cages: shavings v. wire

[bantamboy93]

Ok. I've never before actually seen anyone with cages that didn't have wire bottoms before. Until recently when i've seen y'all posting pics of breeder/show pens. My idea of a cage is one that has a wire bottom for the poop to fall down. For those of you who use a solid bottom with a layer of shavings, how much of a pain is it to change out shavings??? My thinking would be that it'd be an aggravation to constantly have to change out pine shavings.

 

[Nonny]

Poop does not fall through a wire bottomed cage. Poop can be as big as an egg, and what happens it that it gunks up on the wire, get trod on by the chooks, and eventually gets pushed through the wire onto the ground below by the hens walking on it. Not so bad with "normal" poop, but those cecal ones are horrid tarry things that are really hard to clean off wire once they dry. I have a poop tray under the roosts, lined with a few sheets of newspaper. Each day or two I go out and roll up the top sheet (poop included) and chuck it in the compost bin.

I have pine shavings in the rest of the coop but my birds are never shut in there and head straight out into the run when they wake up so all their poop tends to be out there instead.

 

[ozark_chickies]

Quote:
It is not hard at all with a good shop vac. I also have two that the bottoms come off of, and I carry them out to the garden and dump them.

edited to add: Take the chickens out before you turn the vac on.

 

[bleith]

I use shavings and mix in DE to help dry out poop. I mix it around real good every other day or so and completely replace every couple of months. I've a small roosting coop for four birds and works real well for me

 

[beach livin']

i havent had a problem at all with my straw. i just reach in and pull it all out into the wheelbarrow. im doing a semi dlm. and will change it all out in the spring.