Ever since we started raising ducks, we have been using straw for their bedding as it is inexpensive, more absorbent and the ducks are less likely to try to eat it BUT straw can be brittle, and sometimes sharp on their feet and underbellies. Last fall, I saw a guy using a wood chipper to shred the straw for his ducks, which I thought was a good idea, but didn't want to invest that much money on something dedicated to breaking down straw. After more reading this past year, I decided that I would try a leaf mulcher, but I wanted something that was inexpensive, battery or electric, and easy to use. Most of the inexpensive leaf mulchers were combo leaf and small branch chippers, and well, I didn't like their designs. I opted for a glorified weed whacker in a barrel type of leaf mulcher. It's noisy, dusty, and kinda messy, but it got the job done quickly without a lot of extra effort. Dumped a five-gallon bucket of straw into the device, and whizzzzzzz, it was done in less than a minute.
While I won't "promote" any particular product, but I'm guessing you would be able to figure it out if you went searching for leaf mulchers. 😁
And the final product to the right of the original bale.
