Sunflower hulls for bedding

[Bald Rick]

We got some samples of bedding recently to see what alternatives there are out there and one of the things was sunflower hulls available in bulk.

We tried an absorbency test on all the samples by adding 100ml of water and found the hulls were remarkably absorbent.

Anyone using them? Would blending them with sawdust be a better job?

 

[TheRanger]

I thought you already had a starling problem?

 

[Bald Rick]

I thought you already had a starling problem?

Ah. I see a flaw in my thoughts. Sawdust at £120/t it is ...

 

[deleted user 837354]

What is wrong with milled straw?

 

[goodevans]

What is wrong with milled straw?

Finding it I presume

 

[Bald Rick]

What is wrong with milled straw?

No good on slats. Even envirobed can be difficult to get down the slits as it goes lumpy when wet

 

[sjt01]

Just ordered a load ourselves, as straw is in such short supply even in the East. Of all the alternatives, its absorbency per £ cost was as good as anything, and I reckon our digester will prefer it to sawdust.

 

[Scholsey]

Where can you get them from?

 

[Bald Rick]

Where can you get them from?

NW Resources.
Say that supply is not an issue. Guess they must be a by product of a local health food factory ?

 

[Bald Rick]

Just ordered a load ourselves, as straw is in such short supply even in the East. Of all the alternatives, its absorbency per £ cost was as good as anything, and I reckon our digester will prefer it to sawdust.

Be interested to hear how you get on. Hadn’t thought of starlings tbh but I can see a serious issue there

 

[sjt01]

Be interested to hear how you get on. Hadn’t thought of starlings tbh but I can see a serious issue there

We were also offered sawdust, Cozi-Bed, Cozi-Blend, Finebed and Oat husk. After absorbency testing, the oat husk has some germinating oat seeds.

 

[Bald Rick]

We were also offered sawdust, Cozi-Bed, Cozi-Blend, Finebed and Oat husk. After absorbency testing, the oat husk has some germinating oat seeds.

Think we had the same set of sample bags....

 

[sjt01]

Think we had the same set of sample bags....

and came to the same conclusion, which is reassuring.

 

[SolwayFarmer]

We’ve been using oat hulls since Coronavirus started as couldn’t get sawdust. Was a good bedding material but we seemed to use a lot and found it hard to keep in cubicles. It also started to block slurry channels to the point I was having to flush them with slurry tanker every 10 days or so.

Now on kiln dried sawdust from Jenkinsons using way less bedding, cows as clean and no problems with slurry channels. Cell counts haven’t changed at all. Hulls were cheaper per tonne but overall bedding costs are have ended up much the same.

We’ve also had major pigeon problems with the hulls. That’s also stopped with the sawdust.

 

[Rob Holmes]

Quite a large supply of spent coffee grounds around here coming out of Nestle Nescafé factory in Hatton, apparently good for bedding, not sure if haulage to Anglesey will kill it though.
They can struggle to get rid of them sometimes and I know a few people who spread then direct onto grass

 

[Bald Rick]

We’ve been using oat hulls since Coronavirus started as couldn’t get sawdust. Was a good bedding material but we seemed to use a lot and found it hard to keep in cubicles. It also started to block slurry channels to the point I was having to flush them with slurry tanker every 10 days or so.

Now on kiln dried sawdust from Jenkinsons using way less bedding, cows as clean and no problems with slurry channels. Cell counts haven’t changed at all. Hulls were cheaper per tonne but overall bedding costs are have ended up much the same.

We’ve also had major pigeon problems with the hulls. That’s also stopped with the sawdust.

Oat hulls were by far the worst for absorbency

Sunflower hulls turn a bit mushy when wet even though they seem to absorb well. Just thankful to have had a delivery of sawdust today although I’d forgotten how blow away it is

 

[dairyconsultant]

We're in discussions regarding sourcing a straw crumble made from NIS, do you think that may be of interest ?

 

[Lewis]

We’ve been using oat hulls since Coronavirus started as couldn’t get sawdust. Was a good bedding material but we seemed to use a lot and found it hard to keep in cubicles. It also started to block slurry channels to the point I was having to flush them with slurry tanker every 10 days or so.

Now on kiln dried sawdust from Jenkinsons using way less bedding, cows as clean and no problems with slurry channels. Cell counts haven’t changed at all. Hulls were cheaper per tonne but overall bedding costs are have ended up much the same.

We’ve also had major pigeon problems with the hulls. That’s also stopped with the sawdust.

Do oat husks work for calve/youngstock bedding very well? With occasional straw usage too i was thinking. ?