Beddiing for the coop and laying boxes

blackwhite

Chirping
8 Years
Sep 20, 2014
9
0
62
Amarillo texas
I have been told to use coffee grounds but we do not have access to them at our tractor supply. Pine shavings and straw us what I have been using but they get wet easily. Can you use sand if so what kind is preferred?? If know what other bedding is suggested??
Thanks
 
Pine shavings and straw us what I have been using but they get wet easily.

From the chickens waste i have a small plywood floor and cover it well with the shavings or straw.

I was going to ask how the water is getting in, but your answer here suggests that your problem is a severe lack of ventilation to carry the moisture from the chickens' breath and poop away.

Repecka Illustrates Coop Ventilation

If you have inadequate ventilation and/or water is getting in from outside then no bedding will ever solve the problem.

If you post photos of your coop, interior and exterior, we can help you sort things out.
 
Some of the things people use for bedding in a nest are wood shavings, hay, straw, shredded paper, Spanish moss, feed bags, I'm forgetting several. Some if the things people use for bedding in the coop are wood shavings, wood chips, hay, straw, dried leaves, dirt floors, sand, and many more. Some of these work well for some people but don't work at all for others. No matter which of these you pick someone can tell you why they won't work, yet they work well for others. We all have different coops and different experiences.

If you have inadequate ventilation and/or water is getting in from outside then no bedding will ever solve the problem.

If you post photos of your coop, interior and exterior, we can help you sort things out.
:thumbsup
 
What kind of bedding you use may depend on how you manage the manure.
This is about cleaning, but covers my big picture

-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily(takes 5-10mins) into bucket going to friends compost.
-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.
- Large flake pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.
- My runs have semi-deep litter(cold composting), never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.
Aged ramial wood chippings are best IMO.
-Nests are bedded with straw, add some occasionally, change out if needed(broken egg).

There is no odor, unless a fresh cecal has been dropped and when I open the bucket to add more poop.
That's how I keep it 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 9 years.
 

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