While many chicken keepers are still using wood shavings or straw as litter for their feathered friends, more people are discovering the benefits of using hemp bedding for chickens in their coops.
This unique material offers an eco-friendly alternative to traditional litter, along with being cost-effective and benefitting your birds in several ways.
Selecting the bedding you use for your chickens is an important decision, as it plays a role in the overall health of your flock. That’s why we’re giving you our honest guide to using hemp, so you can make informed choices about what you put inside your coop.
Let’s get started by discussing why your birds need bedding in the first place.
What Is Bedding and Why Should You Put It in Your Coop?
Chicken coop bedding is material, like wood chips or straw, that is placed on the enclosure floor to manage your birds’ waste. It also provides insulation from the cold and a cushion for hens when they jump off their roosts or nesting boxes.
Despite the fact that chickens don’t excrete liquid urine, their droppings are still extremely high in moisture. This dampness must be absorbed from the coop so that it doesn’t cause any problems for your birds.
Wet floors could result in your hens developing sores on their feet that may become infected, often leading to bumblefoot. They also support the growth of dangerous bacteria that make chickens ill or could even cause their death.
This is why it’s so important to use highly absorbent bedding in your coop to ensure the floor stays dry and your hens stay healthy.
Because bedding quickly dries out waste, it also helps to prevent odors, making the coop a more pleasant place for your birds to spend their time in.
What Is Hemp Bedding?
Hemp bedding is a soft, fibrous litter made from the woody stalk, also known as the hurd, of the cannabis plant.
Manufacturers dry the stalk out and then pulp it down into a straw-like structure to create the product.
The bedding comes in a compact brick that expands as you start to dig into it.
Hemp is an extremely versatile plant that has been used in manufacturing for hundreds of years. Because it is one of the fastest-growing plants on earth, it’s considered to be a highly sustainable way of making products like paper and textiles.
It’s perfectly legal to use hemp bedding for chickens, as the crop isn’t the same as marijuana. Hemp plants contain extremely low amounts of the psychoactive components found in cannabis, and no harm will come to your chickens should they accidentally ingest any of the litter.
The Benefits of Hemp Bedding for Chickens
Using hemp bedding for chickens offers a number of advantages over more traditionally used litter materials like wood shavings. Let’s take a look at a few of the most important benefits.
Highly Absorbent
Many litter materials quickly become saturated and damp, creating a breeding ground for disease-causing organisms.
Hemp bedding is highly absorbent, being able to draw in four times its weight in moisture. It soaks up any dampness like a sponge, making it an ideal litter option for your chickens.
Your coop stays dry and you don’t have to clean it as often. It’s a win for both you and your birds.
Reduces Dust Formation
Many bedding options, like sand and straw, contain high amounts of tiny particles. This dust can trigger a chicken’s delicate respiratory system, getting into its airways and causing breathing problems.
Dust also creates a thriving environment for mites that are a nuisance to your birds.
Hemp bedding is known for reducing dust formation and accumulation, making it a much healthier alternative. It eliminates respiratory issues, as well as any nasal and eye infections that could be caused by dusty litter.
Cost-Effective
Although hemp bedding may initially cost more to purchase than other litter, it saves you money in the long run.
Hemp bedding has a higher coverage rate than other materials, with multiple bags of pine shavings needed in place of one bag of hemp.
It also has a high clumping aspect, facilitating the easy removal of soiled litter and minimizing waste.
Hemp’s long lifespan means you don’t have to change your bedding as often as with other materials, making it a highly cost-effective option.
You can also get further use out of any dirty hemp bedding, as the product can be used as fertilizer once it has been composted.
Reduces Odors and Ammonia Levels
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The accumulation of chicken droppings can result in quite a smell inside your coop. Your birds’ waste is also high in ammonia, and extreme levels of this compound can be detrimental to their health.
Because hemp bedding is so porous and absorbent, it helps lower levels of ammonia in the air, causing a noticeable improvement in the smell of your chickens’ living spaces.
An Excellent Insulator
Bedding plays an important role in keeping your chickens warm during the winter months. It provides an insulating layer that traps warmth inside the coop and protects your birds’ feet from walking on extremely cold surfaces.
Hemp litter is an excellent insulator thanks to its water-absorbing capabilities and low bulk density. It has a higher thermal rating than other bedding materials and will keep your cluckers comfortable and cozy during cold spells.
A Natural Insect Repellent
Parasitic mites can cause problems for your chickens by reducing their egg production and spreading diseases. The birds are also often plagued by ticks, which cause massive discomfort and also lower their laying rate.
Hemp bedding contains unique natural pesticides that repel bothersome insects. Laboratory testing of two compounds found in the crop, caryophyllene and humulene, found that they deter mites and even showed promise against ticks.
This means that using hemp as litter in your chicken coop can contribute to your birds’ overall health by preventing the spread of dangerous diseases among them.
The Disadvantages of Hemp Bedding for Chickens
It’s clear that using hemp bedding is an excellent way to both ensure the health and safety of your chickens and reduce the amount of time you have to spend cleaning your coop and runs.
However, there are a few drawbacks that you must consider before selecting this litter for your birds.
Since hemp is a seasonal crop, it might not always be readily available for purchase. Many feed and big box stores may also not stock the product, sometimes making it difficult to find. You’ll likely have to order it online from a specialty store.
Young chicks can sometimes mistake smaller hemp fibers for food, which is a concern if that particular piece of material has absorbed moisture from droppings. It may be safer to use large pine shavings in chicken brooders to ensure hatchings don’t accidentally ingest any waste.
How Does Hemp Bedding for Chickens Compare to Wood Shavings?
Wood shavings are a highly popular form of chicken coop bedding, but they differ from hemp in a number of ways. Here’s a table to show the main differences between these two types of litter:
A High-Quality Bedding Alternative
Hemp bedding is a wonderful choice for any chicken keeper looking for a high-quality, eco-friendly litter option. It offers comfort, excellent absorbency, and sustainability, making it a worthwhile investment for the happiness of your flock.
Keep in mind that it isn’t essential to switch to hemp bedding for chickens. If pine shavings or straw are working for your birds, you can continue using them with peace of mind.
But if you’re looking to give your cluckers a luxurious experience, hemp might be for you. Consider trying it in your chicken coop to see just how easy it can make clean-ups and enhance the health of your hens.
