The decreased availability and rising cost of wood shavings has caused poultry producers and researchers to investigate other materials, including pine sawdust in Perth. Other materials they are also exploring include rice and peanut hulls, ground corncobs, sand, and several others. These alternative materials are normally compared to wood shavings; some are as or nearly as effective while others are less effective when used as litter for poultry.

Rice hulls

These are readily available in certain parts of the world, and poultry birds have performed quite well when they were utilised as their bedding material. They are usually free of excessive dust, and their normal size, drying rate, and thermal conductivity make them an excellent choice for poultry bedding. They could be utilised alone or together with pine shavings.

Peanut hulls

These have been utilised by broiler growers successfully in certain parts of the world. They are easily available in regions where peanuts are grown on a large scale.

Pine sawdust

Chickens have been verified to do quite well on pine sawdust, even though litter consumption has been an issue. Turkeys happen to be even more liable to litter consumption than chickens, which could then make sawdust a choice that’s less desirable as litter bedding in housing them. One other con of sawdust as bedding material for turkey litters is that is seems to contain aspergillosis organisms, which turkeys are specifically susceptible to. It contains terpenes (undesirable oils that are available in conifer trees) too. Oakford Firewood Company in Perth offers the best quality sawdust you can ever get to use for your poultry.

Ground corncobs

Corncobs are truly famous in regions that produce large quantities of corn. The corncobs have to be cut, and the cut pieces mustn’t be larger than the size of a normal garden pea. Should the pieces be cut too long, breast blisters could then become an issue. Corncobs feature a truly high moisture absorption capacity, but wet ones could also form mould.

Sand

Auburn University researchers have studied the utilisation of sand as bedding material in some commercial broiler litter houses. Their research has discovered that the broilers that were raised on sand performed just as well or even noticeably better that those that were raised in litter house with pine wood shavings as their bedding. An enhanced foot pad quality was also noticed. The findings were actually confirmed in an official field study.

After ten consecutive broiler stocks were raised in a litter that had sand as their bedding, the birds kept on having excellent feed conversion and great growth. Additionally, the litter houses that had the sand bedding featured must less dust, much lower darkling beetles’ levels, much less caking, as well as enhanced temperatures in the litter houses (2°F warmer during the winter and cooler during summer).

These are the wood shaving alternatives poultry keepers can use, including pine sawdust Perth. There are several others, but these are the foremost ones. For all flock producers, their litter bedding choice should be based on availability appropriateness, and cost of material. Chosen options must be relatively cheap and readily available, in addition to several other features.