I'm finishing up the inside of my coop. My plans are: hay for the nesting boxes and wood shavings for the floor. Any disagreements or other ideas?
Howdy neighbor! If you can swing getting sand in the coop instead of shavings, I would go that route. I have just switched over in my new coop. (only have a portion of the floor with sand on it at the moment) But I can tell you already that it is the wisest thing I have done. Much less messy, easier (so I've read) to clean up, and there is plenty of sand in Maine to either purchase or just go dig up in buckets and haul back. My girls particularly like hay in the nesting boxes instead of shavings for some reason. So good call there. Make sure you post some pictures of your coop when you get a chance. We all love pictures!
I'll definately be posting pictures It's almost done. Unfortuantely, I don't have a lot of access to sand in this part of Maine. If I can find a LITTLE, it's pretty pricey :\\ I'd like to do it one day but right now it just isn't an option. I live waaaaaay out in the country and we can barely find sand for our horseshoe pits LoL But I'm hoping to switch to it in the near future.
Do you have pine trees? Pine straw makes pretty good bedding and if you have the trees it's free. I like it because it makes nice mulch in my gardens when I clean the coop. For the nest boxes, straw is cleaner, sometimes, if it's available. I give my chickens a lot of alfalfa hay, but I usually put it somewhere where they will eat it, not poop on it. It's a favorite food item for them. High protein (20%) and lots of calcium, too. Plus, lots of other good vitamins and minerals, as well.
Amber.......you should be able to get sand at HD or Lowes. I look at craiglist all the time and a fellow down here post 10 sacks of play sand for a $1 each. Just keep looking, it's out there.
If you have a local gravel pit, you can get cheap sand. I just purchased 1.5 tons for 10 bucks. If they don't deliver that small of an amount, a 1/2 pick up will handle it with sensible driving. They guy I bought mine from only delivered a minimum of 10 tons, so my trusty 1/2 chevy got a workout. I was just up in South Berwick visiting family. I just love the maine coast, and of course, LOBSTA!
That's what I use. My coop is only 3'x4' so I put plexiglass on the floor then the shavings on top of that. Makes it very easy to clean. I use sand in my run.
I have pine shavings in my coop and the chicks and I think it's great! They dig around in it and keep things mixed together. I'm looking forward to the compost it'll provide, too.
I currently have pine shavings in the bottom of my coop (which is 9 x 9). It does get costly. One of the reasons being that I throw pine shavings from the floor up onto the poop board, then I clean off the poop board daily. I have to replenish the pine shavings from time to time. I use pine shavings in the nest boxes. They kick a lot of it out. The down side with shavings is it's super dusty. I'm actually thinking that sand may be the way to go, but I'm wondering if it will get stinky because, although you remove the poo, there will still be some you miss & some that gets ground into the sand. Try shavings for a while then try sand and let me know what works best!
We use pine shaving for the coop and nest boxes. I feel it's easier to clean and great for absorbing the poo, especially the runny cecal poo.
