Alternatives to wood shavings?

[Ruth A Allison]

I have found that my small flock of 6 like pine needels,leaves and that really tall grass that grows at the fence line. I dry the grass first otherwise they eat it. and I find this all around the neiborhood on my walks just 1 or 2 bags and I'm good for the week.

 

[capow21]

I'm sure some people have already suggested my two cents worth I'm about to give, but I didn't want to read all 10 pages really. In my opinion, dry river sand is the superstar of litter for chickens. I won't go into all of the details of pros/cons. This will be very helpful if you want to read more on it:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/using-sand-in-your-chicken-coop

I have ten chickens and right after I got the coop built I put in river sand (I live right on a river). It is so easy to manage. I just bought a kitty litter scoop and put it on a piece of pipe for a handle and scoop their poop each morning, takes about five minutes. It doesn't smell, doesn't get wet, so nice! BUT, before winter, I thought how pine shavings would probably be more comfortable and nice and fluffy and dry for them for the winter, so I switched to doing the deep litter method with shavings Big mistake. Smells worse than sand, seems to get wet all of the time here in the PNW, I had a pile from changing out wet shavings, they were all over my yard, getting drug into the house (like you), and then one of my hens started acting weird, so I was paranoid they had mites or lice. I switched back to sand last week and won't ever use anything different.

 

[OldGuy43]

River Sand, aka fill sand is (pardon the pun) dirt cheap if you go to the local cement plant and buy it in bulk. Not so much if you purchase it by the bag.

 

[Chicken Fruit]

I only use, have ever only used, and will ever only use bedding pellets. The kind for horses. Everything else is a pain in the rear.

..Though all these river sand posts make me waffle a bit. Maybe I'll try it one day....

 

[wendoes]

I'm using dried bamboo leaves. They have a lovely, delicate aroma and the chicks seem to love scratching and pecking around in it!

 

[Marty1876]

I share your allergies, but I use straw that's recycled from my goat stalls in the barn for them. I wear a paper mask whenever I go into any bird buildings anyway, so I go ahead and recycle the straw. They like to dig through it, thus keeping things well aired out and dry. I don't leave it in forever, only a few weeks, than it goes to the compost or garden, and the new batch from the barn is tossed in. The only trouble with it is it's hide and seek for the eggs now, but this time of year the straw does keep my eggs from freezing between 5 am and 5 pm when they are checked and attended.

I know some folks (like my mom) don't use anything, they just mask up and shovel out every 3-6 monthes down to the wood floor. She puts a little sand on the bottem to help the buldup come off easier. The buildup (poo/food/feathers) goes straight to the compost pile in springtrim, but in the fall she spreads it over her garden after everything is harvested.

 

[chickanddoglvr]

I use the deep litter method. I only have to clean it out every few months! I use a mixture of leaves(dry and free) and shredded paper from my office and home.

 

[Boonie Adjacent]

Like others, I use leaves, grass clippings, and pine needles. I also use a composting floor. Clean up is just sweeping the poop/dirty bedding onto the coop floor and turning it over (which the chickens help do by scratching). Also makes a great additive for garden compost. Let Nature do the cleaning for you.

 

[Davidlonghair76]

I have been readinga book called The one-straw Revolution and it explains how using ground leaves and grass clippings from the yard is good especially for compost

 

[jonih]

I was using grass hay, which stays relatively dry and is soft in the nest boxes. I recently switched to sand, wash/arroyo sand, and boy, am I hooked! Even put sand in the nest boxes. The chickens love it! It has natural stones in it for the gizzards, it is very dry, great for their foot pads, there is absolutely no odor in the coop or run, and the chickens love to bathe in it. I highly recommend it and I will never go back to shavings ever again.

When you use sand, do you sift it out like a cat box or can you rake it? I am building an 8'x8' coop and will have between 15-25 birds in there at night. How often does it need to be cleaned?
Thanks! Joni