seem to like it. However I do love hemcore, so clean and smells devine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
