Bedding in thge coops

[Bear Foot Farm]

what kind of sand do i use in the coops? just plain old play sand???

It doesn't matter what "type"
It's all just sand

Buy the cheapest you can find​

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
It's the moisture that makes it stink. Fix your leaks and I'll bet you'd like pine shavings alot better.

 

[jeepguy982001]

i've had the pine shavings in my coup for bout 2 months now and theres no smell at all.

 

[AlienChick]

Quote:
x2

I use pine shavings (deep litter) and clean twice a year.
(I'm lazy, so cleaning a coop every week just didn't sound like much fun.)

My coop does not smell since I keep it DRY and I like to rake the shavings it in the morning when I go checking for eggs.

The morning raking also provides a kind of Zen feeling . . .

 

[Marcymom3]

Quote:
It doesn't matter what "type"
It's all just sand

Buy the cheapest you can find

Just be sure it's sand and not paver stuff! I found out the hard way that saving 50 cents a bag ummm ....wasn't a savings.

Clearance, schmearance. Luckily I only bought 3 bags and could use it elsewhere.

My coop is pine shavings and my run is sand. When there is no leak, the shavings absorb the moisture from the poop and there is no odor. Sand does the same thing. The reason I went with deep litter is the added warmth it is said to provide in the winter. The run is covered and stays pretty dry also.

This is my first batch of chickens so I am learning by doing and reading the information on here. So many really experienced people respond to questions. It's great!

 

[the-bird-man]

i use shavings and use a poop board so i do not change all the shavings in the whole coop often. so weekly poop board changes and i just changed the whole coop for the first time since i got my girls in february. then i make use of de too. i use just dirt in the run for most the year but in winter i add straw and leaves. oh and i have a big rabbit that lives with the girls too and even with all the rabbit urine it still smells good but i would think that has something to do with the girls turning the shavings often

not too sure about sand because i just stick to what works for me

 

[kerrysmommy]

okay so another question what is the deep litter meathod?????? does it work better than cleening the coop about every month????

 

[AlienChick]

Quote:
In a word: YES!

You can do a search on deep litter to find TONS of posts related to the subject. Start HERE to get a general idea.

Just remember to keep it DRY (although there are "damp" deep litter methods).

Hope that helps!

 

[OregonChickenGal]

You can't go wrong with pine shavings in the coop. Been using them for years. Really makes the coop smell fresh, and it's easy to keep clean.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Quote:
x2

I use pine shavings (deep litter) and clean twice a year.
(I'm lazy, so cleaning a coop every week just didn't sound like much fun.)

My coop does not smell since I keep it DRY and I like to rake the shavings it in the morning when I go checking for eggs.

The morning raking also provides a kind of Zen feeling . . .

X3

Water plus poop = stink

Pine shavings, regular sprinklings of DE and daily poop board cleaning keep things nice and dry with no smellyness (?) in the coop