what to use in coop and run?

[rowenaluth]

We are in process of building a coop/run. This will be our first time having chickens at our home. I did grow up with chickens. What shoyld we use for the flooring in the run and coop? What is the easiest to clean, less smell and good for compost? Pine shavings, sand, hay, straw?? Also what is the cheapest??
Our chicks arrive end of april. We plan
on using a refrigerator box as the brooder we will keep it in the raised coop. I live in socal it's already very hot here. We will have a heat lamp for brooder at night but I don't think we will need one during the day.
Realy need advice on what to use as flooring?? Having a hard tim finding straw in our area we have plenty of hay here and sand and also we can purchase pine shavings... Thanks!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Many people use sand and love it. I use straw in the run and pine shavings in the coop.
Hay isn't good as it will mold if it gets wet.
I get large bales of horse stall pine shavings and they work very well.
I don't use straw in the coop because if it gets wet, it stays wet longer than the shavings.

You may only need a heat lamp a week or two. You may not even need the box after the first week.
I have a pretty big building I brood in and don't confine the chicks, just give them a heat source.

 

[rowenaluth]

Yes I was thinking of having them in the box for a week or so then making a door for them to explore. Or maybe just put them in the coop with out a box at all keep the coop closed and then open door in a week or so? What do you use in the nesting boxes?

 

[rowenaluth]

Also do I offer chick grit in a small bowl right when we get our chicks or wait a week to introduce it?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The recommendation is to sprinkle chick grit on the feed for a few days and then in a separate container.

I also give probiotics right off the bat. A chick with a mother hen will get probiotics from eating some of her feces. Chicks with hens don't seem to get pasted vent but chicks in brooders do. Since I started doing probiotics, I haven't had a case of pasty vent.

I started using dried grass in the nests initially, I have used pine shavings and straw. I also used excelsior mats and now most of my nests have plastic astro turf type mats.
I like them both better than grass or shavings but the plastic are easier to clean if you get feces or a broken egg.
http://www.americanexcelsior.com/woodfibers/applications/excelsiorpads/poultry.php
http://www.qcsupply.com/420355-stan...m_medium=cpc&gclid=CPaD-vHi1cQCFdgRgQodpjAAVQ

 

[IndigoWrinkles]

I've been wondering this, too. We just completed our coop and run, and the ground is all dirt and sand right now because of all the work. I was wondering if adding hay or straw would be better outside. I think we're going to be doing a sand/pdz mix inside the henhouse.

 

[rowenaluth]

I'm thinking I will have the sweet pdz and de in the coop with the pine shavings. Fo the run if I can find straw I will try straw if not I will prob just keep the ground how it (its in our yard has some grass in area right now) is and maybe add some river sand and sweet pdz. As for nesting boxes I'm going to purchase the mats..

 

[rowenaluth]

For now we went with sand. But come fall I'm going for the deep litter method!