We have tried many types of bedding including Sand for 2 years, wood chips for a year, mulch and deep litter ; We weren't really happy with any of those methods. The wood chips and mulch smelled after just a few weeks; sand was ok and dry, but it was sooo dusty, we were afraid that our chickens would develop respiratory problems with prolonged use. I think we have found the perfect combination, that we've been using for about a year now: We have switched to hemp and coffee grounds, and we're never going back to any of the aforementioned materials. For the poop trays, we use spent coffee grounds that we get from local coffee shops by the bucket full, instead of the shop just throwing it away (we bring it home then dry it in the sun for a couple of days and store it for later use). And it's free. And we use hemp bedding on the coop floor. The coffee grounds absorb ALL the poop smell and give the entire coop a nice coffee aroma. The hemp bedding is super absorbent and has Zero dust.
