coop bedding- what do you prefer??

[Phoenixxx]

I guess I would have to ask what the foundation of your coop flooring is before I join the argument. Do you have a dirt floor, wood floor, Plastic, or possibly cement? I started with a nature provided earth floor. A lot of natural sand mixed in with the dirt. We layered it with straw after some reading up on the deep litter method used for winter situations. Trust that when I say the poop and amonia smell built up awful and it all mixed into the soil and sand over time. Come spring, it was a heck of a mess and cleanup to remove about 3 inches of pure disgusting muck had to be removed. Sure, sand and dirt is absorbent. Ask yourself what it is absorbing. Over time, it too has to be tended to. A wood floor or cement in my opinion is most likely the best. Easy to line with straw or pine chips and easier to maintain and dispose of. A bale of either spreads quite a long way inside a small coop and is very comfy and cozy for your chickens. Keep it clean and keep it simple!

I didn't have a problem with smell. My coop is 6x8, dirt floor, and I housed over a dozen birds over the winter, none of which would go out because of the snow. I started DLM early october with dropped leaves/yard rakings and when those ran out I switched to hay. Coop got a light cleaning in february because the pile under the roosts was so high that when trying to add to it everything just rolled down. Proper cleaning, back down to bare earth, didn't happen until late april/early may. Also, the vent was covered over from november until late april, but I do open at least one large door during the day, both if the wind isn't too bad.

 

[mowremo]

Crap. I was hoping to find an easy answer to this too! My day old babies arrived today and will be brooding for a while, all of which, I will be working on building the coop!! They are adorable and I love walking in the garage and hearing their tiny little baby chirps!!

 

[Our Roost]

Well, it sounds like you are cleaning and managing the dirt floor and build up better than I did. In the summer time it wasnt that bad keeping up with it but in the winter it was hard enough shoveling snow to get out to the coop to feed and water them. My coop is 8 x 16 and I went to a cement floor with a drain to hose it out in the summer. I like the straw and the birds dive into it even before I got it spread around for them. Yep, they hardly go out much in the colder months and scratching for loose grain in the straw keeps them busy and active. The only thing I would add then is work to your ventilation at the top of the coop. It will help to expel excess moisture and dampness. Loose rake the straw and remove what you can before adding more. Dont let it get composted into the dirt floor. Good luck on that.

 

[Phoenixxx]

Well, it sounds like you are cleaning and managing the dirt floor and build up better than I did. In the summer time it wasnt that bad keeping up with it but in the winter it was hard enough shoveling snow to get out to the coop to feed and water them. My coop is 8 x 16 and I went to a cement floor with a drain to hose it out in the summer. I like the straw and the birds dive into it even before I got it spread around for them. Yep, they hardly go out much in the colder months and scratching for loose grain in the straw keeps them busy and active. The only thing I would add then is work to your ventilation at the top of the coop. It will help to expel excess moisture and dampness. Loose rake the straw and remove what you can before adding more. Dont let it get composted into the dirt floor. Good luck on that.

I keep a rake outside the main door and every day or two I'd rake everything from the main area to the back under the roosts. When I pile on new material, I toss on a pretty thick layer - maybe that's the trick, is how much is added on top of the poop piles

Yeah, I keep reading about ventilation, ventilation, ventilation. Not sure why, but even with the vent closed off my coop stays really dry. Maybe it's to do with the height (8' in front sloping to 6' at back), the absorbent nature of hay and other organic materials, I have no idea! Where I live is really humid, too, so maybe blocking the vent in winter serves to keep the damp winter air OUT, lol! It's also placed on a hill, so any ground moisture is always migrating down and away.

 

[Our Roost]

Phoenixxx, You live in Nova Scotia? Holy smokes batman! How in the world did you end up on BYC forum? What kind of chickens do you have there? I think you are the first person I have ever talked to from there. My relatives are from Scotland and ireland. Michigan is a whole world away from you! I sure hope you find this site friendly and helpful.

 

[mlowen]

The floor of my coop/run is 1/2 inch hardware cloth over gravel & under dirt. I use deep litter of maple & oak leaves from my yard. It breaks down nicely, gives the girls plenty to scratch through, and it's free. My garden likes it when it's broken down & full of fertilizer.

 

[RezChamp]

I prefer shavings over straw, sand or gravel. Softwood shavings(sawdust free) smells nice, as does cedar. I haven't had any problems with either once I figured out that the sawdust is the culprit of many problems in the birds. However where I live is mostly hardwood trees and the softwood shavings(& poop) changed the (I'm guessing here) PH in the soil.
I had a hard time finding hardwood shavings so I decided to check out those pellets made for pellet burning heating stoves & fireplaces.
I really like them. The moisture is soaked-up from the poop and turns into sawdust. I rake the pellets to one side and shovel-out the poop & sawdust into the wheelbarrow then rake the pellets to other side and do the same. I add more pellets to the depth of 2 or 3 inches. Good for another 4 days to a week.
The wheelbarrow gets emptied in to the summer followed garden or on the lawn. My lawn is greener longer than any of my neibhours. It seems also th grass being healthier (because of the poop and sawdust I like to think) weeds have a harder time.
In Manitoba I get these pellets for $4.50-$5.50.
I use them in my pigeon coops too. A full bag lasts me all winter. In the spring & summer I'll use about 2&1/2 bags for each coop(because of the rainy weather.
It doesn't smell as nice as the softwood(pine&spruce&cedar) but it smells better than wheat straw & poop.
The shavings work in all my coops/lofts/
I have owned as many as 150 chickens at once but currently own only 85. Correction...83. 2 babies died.
At present I also host 2 geese, 18 ducks & 9 turkeys as well as just over 150 pigeons of various breeds.
I hope this is helpful.
If you do decide to try out the pellets please let me know how things work.

 

[sandesnow]

Another one from Nova Scotia here...


My ladies are housed in an older small barn, but a fairly smallish coop inside that. The small barn was used as a wood store area, so the floor is a mix of dusty wood (bark) flakes/dust and dirt floor. I use pine shavings as it costs like 5 dollars and lasts me at least a month. I pile on rather than remove, and clean it out totally every few months or so. The dry powdery flooring mixed with the shavings they love taking dirt baths in. I rarely if ever have smell or fly issues from the coop. They free-range as much as possible during the day so only dirty up the place at night on their perches.. and when it is really wet out, stay inside. We have a deck that seems to be their favorite hang out (underneath) when it is really hot out.

I am not sure what I am going to have to do for winter this year though, as the barn doesn't have electricity. Last year, we brought the girls in out of the barn to our large back porch (closed in) Not sure that will be an option though this year as we increased our flock. (5 hens now) It was kinda convenient though as we didn't have to dig out the door to the coop last winter.

 

[Laurie59]

OR..."Officer, thought it was Oregano!".

 

[autismmomkim]

I use dried grass in our coop it keeps the ground nice and dry and the chickens love it. We use it in the coop too the chickens and ducks seem to love it and its free!!