Bedding besides straw or shavings

[priszilla]

I am switching- one "house" at a time-to sand. I use a cat litter scoop.It takes about 20 minutes in each in the 3 places I have switched to sand.I tried to move some babies and moms to the sand- THe building htey are in had 2 big pens inside and I had cleaned and switched the one side to sand and moved the other occupants- 2 moms and 14 babies over while I cleaned their side. I decided to put them back on shavings for a bit longer.The babies chowed down the whole time they were on the sand. That is why I decided to keep them on shavings a while longer. I used what the folks at the mulch yard called "river sand"The man there said it would probably do best for what I wanted it for. Next time I go- I am getting "decorative stone" for the duck pen.I got mine in 5 gallon buckets in the back of my minivan.By the scoop ina truck would be cheaper- but getting my husband to go get it is the hard part.

 

[PAChickenChick]

Quote:
Hahaha...ok, don't laugh but here's what I have. I went to K-mart and they had grill grates on clearance. (the round ones for a charcoal grill) This is stainless steel with handles and fits perfectly on top of a 32 gallon trash can.

I covered the bottom of the grate with a piece of window screen.

Now I can sift one of two ways.....sometimes I will just push the "sifter" in and under some sand lifting it up so that the sand falls thru and the poop stays topside and then I'll pop that into a 5gal. bucket of water....or....I will sit the grate on top of the trash can that holds my sand and just shovel out the sand back into the trash can, spray my disinfectant, and then load the sifted sand back in the coop.

Edited to add....I actually haven't done this yet...as I'm just building my coop...but I'm getting my set up ready by picking the minds of the "regulars" here. I would imagine that I would only have to clean the sand once a month and even that could be stretched out...
I only have two hens and right now they are in a large dog crate with sand and it's been three weeks since I've done the crate and it only has a "bread/yeast" kind of smell...that really isn't offensive at all.

 

[Chickenfortress]

I have a couple acres that I let grow to 8 inches. After mowing it dries to a light hay. It seems to be working fine as litter. It's a bit too short to bale, so I stuff it into old feed bags after it dries for storage. After it has dried they don't seem to show any interest in eating much of it, and no worries if they do. It's very easy to rake up and composts nicely(it was on it's way to the compost pile anyway).

This also makes for a great excuse to skip mowing for another week!

 

[shakecc]

For those that use the pellet wood bedding...we use it in our horse stalls and love it and now am considering using it in the chicken coop as well.

A couple of questions: Does it break down in the chicken coop to sawdust? Are you able to shift dried chicken poop out of it?

Thanks!

 

[Alaskan]

do you'll think the sand would be good for ducks too? Or would gravel be better for them?

 

[LittleBits]

Has anyone tried shredded newspapers for chicken coop bedding?

This is an old post and it may not get read, but I'm fairly new to BYC and have enjoyed looking around. We've have had chickens for about a month now!

I read somewhere on here about using shredded paper and I tried it, just in 2 nesting boxes. It worked fine in the nests - it wasn't the crosscut shred, though. But.....if it got kicked out on the floor, they ATE it. Must taste good, I've never tried it. Even Mr. Rooster-in-the-Coop ate it. So... I took it out and have pine shavings both in the boxes and on the floor of their little 6x6 coop. They don't eat these! (I've not tried these, either!!)

 

[AdamsFamilyFarm]

We use crushed corn cob bedding. $3.99 a bag at a tractor/farm supply store in KY. 10 bags covered a 14X12 coop.

 

[Oldhen70]

Where are you getting your shavings? Yes, ones from the pet store are very expensive. I buy mine at the farm supply. The shavings are marketed for horses and cost $5 for 5 cu ft compressed.

I use shaving for the nest boxes and I get them the cheapest from Tractor Suppy stores. I use sand in the coop.

 

[KarennFallon]

I have always used straw, but have been using shavings to use up what was left of a huge brick I got for the new chicks. I just worry about the pine shavings not decomposing in my garden. In the 5 yrs we have lived in the desert, I have found that straw, leaves and peat that you would normally compost, doesn't break down like it does in more fertile ground. So I am concerned about using my chicken's bedding and manure in my garden. Does anyone else have any feedback on this issue?

 

[mickeymushroom]

I have a friend who likes to use horse pellets for bedding.