Alternative Chicken Bedding?

[Silexian]

Been calling around to find some. So far no luck will keep searching, though, it seems like it'd work for us.

Becks is the brand I can get locally. It is a pretty big company. You may be able to contact them and have some shipped. It doesn’t weigh much. Two bags cover the floor of my 4x8 coops. With about a three inch layer.

 

[Eden83_haaretz]

Glad to know about pine, but probably wouldn't be able to use it. Husband has allergies every time our huge pine tree sets off yellow clouds of pollen each spring. Otherwise, I think we'd get pine shavings since they are pretty good at odor control, too.

I have heard of wheat straw, but often times I hear people complain about vulnerability to mites when there is straw. Is this a true or false thing?

For the nest we use pine needles and the chickens love it, but not sure if your husband could handle it...

 

[BanoOmg]

Best bedding ever is coffee chaff...

I roast coffee. I had never thought to use the chaff for bedding, but that makes so much sense!

I've been dumping it around plants that like acidic soil, as a soil enrichment and/or mulch. I'm excited to add it to the run instead! Thanks for the tip!

 

[Carson213]

the poop just piles up on the boards and dries. my coop is 12’x12’ for 24 birds. its about 12’ high on one side sloping down to 8.5’ and has open air on the east side of about 2x10’ with hardware mesh and gable vents running south to north with a fan in the middle plus three windows in the attached 12x12’ storage room open to the coop...so there’s plenty of ventilation. essentially...air is blowing through the coop at all times but the draft goes below the roosts and above the nesting boxes. the roosts are prob 6’ high and the nesting boxes are about 2’ high. the poop dries and builds up. way cleaner than freakin’ bedding. HOWEVER, i live in a very moderate climate in oregon. our coldest...coldest temps in my area might reach 20° F...and that’s not often. obviously, if you live northern minnesota, you might need bedding.

 

[Carson213]

the poop just piles up on the boards and dries. my coop is 12’x12’ for 24 birds. its about 12’ high on one side sloping down to 8.5’ and has open air on the east side of about 2x10’ with hardware mesh and gable vents running south to north with a fan in the middle plus three windows in the attached 12x12’ storage room open to the coop...so there’s plenty of ventilation. essentially...air is blowing through the coop at all times but the draft goes below the roosts and above the nesting boxes. the roosts are prob 6’ high and the nesting boxes are about 2’ high. the poop dries and builds up. way cleaner than freakin’ bedding. HOWEVER, i live in a very moderate climate in oregon. our coldest...coldest temps in my area might reach 20° F...and that’s not often. obviously, if you live northern minnesota, you might need bedding.

where i live, bedding is not necessary

 

[Carson213]

where i live, bedding is not necessary

i left out a key element...my chickens are also outside all day with some cover from rain. the more they are outside and poop outside the better

 

[Carson213]

i left out a key element...my chickens are also outside all day with some cover from rain. the more they are outside and poop outside the better

they only come inside to drink, eat, lay, roost...and if i walk into the coop...

 

[chickenmama1112]

I use sand.

 

[chickenmama1112]

I use sand.

 

[Pghelp]

I roast coffee. I had never thought to use the chaff for bedding, but that makes so much sense!

I've been dumping it around plants that like acidic soil, as a soil enrichment and/or mulch. I'm excited to add it to the run instead! Thanks for the tip!

I will never ever use anything to else! Make sure you only take the dry fluffy stuff off the top, not the wetter stuff from the bottom of your barrels. Sometimes there's damp clumpy bits and I just put those in the garden or around my fruit trees that need acidic soil. Everything is so easy to clean and stays cleaner using the chaff. Let us know how it works for you!