coop bedding- what do you prefer??

[subhanalah]

Straw and hay are prone to mold so I recommend against them. Pine has certain antibacterial properties and is not as prone to mold. Hay and straw stored the wrong way already is infected with mold spores.

 

[troy4]

By thew way i've been threw it before.

 

[troy4]

Straw and hay are prone to mold so I recommend against them. Pine has certain antibacterial properties and is not as prone to mold. Hay and straw stored the wrong way already is infected with mold spores.

How can i6t mold?Thx for the advice!

 

[kschicks2013]

I use dg mix and it's great. Dries the poop out fast and is like a big kitty litter box in coop and enclosure. I clean up the poop daily and rake the dg mix as well. The hens love it because they can scratch and peck the little pebbles using it as grit. I also give them hay to play around with and eat. In the nest boxes I use shavings.

 

[delder2009]

So as a new hen mom, I am wondering what everyone uses for the floor of their coops?
I have a small coop with only 2 nesting boxes and have been using pine shavings for the past few months.
Is straw better, or should I leave the floor bare (dirt)? I feel like a lot of food gets wasted in the shavings and there are a LOT of flies swarming.
Btw, my girls spend a great deal of time in the coop because I have a neighbor whose dog likes to kill my chickens, so all of their treats get thrown in there as well. I like that they have to root around for their food, but worry about the wasted food and flies bringing diseases.

I live in Florida so no matter what I put down I still have sand. But I do use shredded news papers for my coop and nest box's. My run I move around in the grass and under the oak trees. I tried hay, shaving's, and pine straw. And now shredded newspaper. When I clean out my coops I put it around my plants and it helps with the weeds. And It's cheap. It's all a personal preface.

 

[troy4]

Dg mix? Whats thaT?

 

[holm25]

We use straw and it work's great chickens love straw because they can scratch and it doesn't fly when they scratch like sand, pea rocks, or wood chips they also can make nice nests out of straw it also doesn't pack down like sand I highly recommend straw .

 

[6of6chicks]

I may be new, but so far I really like the pine shavings in the coop for the simple reason that it smells so clean whenever I change it out. It's kind of that same 'clean' smell/feeling from a cedar closet. It's just nice.

I did a lot of reading about sand and decided against it for two main reasons: dust and the 'stuck-with-it' factor. I read two posts by other people, one of whom talked about dust from the sand making it really hard to breathe (they had to take gulps of air outside the coop), and another post talked the difficulties of getting rid of a run full of sand after they tried it and decided it didn't work for them (what to do with all that sand?). I have no idea who those folks are - some post, by someone, somewhere on BYC (lol) - but they stuck in my head and were deciding factors for me.

That said - I haven't tried sand so I can't knock it, and I mean NO offense to the folks who love it. I just didn't think it was worth the risk or hassle to try it. My dirt run is working out fantastically. I just cleaned it for the first time yesterday. A quick pass with the rake, few scoops of the shovel, and into the compost bin it went (dirt, melon rinds, & all). Ten minutes and I was done. No smells, no flies, no drainage/mud problems, and the girls seem to love it.

 

[troy4]

We use straw and it work's great chickens love straw because they can scratch and it doesn't fly when they scratch like sand, pea rocks, or wood chips they also can make nice nests out of straw it also doesn't pack down like sand I highly recommend straw .

SamE!My chickens love the little seedes on straws.It never molds unless I leave the straw outside.

 

[Michael OShay]

well, chickens are practically ducks and ponds are practically aquariums, so I think we're in bounds here lol.


Again, sorry OP! I couldn't help myself with the humor!

A little humor is always a good thing. I think part of the problem with much of our society is that we've forgotten how to laugh at ourselves. )