Are leaves a concern inside a chicken coop?

[Sunshine Flock]

I'm using pine needles and oak leaves inside the chicken coop. I have a small coop and want to maximize their comfort and appease boredom during rainstorms. They just stood there or always roosted when I was using pine shavings. With the new litter they're more engaged and enjoy digging. It seems more comfortable for them.

But I've had some concerns with using leaves. They're freshly raked, not from old piles I tend to rake up and leave there for a long time. These are leaves that fell this fall. But aren't leaves prone to mold even when not damp or already decomposing?

The coop is dry and water doesn't spill from the waterer. I'm wondering, though, if there are fungi and mold spores naturally present on leaves that I should worry about.

I'm going to increase the ratio of pine needles to leaves, but any thoughts on the leaves? They're outside all day digging around in a run full of leaves that have been rained on. The difference is indoor air quality and worries that they're being exposed to a more intense dose of leaf material, despite good ventilation.

 

[sourland]

Mold spores are everywhere. Kept dry and well ventilated, leaves and pine needles are an excellent bedding.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

Mold spores are everywhere. Kept dry and well ventilated, leaves and pine needles are an excellent bedding.

I'm very reactive to my environment. It's one of the reasons I'm unable to work. So I've been concerned about the high leaf content in the coop, but I'm not noticing any kind of a reaction to what's in there.

And unlike with the pine shavings, when I go into the coop in the morning, I see digging holes and piles of litter moved around. The leaf elves sure do get to work when I'm not around.

 

[lazy gardener]

I have reactive airway disease, and choose to use leaves, and grass clippings, garden debris in my coop. I just cleaned a lot of the old bedding out yesterday (always wear a quality mask when working with chicken bedding, even if you don't have lung issues.) I've been using such materials in the coop for years, and it works better for me, and there is no ammonia smell with these bedding materials, in contrast to using shavings.

 

[RUNuts]

I'm using partially composted wood chips from the county dump. Compared to hay there is very little smell even when wet. Just drug home a few bags of leaves from the dump and need to get more. The leaves went in the run and filled in the mud hole.

As long as we don't get a hurricane, the bedding dries out more and catches the droppings. It is dusty and a mask is a good idea. I have a small 4'x8' coop and the dust is there.

I believe that the dry bedding is lower in mold that the wet. Keep it dry.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Yesterday I put two compacted trash cans of leaves in the coop in a huge pile, by the end of the day there was no pile, shredded leaves all that was left. They tore through it in no time.

Gary

 

[RUNuts]

Isn't it amazing the speed at which piles get flattened? Put some sticks in it next time. That slows them down.

But if you add scratch or grains, that is all it does.

 

[henless]

I use leaves & pine straw all the time. The chickens love it, it's free and makes great compost when I clean it out once a year. I have asthma, and the leaves/pine straw doesn't bother me at all.

 

[sweetater22]

Using leaves in the coop and run is in my opinion one of the best and healthiest things you can do for your flock. Leaves will breakdown and with the added manure provide you with the best compost for Garden and flowers you can have. It is a natural process just like nature does in the forest from where the chickens came from. All manner of good bugs, worms and such will be in your bedding if you allow it to build as in deep litter method.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

I somehow didn't see the responses to this discussion. I don't receive alerts for them, even though I'm watching this thread.

When I stopped using pine shavings a month or so ago, I filled the coop with mostly leaves and just a small amount of pine needles. They broke down all the leaves so that I can now see the cement floor. It's going to be beautiful mulch in the spring.

Today I scraped up a wheelbarrow full of fluffy pine needles and spread it around in the coop. It was a chilly day, but the coop felt warmer right away, and it was so comfy soft one of the hens quickly made a nest in the corner and a bit later laid an egg.

The pine straw smells fresh and clean, not musty like the leaves. I'm really liking a mix of about one third leaves and two thirds pine straw. It's such a good feeling recycling free materials from my own property, and then doing double duty service with it when it's ready for the veggie gardens!