Sand is very popular in a lot of areas but I won't use it here. I guess it's very absorbent for the area under the waterer and for absorbing the liquids in the chicken poop, but it packs into a surface that's hard a a rock when the moisture in it freezes. It's also not very warm for them to sit on in the winter and it does not make for a soft landing for the chickens when they fly down then like it does in summer. I don't know about other litters putting out heat - but I do know in the summer my chickens hollow out little spots and lay in them with their wings extended out of the hole on either side of their bodies to cool off, and in the winter they'll hollow out places and snuggle down into them, wings and all, sometimes with nothing showing but their heads, and they are content. Put my hand in one of those little hollows one time when Agatha got up - nice, toasty warm little spot she had there!
I use anything I can get my hands on. You are in Ohio, I see, so it's about that time of year when the leaves will start falling. Grab 'em! Save 'em! Get some from your neighbors! And use 'em!! Dried leaves, lawn clippings (not a lot of those because it's a "green" addition to the litter) weeds and spent plants from the garden, dropped pine needles, a handful of pine shavings scattered, maybe some chopped straw....just about anything goes into the litter here, with dried leaves becoming my hands-down favorite. I think it's the chickens' favorite too, because boy do they go to town shredding them down! The little twigs in with the raked up leaves make good air spaces in the litter, because it needs air to compost. I also skipped the linoleum or anything like that on the floor, starting my litter on the bare ground where all the little helpful organisms live. Folks do deep litter successfully with lots of different substrates, but I prefer what's already there. I brood my chicks outdoors, so in their outdoor brooder pen I use straw for it's insulating properties. When brooding season is done, I take down the brooder and rake all that straw right out into the run.
I don't use DE either. To me it's overrated as the end all be all. The dust is dangerous enough for us, so I can't imagine my chickens scratching around in it and inhaling it all the time at their level. Besides that, it kills the little soft bodied insects that are so beneficial to getting a good deep litter started.
If you are going to have mites in your coop and run, you are going to have them. They are insidious little critters - total opportunists - and can show up in even the most fastidiously maintained setups. I"m sure a lot of folks will come back and say that in a properly managed chicken area you'll never have them, but mites come from many sources and can set up house in the tiniest of nooks, crannys, and live there quite happily until you take action. I have learned to spray my coop and run area with Neem Oil, following package directions, with the addition of just a touch of dish washing liquid to make it easier to work with. I do that a couple of times a year, since I don't often have to clean my coop and run, and on those rare occasions when I do an almost total clean out, I hit everything really good then. I pay special attention to the areas where any wood joins, like where the roosts sit on the cleats, underside of the roosts, and all along the edges where the wood meets the dirt floor. Window sills...anything wood gets a good dose. It's harmless to the chickens, and you can use it as often as you need to keep mites under control. I also hit the nests and when I take out the old nesting material to add new I hit the wall behind the nests as well. Sounds like it takes more time than it does.....and takes a lot less time than getting a total infestation and having to do the whole 9 yards of totally gutting the coop, removing every scrap of litter, spraying everything down, dusting the every bird with a two week interval before you have to do the same thing over again. Remember that a healthy bird can withstand a few mites, and if you are already pro-active they might get in but they usually don't become an overnight infestation. Weather is also a factor to consider with mites - some mites don't die off during long cold winters so you still have to keep an eye on things. I had a total, awful infestation once - and after fighting it for months and feeling like I was losing, things began to turn around. Now I spend my time taking precautions rather than getting into another full scale battle!
I am so grateful to folks like @Beekissed and so many others who held my hand during the learning process! But ultimately the decision on what to use is entirely yours. We can tell you of our experiences, what we've liked and what we haven't, but you are there and we ain't.
You know what your budget will allow (my budget is hopeless so I prefer to take "free and available" whenever possible!) what your space allows, how much time you can spend out there, and what your idea of "clean" is. Around here, if it doesn't stink and my birds are healthy, I'm on a roll!! Good luck!
I use anything I can get my hands on. You are in Ohio, I see, so it's about that time of year when the leaves will start falling. Grab 'em! Save 'em! Get some from your neighbors! And use 'em!! Dried leaves, lawn clippings (not a lot of those because it's a "green" addition to the litter) weeds and spent plants from the garden, dropped pine needles, a handful of pine shavings scattered, maybe some chopped straw....just about anything goes into the litter here, with dried leaves becoming my hands-down favorite. I think it's the chickens' favorite too, because boy do they go to town shredding them down! The little twigs in with the raked up leaves make good air spaces in the litter, because it needs air to compost. I also skipped the linoleum or anything like that on the floor, starting my litter on the bare ground where all the little helpful organisms live. Folks do deep litter successfully with lots of different substrates, but I prefer what's already there. I brood my chicks outdoors, so in their outdoor brooder pen I use straw for it's insulating properties. When brooding season is done, I take down the brooder and rake all that straw right out into the run.
I don't use DE either. To me it's overrated as the end all be all. The dust is dangerous enough for us, so I can't imagine my chickens scratching around in it and inhaling it all the time at their level. Besides that, it kills the little soft bodied insects that are so beneficial to getting a good deep litter started.
If you are going to have mites in your coop and run, you are going to have them. They are insidious little critters - total opportunists - and can show up in even the most fastidiously maintained setups. I"m sure a lot of folks will come back and say that in a properly managed chicken area you'll never have them, but mites come from many sources and can set up house in the tiniest of nooks, crannys, and live there quite happily until you take action. I have learned to spray my coop and run area with Neem Oil, following package directions, with the addition of just a touch of dish washing liquid to make it easier to work with. I do that a couple of times a year, since I don't often have to clean my coop and run, and on those rare occasions when I do an almost total clean out, I hit everything really good then. I pay special attention to the areas where any wood joins, like where the roosts sit on the cleats, underside of the roosts, and all along the edges where the wood meets the dirt floor. Window sills...anything wood gets a good dose. It's harmless to the chickens, and you can use it as often as you need to keep mites under control. I also hit the nests and when I take out the old nesting material to add new I hit the wall behind the nests as well. Sounds like it takes more time than it does.....and takes a lot less time than getting a total infestation and having to do the whole 9 yards of totally gutting the coop, removing every scrap of litter, spraying everything down, dusting the every bird with a two week interval before you have to do the same thing over again. Remember that a healthy bird can withstand a few mites, and if you are already pro-active they might get in but they usually don't become an overnight infestation. Weather is also a factor to consider with mites - some mites don't die off during long cold winters so you still have to keep an eye on things. I had a total, awful infestation once - and after fighting it for months and feeling like I was losing, things began to turn around. Now I spend my time taking precautions rather than getting into another full scale battle!
I am so grateful to folks like @Beekissed and so many others who held my hand during the learning process! But ultimately the decision on what to use is entirely yours. We can tell you of our experiences, what we've liked and what we haven't, but you are there and we ain't.
