Use for Sawdust?

weendogmom · #1 03/26/13, 02:29 PM

Hi - we are starting up our homestead and have chickens, a few turkeys, ducks, two pigs, and two goats.
I've been buying the pine shavings in the compressed bag from various locations, but they seem kinda pricey to keep using long term, and straw is not readily available in our part of the country.

There is a saw mill up the road from me that will sell us a truck load of saw dust for .30 cents a cubic foot.

Any good uses for this from other folks? Can we use it as a cheaper source of bedding or at the least, a mix in? Pros - cons?

where I want to · #2 03/26/13, 02:37 PM

There is saw dust and there is saw dust. Some is really dust. Others are just fine particles.
I use bags of what is labelled as saw dust for the goat bedding as I run it through a sifter each day and it lasts a long time. It is not "dusty" at all.
But if it is really so fine as to be dust, I might worry about the animals breathing it in comfined spaces.
And the ususal caveat about avoiding walnut and other toxic woods. If you're sure about the wood the dust comes from and it is not fine it hangs in the air, then go for it.

TnAndy · #3 03/26/13, 03:08 PM

Something else to consider, depending on your use.....most sawdust from a mill has a high moisture content, being sawn from green logs....it can be as much as 30-40% water.

Most shavings are wood that has been dried.

Pheasant283 · #4 03/26/13, 03:17 PM

Most of my saw dust and wood shavings that comes from the table saw, planner, ect. gets swept up and put into empty feed sacks then I use it in the chicken coop, or rabbit nest boxes as needed.

simi-steading · #5 03/26/13, 03:18 PM

Filling noisy tractor and mower transmissions just before you sell them..

Tobit · #6 03/26/13, 03:18 PM

Probably not a good use for you but I will be using a lot of pine sawdust in cordwood construction as part of the mortar mix and insulation.

TNHermit · #7 03/26/13, 03:35 PM

Make your self a saw dust burner. Easy. I have one. It heats the shop. Runs about 3-4 hours on a charge. And If I want I can burn regular wood.

You can burn it in a regular stove too. Just put a schedule 40 in the center. Pack sawdust around it. Pull the s SC40 and drop a lit kleenex down the middle. It will burn from the inside out.
You can make them any size. Check google and the tube

Copperhead · #8 03/27/13, 11:09 AM

Ask the sawmill for wood CHIPS or bark Chips. They last longer as animal bedding and are nearly as absorbent. The bark breaks down quickly for areas you want to turn into a garden in the spring. The wood chips can last a while longer and are good for areas that get muddy or swamp or lots of foot traffic.

And the chips are probably cheaper. I have 6' racks on an 8' truck bed. Round the numbers to 8x6x6, I get 288 cu.ft. of chips for the $20 load fee.

I over-winter my pigs and goats on my gardens. In the Fall, after they eat all the green matter from last years garden, I add 6+" of chips/bark. In April, when the weather warms and snow melts, they go to paddocks or pasture and I add another 2 or 3 inches. In mid May, I plant "Back to Eden" style

Speaking of which, find, download and watch the "Back to Eden" video!

joebill · #9 03/27/13, 12:54 PM

I'd advise against keeping the "dust" around. I used to save Mesquite sawdust for a meat smoking outfit. I kept it in trash bags, and one night some of the moist stuff spontainiously combusted. Might be OK if you can keep air to it, but I won't have moist dust around anymore. I spread it to the wind.

I still produce about 5 gallons of dry juniper dust per working day and it smells great, if anybody has a use for it, but it has to leave here before much accumulates.....Joe

Joe.G · #10 03/27/13, 07:04 PM

Ask for Bark Mulch or wood chips, My Buddy Runs a large Saw mill a couple miles from my home, I get all the Mulch and dust I can use for free, Bark Mulch is my favorite. A lot of farmers use the saw dust for cow bedding.

am1too · #11 03/27/13, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weendogmom

Hi - we are starting up our homestead and have chickens, a few turkeys, ducks, two pigs, and two goats.
I've been buying the pine shavings in the compressed bag from various locations, but they seem kinda pricey to keep using long term, and straw is not readily available in our part of the country.

There is a saw mill up the road from me that will sell us a truck load of saw dust for .30 cents a cubic foot.

Any good uses for this from other folks? Can we use it as a cheaper source of bedding or at the least, a mix in? Pros - cons?

If it is pine - yes.

I get mine for free soaked with horse urine mixed with pucks and hay. I sift out the dust and compost the rest. The dust dries out and can be used as bedding and mulch IMO. I also direct apply as mulch in the field.

indypartridge · #12 03/28/13, 04:55 AM

As others have noted, it depends on how fine the sawdust is. We have a sawmill near us and have used sawdust - very coarse - as bedding for horses for years.

Elizabeth · #13 03/28/13, 08:54 AM

We love sawdust. Can't get enough of it!

When we had livestock in the barn we used to put down a 3-4" layer in the stalls/pens. On top of that we would use straw, hay, leaves, and/or grass clippings for bedding. We cleaned out the pens once or twice a year and the bedding went straight onto the garden or it got composted.

Now I am trying to get all the free sawdust that I can find to use in the garden paths. It keeps the weeds down, holds in moisture, and is really nice to walk on.

Danaus29 · #14 03/28/13, 03:26 PM

If there is no walnut in it, it can be used as bedding and mulch. Black walnut contains a substance called juglone which can cause problems with some animals and most plants.

indypartridge · #15 03/29/13, 05:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danaus29

If there is no walnut in it, it can be used as bedding and mulch.

Good point. Our local sawmill always lets me know if he's been cutting walnut, tells me to come back next week after that sawdust has been cleared out.

weendogmom · #16 03/29/13, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tobit

Probably not a good use for you but I will be using a lot of pine sawdust in cordwood construction as part of the mortar mix and insulation.

This is interesting. Are you using concrete type mortor or mud/clay based?

weendogmom · #17 03/29/13, 08:08 AM

Thanks for the great replies. I will have to go and take a look at the quality of it and ask about walnut.

Forerunner · #18 03/29/13, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elizabeth

We love sawdust. Can't get enough of it!

When we had livestock in the barn we used to put down a 3-4" layer in the stalls/pens. On top of that we would use straw, hay, leaves, and/or grass clippings for bedding. We cleaned out the pens once or twice a year and the bedding went straight onto the garden or it got composted.

Now I am trying to get all the free sawdust that I can find to use in the garden paths. It keeps the weeds down, holds in moisture, and is really nice to walk on.

That's the attitude I like to see.

There is no such thing as too much sawdust...... just lack of imagination.

......and, just pile that walnut sawdust off to the side to add to your compost pile as it needs a carbon boost.
Those thermophiles know just what to do with juglone.

Jim-mi · #19 03/29/13, 10:48 AM

Don't for get that a sawdust "toilet" is fail safe.....