No smell in my Coop - Page 2

I love those pellets.  I raise mice and rats and you can imagine the smell....I started using those pellets and it knocked down the smell at least 75%!

WOW-- good point!!  Would the chickens eat the wood pellets?  My turkey ate a rhinestone that fell off clothing this morning..  I think they'll eat about anything.  The layer pellets ...  well, they would look just like the wood pellets, right?

Ive heard from a couple people in my area that they really like them. The # 1 complaint from them seem to be the fact that the pellets break down to sawdust and it is more difficult to muck out. Of course if you can get by with twice a year...then it might be worth the effort anyway.

I have considered pellets as well as sand and everything in between; in the end I decided to stay with cedar shavings on bottom, pine on top, and just a bit of PDZ sprinkled around. I have a poop board that gets quickly (2 minutes) wiped off every eveening. My bedding then only needs changed 4 times a year, you could probably get by with 3 times though. Before I get crucified for the cedar part let me explain. I have 150 sq/ft in the coop. I use only one bag of ceder (size from TSC) on the bottom. This amount is not measurable in terms of even an 1/8 inch if spread evenly. Then I use 3-4 bags pine on top of that (TSC brand/size) I believe that amount of cedar helps tremendously with the flies and probably with the mites as well, yet is not enough to effect my chickens. Many old timers around here grew up with chicken coops and used a 50/50 cedar and whatever else they had...and they swear by it. I have been doing it a year now and not had a problem.

ps about those toms...turkeys will eat anything they see dropped on the ground or anything that looks like their food. They would probably try to you if you fell, LOL
Its funny they are like that considering they are the only animal I know of that will starve to death with food in the pen when they are hatchlings, if no one shoved their beaks in it to show them.

Good point about needing a tall threshold on the door, I'll remember that as I'm building my coop.

Great tip about using pellet stove pellets! I haven't found bedding pellets around here yet, but there's pellet stove pellets everywhere

This sounds like something I would like to try, but if it needs to be 8" deep it will fall out the chicken door and go into the nest boxes. Both are built right at floor level.

What do you think of getting hubs to put an 8" piece of board divider that would slide out, just out from the roosts? that way the pellets would be where they would do the most good and wouldn't fall out.

Most of the poop in the coop is right below the roosts. Wondering now...with pine shavings, is it better to just rake it into the pine shavings or rake it out? This is what I have been doing (raking out poop) and I add another fresh layer of shavings afterward. Sorry to go off your topic. These are the first chickens I've ever had and I am learning by doing and from this forum.

Thanks for any advice you can offer!

marcy mom you asked the same question I was thinking of.. I use shavings now and do a deep litter and then I strip it every month and refresh. I dont have any odor either  but I havent been through winter yet either.

Pink in SC

do you all have something between the ground and the wood pellets or do you just put them right on the ground? i have a moveable coop now that hubby wants to make larger and stationary. i was thinking we need to build a base to accomodate the 8 or so inches of pellets. also what about the rain? won't the pellets disintegrate? ours is a hoop coop with a tarp on top of 2/3 and the rest is open. thanks in advance for any advice.