Using Hemp Shavings from the start was actually a smashing success.
Typically, baby chicks (particularly Cornish Cross) will gobble wood shavings which causes digestive issues and contributes to pasty butt. In the past, our first week of Cornish Cross involved changing out cloth covering on the floor of the brooder every day, and washing those poopy sheets, which I would not so affectionately call, "Sh!tSheets." Stinky and messy, but it made a huge difference in our chicks' survival rate. Once they figured out Food, a little more than a week later, we would put them on the shavings, and change that out every few days. It is a lot of work staying ahead of the wet, dirty shavings, and the smell.
We started using hemp shavings last fall for our layers. They seemed fine with it. It does have a different smell to it than the aspen shavings (our preferred shavings). The smell is not overpowering, and does not seem to impact the hens. So we tried it this year with our layer pullets. We did start them on the sheets, like usual, and transitioned them fairly quickly onto the shavings (about three days in). With Layer Chicks, even on the sheets, we still experience some level of pasty butt (usually just a chick or two) during the first week, but that can be caused from other health issues and potential dehydration caused from shipment from the hatcheries over the span of a few days. As soon as we were certain that the pasty butt problems were done, we moved them onto the hemp shavings and they did great.
Several weeks later, our meat chicks (Cornish Cross) showed up and so we decided to do a bit of an experiment. Because Cornish Cross grow twice as fast as layer chicks, we decided to put them directly onto the hemp shavings on the first day. They did great. No Pasty Butts out of 25 chicks, and no deaths in the first week or two. The hemp does a much better job of regulating the smell and is much more absorbent than the wood shavings, so we were able to go a full week on the hemp without changing anything out. As they got bigger, we did need it change it more often, but it was still not as frequent as we would need to do with the aspen shavings. Seems to be more cost effective, but also labor effective.
This year, another thing we did differently was to use large square puppy pee pads under the shavings (and under the sheet). This also helped a lot. The pee pads are fairly inexpensive, and we actually were able to use them multiple times by shaking them out and putting them back down. Just make certain that the plastic edges are folded back under the pad so that the chicks don't peck at them.
All in all, the hemp (and the pee pad) experience has been a more productive and effective process for our chicks, and now ducks. If you are wondering how much I'm paying for the hemp, I look for the large bales (about 25 to 30 pounds) and have been paying about $2 per pound with shipping and handling included in that price. I have yet to be able to find any feed or pet stores in the area that sell it. I keep asking around. I have found a local source just outside of our major town that hemp is their sole business called Hemp Solutions. But since I'm stocked up with several hundred pounds of hemp shavings, I will wait until I have used that up before I contact that company to see how their prices compare.
