A mixture of Hay and Shavings? Good/Bad idea???

Thats actually what I'm doing now. I'm doing deep litter with hay (or straw, not sure which) and pine shavings. I mix some pine shavings in when people are coming over to see them cuz it gives the whole coop a nice smell. When I clean the coop, I just rake up all the hay and shavings and make a big pile. Then I throw some cracked corn into it, and by morning the chickens have flattened everything out. I don't see any reason why this would be an issue. There was a tiny moisture issue earlier in the year for me, so I'm planning on getting some PDZ and / or some hydrated lime at the tractor supply store near me.

 

If you're going this route and notice a moisture problem you may want to look into an inexpensive horse stall product called StayDry. Read a post about it and sounds like good stuff the keep a coop floor dry. Thought it might come in handy

 

I started out with an open air pen with sand. Then, of course, I had to expand and I put shavings in the new part. Then, in the winter, since I am open air, I put hay bales in to help retain warmth and cut the cold air. Now, naturally, I have a mixture of sand, hay and shavings in the original part and shavings and hay in the addition. I prefer the part with sand but would prefer it to have less of the hay and shavings mixed in.

 

i use wood stove pellets under straw and it works very well

 

As long as you can keep the litter dry you won't have a smell problem. Once the moisture becomes a issue, you have smell and health issues.. Learned that from Grampa

 

you could also get this stuff:

http://www.tractorsupply.com/sweet-pdz-reg-stall-refresher-25-lb--5065990

available at tractor supply, people around here say its great. bought a bag last night, 8.99. And got a huge thing of pine shavings, TS brand, for 4.99 on sale! Great deal.