Alternatives to wood shavings?

[Crisses]

I want to try the pellets. It sounds so much better for the hens, and me. I hate all the disgusting poo dust you get from wood shavings that you inhale and get all over you while cleaning the coop. I did put some play sand in their run area and they seemed to hate it. I put it on one side and they just stopped dust bathing on that side all together​

 ​

I think my chickens are used to sand because I use it in the brooder, too... when they were teen chicks, any new sand was a big party! first digging for choice bits for grit then an immediate dust bath. I clean the brooder daily with a tea strainer coarse enough for the sand to run through. I have a sand pit for the adults in the tractor which is their only coop...they free range and have favorite dust piles in the sun, but sand in the middle od the coop is easy to deal with although it adds a good bit of weight to the tractor.

 

[iluvsedward]

I use a mixture of straw hay and pine shavings. I've seen dry leaves and grass clippings put to good use. This guy uses shredded leaves or something.

Yeah he likes to talk.....

 

[DebbieParker]

I use river sand,I like it because its easy to scoop the poop with a cat litter scooper.you could always keep a pair of rubber boots or Crocks specifically for the coop.Good luck

Where do y'all purchase river sand? Does Lowes or the feed store have it? About how much does it cost? Thanks!

 

[iluvsedward]

Pine needles work pretty well.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I'm considering using sand....but I'm wondering if it would be possible to rake the poop into a pile and remove it? ( instead of scooping the poop out)
My second choice would be the wood pellets but I'm unsure if it would still be safe for composting?

I use a small plastic rake to rake the sand into a pile every day. Then I use the kitty litter scoop to get the poo out. Then I spread the sand back out. I don't use a very thick layer at all.

 

[Fentress]

Many different materials can work as long as it is high in carbon to neutralize the high in the pooh. I stopped using litter because I move my coop, but chopped up leaves can be effective and of course cheap if you acccess to them.

 

[bruceha2000]

my coop is raised up from the ground so the chickens are at shoulder level with me. When I reach in to pick one up, the wood shavings stick to me.

That explains how you are getting shavings on your cloths! I was trying to figure out how walking in the coop got shavings any higher than your shoes.

My chicks are only 3 weeks old currently, and I use pine shavings in the brooder box. I have noticed that it does track all over. Right now it's not too much of a pain because I clean the brooder box weekly and use a layer of newspaper underneath it.

My brooder was an unused bathtub in the house. Covered the bottom with newspaper then just replaced the paper towels daily. No shavings. They loved the small piles of grass from mowing the lawn when they were a couple of weeks old. Especially good if left to dry for a day so it contains yummy little bugs

I use wood stove pellets. They're $4.50 a bag and they're not taxed in Missouri. I use 3 bags.

I first break them down with a little water, so that they'll fall through a 1/4" hardware cloth mesh and be easier to clean. I make sure that they are dry before I change out the bedding.


This is my cleanup chore from start to finish...

Great description and pictures Gifa. Reading through it, I wondered if it could be even easier by making a "screen scoop" like a LARGE cat litter scoop to pick up and sift the droppings. Not that I have any idea how easy or hard that might be since it would have to be stiff and "pointy" enough to shove into the pellets under the poo rather than cause them to be shoved away instead.

Bruce

 

[Gifa]

Great description and pictures Gifa. Reading through it, I wondered if it could be even easier by making a "screen scoop" like a LARGE cat litter scoop to pick up and sift the droppings. Not that I have any idea how easy or hard that might be since it would have to be stiff and "pointy" enough to shove into the pellets under the poo rather than cause them to be shoved away instead.

Bruce

I tried to make one out of a one of these and some hardware cloth, but honestly the less you can disturb the bedding underneath the poo, the better. Using the screened scoop I made basically pushes and churns the poo on top into the bedding, causing you to have to scoop every last particle to be sure you've got it all. So, pulling it into the dustpan with the scraper thingie and dumping that in the screen is just way more efficient. Believe me... I was disappointed in the scoop idea too. But the screen works great. I do have plans to build a smaller screen though... The one I am using is the size it is because it was actually a batiking frame for dying silk scarves before my husband put the hardware cloth on it and employed it to sift topsoil out of the woods behind our house (that the gas company basically pushed down last summer) for use in our garden.

 

[CrazyChiknLady2]

I went to the nearest river bank with a couple of big buckets

but if you cant do that maybe you can call your local Quary and ask about it,or you can just go to Lowes or Home Depot and get some playground sand and Pea gravel and make some river sand, ive done this too

my girls like it either way.There is a great artical on here about using river sand in the coop,its gat alot of good tips and suggestions.I hope you find this helpful

 

[CrazyChiknLady2]

I went to the nearest river bank with a couple of big buckets

but if you cant do that maybe you can call your local Quary and ask about it,or you can just go to Lowes or Home Depot and get some playground sand and Pea gravel and make some river sand, ive done this too

my girls like it either way.There is a great artical on here about using river sand in the coop,its gat alot of good tips and suggestions.I hope you find this helpful

this is for Debbieparker