Congratulations! That will make you sooooooo happy. I like to put some saw dust in the nesting boxes. They smell so much better. The chickens don't seem to mind it.

Yes...it was a very happy day, and I agree the smell of sawdust is most pleasant and a bonus for chicken coops.

Mona --- We'll be using the extra as deep bedding materials for the chicken coop. It definitely won't go to waste! And it smells really good.

Do you have access to/tried pine branches? I heard they are excellent for chicken coop's.

Marco --- We have a couple of pine trees, but they're some distance away and up a steep hill, so I'd have to carry anything I cut from them home by hand. I do rake their needles occasionally to mulch the blueberries, but we usually use bagged autumn leaves my mother finds on the curb (or that I rake out of easier parts of the woods) for our chicken coop bedding. I'm curious to see how the sawdust compares to the leaves.

There is a local ad on craigslist for pu loads of sawdust/chicken manure mix for only $3 a load. What would you use it for? I've been wanting to get some (three bucks? whipee!) but wouldn't know how to use it.

Fostermamas --- I'm jealous!!! I'd probably put it in a pile and let it compost for a year or so, then use it to mulch perennials (like berry bushes, fruit trees, etc.) Or you could let it age another year or so (adding urine if necessary to provide enough nitrogen to get it to really break down) and use it as compost on the garden. Definitely good organic matter!

Sawdust smells nice, but what you smell isn't always good for you.

Some woods (e.g. cypress and pine varieties) contain acids that irritate the airways and can provoke astma.

Roland --- What I was smelling was decomposing microorganisms --- that kinda woodsy aroma you get in healthy leaf mould. So, not the bad kind of good smells.