Aubiose 20kg bale
Product name: Aubiose
Product size: 20kg bale, well compacted so you get a LOT
Product price: between £13 and £20, so quite a variation. Some stockists do a bulk buy deals.
Website: www.aubiose.co.uk
Product details: French parent company, which produces Hemp for a variety of uses (all legal!). Aubiose bedding (finely shredded Hemp stalks) was initially marketed as horse bedding and sold for its absorbent and fly-repellent properties. The company has since launched AubiChick, a finer grade product for poultry, which I will review later.
Findings and observations: I have used this product for some years, having previously used wood shavings in the coops and runs for my flock.
It soaks up dampness very efficiently, keeping wet patches in the run and dropping odour down, much more than with wood shavings or woodchips. I haven’t noticed any specific fly-repellent properties such as Eucalyptus or Citronella additives, which are found in some brands of Hemp bedding, but the damp control will mean less odour, and thus that less flies are attracted to the run and coop.
I use it in the coops, under the roosting bars, in the nest boxes and also in the runs (the latter are covered). Its versatility in the different locations is marked, and all areas keep dry and relatively odour-free. I do spot-clearing in the run as necessary between muckings-out, and it can last as much as 6-8 weeks between clearing sessions in the summer when the birds are in the run less. I find it much easier to muck out than wood shavings (mainly because it doesn’t get damp and clumpy) and it seems to compost very well indeed.
Only my personal view, but I feel it would benefit from more specific fly-repellent properties, as mentioned above. I get round this by making up a water spray of eucalyptus and citronella oils and spraying the litter with this in the summer.
Score out of ten: 9 – I don’t do 10s!
I would be interested to hear your comments on this product