Would this be feasible? My pet chins are housed in cages with wire mesh bottoms right now... I'm wondering if instead of using wood shavings in the pan to absorb the urine, what if I just filled the pan with dirt and grass seed, or some other kind of plant? It'd be low enough that the chins couldn't eat it, and I can just cut the grass when it gets too tall. Then the pee and poo could be used as fertilizer for the grass growing underneath them, and I'd only have to wipe the caked up urine on the mesh every couple of weeks, and water the area where the chins don't pee...
Live vegetation as bedding?
- Thread starter vimkgt
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addictedtochins
Socially inept
Good question, I don't know the answer but I have thought that maybe a tray of dirt might be very cool to lay on in the Summer, in addition to air cond as well.
Sycamore Chins
Well-known member
How would you provide a light source for the grass to grow? Chinchillas should not be under direct sunlight, and the appropriate light bulbs for growing plants need to be relatively close to the plant in order to work. I'm sure the chinchillas would be stressed with having a bright light right smack dab over their cage (plus most give off some amount of heat) - and how would you set it up if you had runs stacked on each other? Each run would need a light source.
Also, having soil and grass, IMO is just asking for some sort of pest to be introduced to your herd.
Also, having soil and grass, IMO is just asking for some sort of pest to be introduced to your herd.
AZChins
Pro Cage Cleaner Champion
You can compost the chinchilla waste if you are using wood shavings or some paper based bedding. I wouldn't use the dirt and grass seed...over time that's going to stink so very bad!!
Years ago I used to use my chin waste as mulch. It was awesome except for certain cuttings of hay had some seeds in it and I would get hay in the flower beds. Now I just compost it out here OR the open range cattle eat the majority of the waste should they be around.
Years ago I used to use my chin waste as mulch. It was awesome except for certain cuttings of hay had some seeds in it and I would get hay in the flower beds. Now I just compost it out here OR the open range cattle eat the majority of the waste should they be around.
Brittany85
Tiko's Mom
Doesn't seem like a good plan. Would the pee not kill the grass? What would be the point? To save money? If so why not use a fleece liner in the tray and throw it in the wash every week?
ChinnyMom
slave to Rhino and Guss
IMO too much work to be worth it. shavings or fleece are a better way to go.
ticklechin
Well-known member
Kinda gives me the creeps, the thought of it.
melbur10
Well-known member
i would agree with using fleece instead! i just switched over and its WAY less expensive and much less work to be honest.
grass would die being peed on, the amount of waste chins produce would never break down fast enought to properly a feed the grass not to mention it would pile up and sufocate the grass from any light it was able to get ... what you would have is a large pan of dirt covered in a couple inches of poop, and hay blades. a GREAT spot for bacteria and parisites to thrive and an overwhelming smell of wet moldy musty fecal matter and urin.
LOL @ Dawn, that was a great statement!
grass would die being peed on, the amount of waste chins produce would never break down fast enought to properly a feed the grass not to mention it would pile up and sufocate the grass from any light it was able to get ... what you would have is a large pan of dirt covered in a couple inches of poop, and hay blades. a GREAT spot for bacteria and parisites to thrive and an overwhelming smell of wet moldy musty fecal matter and urin.
LOL @ Dawn, that was a great statement!
I guess that would be the main issue. More waste generated than the soil could break down. Somehow I thought that the urine would be somehow beneficial for the soil, given that the ammonia in there could be fixed in the soil and recycled by the plants, but in reality I guess it doesn't always work that way.
Not really interested in using fleece though, I kind of figure shavings are easy enough to replace and there's no way anyone would let me wash urine stained fleece in a washing machine around here... haha
Not really interested in using fleece though, I kind of figure shavings are easy enough to replace and there's no way anyone would let me wash urine stained fleece in a washing machine around here... haha
addictedtochins
Socially inept
Maybe you misunderstood me. I have 5 acres at home (300ftx600ft.) We have plenty or dirt, even a huge dirt pile that is used as a legal backdrop for our AK-47. We wouldn't use that of course. I guess I don't understand how a clean pan of dirt 100% changed out every other day would be strange? At least to try it. I thought it would feel cool on their feetsies. Not to replace a/c.
melbur10
Well-known member
My response personally was to the op.
But to you addicted, IMO I would never let dirt into my chins cage. Dirt from the outdoors is teaming with parisites, bugs, bacteria, spores of all sorts. Firstly I would not want a chin covered in dirt I imagine they would try and roll in it and secondly you would be risking a chins health by using it, there are thousands of potential things that could pose a health risk. It really has nothing to do with having several acres from which to select your dirt. I have several hundred. It has everything to do with the potentially harmful organisms in the dirt.
As kids many of us eat dirt etc, our immune systems can handle us laying in dirt etc. captive chins however, not so much.
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As a side note, I'm quite jealous of you having your own backdrop for a rifle. I miss being able to own guns and was quite sad to part with my small collection of pistols and shotguns before moving to Beijing. But at least they went to a good home, to one of my good ex-Navy buddies, much to the displeasure of his wife hahaha
ticklechin
Well-known member
Ageed.
Spoof
Kung Fu Chinny!
Many of the original ranches - look at Chapman's photos - used dirt floors for the chin breeding cages for years before a/c became the defacto.
Wire cages came around later as a way to keep more chins in a smaller area and to allow garage breeders to get in on the chinchilla action.
If I was in an area with sandy loam or a sand/ash composite I'd give it a try. The soil here would just make a mess when they peed on it and IS full of weird bugs and parasites. Volcanic soils are less hospitable and not as good of a host for such things.
vimkgt - putting a pan of dirt under there would work, and a few things might grow. Strait chin urine will kill the grass it lands on, it's some nasty acidic stuff. You don't need direct sunlight for plants to grow. Why not give it a try and tell us how it works out? You might have a variety of grass that is resistant to that level of ammonia.
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