Benefits of Native Warm Season Grasses as Poultry Bedding

1. Easier to clean out of coops than straw and hay. Straw and hay tend to mat or cake easily.
Native warm season grass ground into poultry bedding, because of its shape, doesn’t cling to
itself like wood shavings. Unlike straw and hay, it isn’t hard to pull dirtied fibers out of the
pen/nest.
2. Improves moisture control in coops. When the bedding is more finely ground, it can wick up
more moisture if there are wet spots in a pen or coop. It may not dry out as fast as straw or hay,
but it will certainly get the moisture contained well. It can be left in the pen if the wetting isn’t
too severe or scooped out and either composted or used in another application.
3. Has the potential to reduce the incidence and/or severity of foot pad injuries. This is most
significant in commercial or backyard broiler coops. What happens here is that native warm
season grass bedding, if processed such that the longest particles are less than 1.5 inches in
length, tends to cake over less severely than soft wood shavings or longer bedding types such as
straw and hay. This can prevent excess manure to footpad skin contact. That contact, if not
managed properly, could cause ammonia burns to the foot pads, which could then lead to
infection of the foot pad, causing the condition that backyard chicken owners know as
“bumblefoot”. Say no to “bumblefoot”!
4. Does not stick to feathers as much as other products. This is most significant in “show bird”
applications. Folks that were “showing” at the Bloomsburg Fair and the Pennsylvania Farm Show
liked this quality in our processed bedding.
In addition to the above, growing native warm season grasses and processing them into poultry bedding
can lend itself to “sustainable agriculture” which can be defined in many ways but ultimately seeks to
sustain farmers, resources, and communities by promoting farming practices and methods that are
profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities. Buy local!
Environmental Benefits of Growing Native Warm Season Grasses
1. Improves air quality by removing carbon from the atmosphere.
2. Improves water quality by reducing soil erosion due to a deep root system and by sequestering
soil nitrogen and phosphorous.
3. Improves soil quality through reduced soil erosion.
4. Improves wildlife habitat for many species from insects to white tailed deer.