Er, uh... bedding?

[TaylorC]

I see reference to bedding, not quite clear what or where that would be. The hens sleep on the roost, right? Do people also add some sort of shelf or floor space with hay, etc? I would imagine this could really help increase my floorspace for those cold spells where they're "cooped up" as it were. Is this just going to make another messy area to keep clean, or is it a good idea? I'm thinking a shelf above the nesting boxes, with a 2" lip or so, full of hay. Pain in the butt to clean regularly, but if they're going to snuggle into some hay I don't see an easy way around just changing it out every couple of days.
???

 

[gryeyes]

"Bedding" = "litter"

Some pet stores call it bedding, it's sort of an interchangeable label. Used on the floor of the coop, especially by those folks who practice some version of the "deep litter method." It's not really an extra sleeping space product. Although, some birds don't roost.

 

[Player Hater]

It's just for pooping in, basically. They don't normally sleep in it.

 

[Player Hater]

The poo board you see under the roosting areas in many coops is to keep the litter cleaner so it lasts longer and is healthier for the birds to root around in.

 

[TaylorC]

Right, gotcha. Just that Pat mentioned in his cold coop essay that you want to be sure the birds have "plenty of bedding to snuggle down into" or something to that effect. Made me think there were actually beds in some coops.

 

[gryeyes]

Pat meant when it was COLD outside, the extra bedding would be better than a bare coop floor. Chickens roost at night, but during the day, sometimes they make little depressions in the litter, or outside as a dust bath, and they just pile all over each other. Nicer with 'bedding' or 'litter.'

 

[CARS]

I use bedding as a means to catch the waste. They walk, they poop. They roost, they poop. They eat, they poop. (get my point?)

I use wood shavings, shredded paper, alfalfa hay, and wheat straw. Depends on what is available and in the case of alfalfa, for greens in the winter.

Then, a few times a year, I haul it all out to the compost pile and let it age for a year before I add it to my garden!

My hens also seem to manage to poop in their nests. Some of my birds seem to live in their nests

 

[catdaddy66]

bedding is also a layer of floor insulation during winter. It covers the floor that the birds walk on, talk on, poop on, scratch on, lay down on, stand on, eat and drink on, etc...after accumulating a deep layer of bedding over a period of months it can be composted for your plants. Research the Deep Litter Method for a lot of great info.

 

[elem]

My chickens don't like to roost in the winter so they pile up their bedding - pine shavings - and nest into it. It is harder to clean than a poop board but I just scoop out the clumps of poop and then stir the bedding around. Keep in mind however that I only have a few chickens and a 4x4 raised coop that they only use for sleeping.

 

[patandchickens]

Yup, sorry that wasn't clear, they don't actually "bed down" in bedding, but can shuffle themselves down into it if they are feeling too cold. Mine hardly ever do this, but sometimes, and it is quite amusing-looking

-- but I am told by people whose coops get colder than mine that they will do this more often on really cold days, and some people have found that if it gets seriously way too cold for them they'll even sleep down there "in" the bedding.

But yea, "litter" is probably the more correct term. I just have a hard time breaking the habit of calling it bedding because after working with horses for most of 44 years, the shavings on the bottom of the animal housing just ARE "bedding" to me

Sorry for the confusion,

Pat