Farrier1987 wrote:QR_BBPOST Read their information sheet. Sounds like a marketing deal mostly to me. No lies told, but nothing really different about this from regular clean wheat straw. I am guessing that different length straw means you can get crimped by the combine or not. Clean prairie wheat fields will be the same as clean Ontario wheat fields. Probably weed killers used, no claims made about organic, not that is a yay or nay from me, just comment. Nothing on there tells me this more or less health, its just straw, probably good straw, but just straw. (The name Healthistraw says marketing to me.)
Their mother website is out of Manitoba. Transported here from the prairies, the cost is going to be way higher, and as of now, not sure there will be a benefit to clean unmoldy undusty Ontario straw. But if you don't have a local source in the smaller quantities most of us hobbyists would use, it is probably a good product. Don't know how widely it is available. I will still get a few small square bales from my neighbor, ten or so in August tend to last me a year for chicken and goat and horse bedding. I pay him $1.50 a bail off the field and store it dry til I need it.
That's my take anyway.
I can't separate the chicken 'poop from regular straw bedding, or from regular wood shavings, so that's why I need the ultra fine stuff. I don't do the deep litter method, and pick up after the chickens daily. With a different management system, or with different livestock this finely chopped straw might not work well- I don't think the healthystraw or flax (or regular straw) would be any good for sopping up urine.
I wonder what it would cost to make/buy a straw chopper? Probably not economical for a small scale operation though.
There is the possibility of herbicide residue, I doubt there would be much or any insecticide residue, might be some fungicide residue on the wheat straw.