How much bedding do I need to buy??

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chickychick106

chickychick106

In the Brooder
Mar 30, 2016
23
0
24
California
I will be buying 2 buff orpington chicks soon. I helped to raise lots of chickens as a kid, but I have no idea how much bedding material to purchase.

I have seen 60L bags, 1000-cubic inch bags, etc. I am so lost. Since I will only have 2 chickens total the coop I am building will not be very big. Will a 60L bag be ok? How long would that last if I put a thin layer only?
 
What kind of bedding? 60 L sounds like a lot. But I use sand & sweet PDZ which lasts a really long time.


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How much you need depends on several things. First, having poop boards makes your bedding last longer. Second, the size of your coop makes a big difference. Third, the amount of time your chickens spend in the coop makes a difference. Fourth, you'll need more bedding when you feel the need to clean your coop. That varies from person to person. Some people clean up all the poop every day. Some just clean up the poop when they clean out the whole coop. Much depends on you. You need to keep the coop clean enough to provide a safe and sanitary place for your hens.
 
The area of my coop that will need bedding will be 2.5ft x 2.5ft with just 2 chickens in it. They will pretty much only be in there at night from about 8 or 9pm- 6 or 7am.
 
Since I have no idea how large those bedding bags are you'll have to figure out how much to buy. What is this bedding you are buying? Is it very expensive? Many use sand and just use a kitty litter scoop to clean it. A friend of mine uses straw. I use pine shavings. My bedding costs about $7 and is good for filling my whole 6 x 8 coop twice so it's $3.50 every time I change the bedding. That's about 4 inches of shavings in the coop. I do that about once every 3 weeks. There are no poop boards so every few days I do clean under the roost. That $7 bale of shavings I buy is the smallest amount available unless I go to a pet store and buy a little bag for a lot more money.
 
May I make a suggestion? I would suggest that you get three chickens in case something happens to one of them. I started out with three chickens and a year and a half later one died. Chickens don't do well alone so I was glad that I had two left. Now I have a bunch so it is not a problem.
 
My coop is 6x8 and one of the $6.00 bags of pine shavings from Rural King covered the entire floor a couple inches. I can't remember the size of the bag but it was packed tight and goes a long way.
 

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