Aubiouse

[mooky]

Does anyone know where I can get this from in France. I want to use it for chickens fllor. It is a horse bedding.

Also. I have decided on bantams. Can anyone suggest a good brred, good layers, childrens pets. I want some Austrolorp

but again can't find in France.

[mandycats]

Spookily although its french i cant find it either.  our local Gamm Vert does stock hemp bedding of a different brand. Its also strange that the hemp bedding bales are 4 euros cheaper than woodshavings!   The other hemp bedding is used in the same way and works just aswell. Have you thought about buying an agricultural food chopper and putting normal straw through it for your chickens bedding?  We have used this method with great success.  It works almost aswell as hemp as by chopping it up is seems to absorb more.  It depends what advantages you are looking for really.  This method is cheaper in the long run with the bonus that you can buy maise unchopped which is tons cheaper than the ready chopped and as long as you used the course grater it comes out nicely and any powder residue i put alittle chicken vitamin liquid in and the love it.

I hope you find what your looking for

http://stores.ebay.fr/catalytiquescom

[mooky]

Could you please pm me with the name of the hemp from Gamm Vert please. Thank you

[mooky]

In France spelt Aubiose. I am going to get a 100 litre bag from rodentshop.com.

[cooperlola]

Sorry, Mooky, I've only just fallen in to what you're talking about - I did not recognise the name.

You could try this company:

http://www.ecolit.com/litiere-chevaux.php

My own feed merchant in Le Mans sells it by the bag (LG Distribution) but that probably does not help.  But the Ecolit website may help you find another local distributor as an alternative to look at.

[Danny]

Hi Mooky,

I'm sorry, I don't know where to get the horse bedding. It seems mad to buy stuff, though. We use wood chippings from a local carpenter. He keeps only untreated wood chippings aside for us in big bags and we return the empty bags to him. He doesn't charge. The chicken poo and chippings break downfine in my composter. It's worth asking around. A big bag goes a long way and doesn't take up a lot of room to store. Beware of sawdust though, the chickens will be sneezing away with the dust! When I run out and the carpenter isn't there, I use dried grass cuttings or dried leaves.

I love my chickens and my small son has learnt a lot from us keeping them - but I wouldn't class them as 'pets'. We got ours from a local market and are standard red, black and white.....! No particular breed but good layers and small/medium size. Unless you live close to a breeder getting particular races could be very expensive. Personally, 8 euros each at the local market is as much as I will sacrifice to the neighbourhood foxes etc (fingers crossed no attacks as yet!).

Bantams are pretty - I hope you find some!

Jane