Product name: Aubichick
Product size: 20kg bales – it is really compacted so there’s even more in there than you think!
Product price: £8.00 - £17.49 quite a difference in price depending on where you buy it. Some outlets do deals if you buy in quantity.
Website: www.aubiose.co.uk/aubichick
Product details: This is produced by the same French parent company as Aubiose, but is a finer and softer product, specifically aimed at the poultry keepering market. It is produced from the soft centre of the hemp stalk, just like Aubiose, and is shredded finer, absorbing up to 12 times more liquid than straw, thus reducing odour and flies around the hen house. Furthermore, Aubiose is an annually renewable resource, which can be traced back to the field in which it was grown!
Findings: This is a new product to me; I have used Aubiose for many years, and the company sent me a bale of Aubichick to try out and review.
I have to admit that I was appre-HEN-sive (get it!) at first, thinking that the lighter shreds would mean that it was fly-away and would get everywhere, but I was pleasantly surprised. Started off using it in the nest box, and the hens all seemed most happy with it. Graduated onto using it in the poop trays and run, and was very happy with the outcome… it soaks up any moisture very quickly and has the same ability as Aubiose to fossilise droppings, so there’s almost no odour, which keeps flies down.
In the recent hot weather, I have been spraying it with a water and citronella oil mix as I usually do, and the run has been pretty much fly-free.
Gave a bucketful to a friend with Guinea Pigs and she loved it too – a convert I think!
In conclusion… softer than Aubiose, but with the same brilliant absorbency, would be great in a brooder for raising chicks.
Score out of ten: Another 9 – I would happily use either Aubichick or Aubiose in my housing and runs.