Alternatives to wood shavings?

[allen wranch]

I pooper scoop my coops every morning (not the runs).

The outside hoop coops, coops exposed to blowing stuff and all the runs have sand in them. I absolutely love it. It drains well, and can be turned over easily if it gets a little packed. Twice a year I add agriculture lime to the sand and turn it over with a rototiller.

Sand is easy to clean with a large cat litter box scoop and putty knife (picture using the putting knife to push the poop into the scoop). My inside coops have large flake pine shavings in them (not the stuff that looks like saw dust). Easy on the birds feet when they come off the roost each moring, and again easy to clean (two putty knives used like tongs).

The problem with sand inside closed coops is the awful dust it generates.

 

[Dee Dee 2]

I use wood shavings (pine NOT CEDAR - never with chickens) for my nesting boxes and it works great. However I can see your problem with it in the coop. Some folks on BYC say they have used sand. That would seem to me to "track" even worse. Maybe the solution it a couple of mats or rugs. The kind that looks like artificial grass. They work well for me but are getting hard to find - used to be very popular. The other is a boot / shoe scraper - the kind that has brushes on the bottom and sides. Or you could make one out of 3 sturdy scrub brushes - don't use plastic brissels . They rot quick, break off and then you have an even bigger mess. Use the old fashon brown brissel kind that used to be made in America.

 

[Dee Dee 2]

OK NEED MORE COFFEE. POSTED A REPLY TO YOUR SHAVINGS DELIMA BUT I WAS ON PAGE 19 OF THE THREAD. GO THERE IF YOU WISH TO SEE. SORRY - WHAT A DUMMIE - ME NOT YOU

 

[beth in vermont]

I had problems when my chicken developed an impacted crop from eating the shavings so I switched to hay and SAME THING, different chicken! I am also in the northeast (Vermont) so I switched to sand and that works out great! They don't eat that, or if they do, it is good for them and it makes clean up easy. I bought sand from my local lumber yard, I wouldn't use beach sand because of the salt that may be in it and you can buy any quantity you want.

 

[iluvsedward]

I use play sand got if from Ace hardware store I like it but I might try all purpose and see which works better. The 50lb bags are SO HEAVY!!

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

This thread has some interesting ideas! I think leaves and stuff would work as long as you have a dirt floor or something. (a wood floor might rot if you don't clean often enough)
Good ideas everyone

 

[Crisses]

I have sand (mixed with a sprinkling of DE) on the coop floor and straw & shavings in the nest boxes.  It works fine, although sometimes in their excitement the girls will push some straw out onto the sand.  It scoops as easily as the poop! 

I don't do DE on the sand, my chickens love the earwigs....if they have any problems, I know to add it...but I guess that the sand discourages most insects....

 

[bayoudragon]

I've been thinking about sand after I read that it keeps the coop cooler in the summer (as opposed to other "fluffy" type bedding options). Summer is so frillin' hot down here. It's actually 72 degrees outside right now... yah, spring doesn't last long down here.

For those that use sand, do you find that some sands are less dusty than others?

 

[iluvsedward]

I've been thinking about sand after I read that it keeps the coop cooler in the summer (as opposed to other "fluffy" type bedding options). Summer is so frillin' hot down here. It's actually 72 degrees outside right now... yah, spring doesn't last long down here.

For those that use sand, do you find that some sands are less dusty than others?

Play sand is dusty at all.

 

[iluvsedward]

This thread has some interesting ideas! I think leaves and stuff would work as long as you have a dirt floor or something. (a wood floor might rot if you don't clean often enough)
Good ideas everyone

But predators can dig thru dirt floors and the dirt will turn into a hard packed-down rock mixed with chicken poo. impossible to clean, really.