Bedding Option #3?

[Adolph Otto]

I would like to ask about coop bedding. I have a pre-fab coop (for now) that has 1-inch deep pull-out trays as flooring. It's a lousy design, but for now I have to make it work. I'm looking at mid-June as the time I'll be putting out 3 English Orps. Deep bedding won't work because of the shallow trays. There is also not much practical room in the coop for catch-boards, so I will have to clean the trays often.

Two questions: The first is, how often should I expect to clean them? The second question deals with material. Since I probably will be using a lot of fresh bedding, I'd like to keep the cost and trips to a minimum. I have tons of leaves and needles on my property. I was thinking of shredding and storing dry leaves to use straight or mixed with commercial shavings. I'd love to hear some thoughts and guidance. Thanks, all!

 

[NatJ]

I would probably lay some newspaper or other paper in the tray, then put some leaves or needles on top of it.

Then you can roll up the paper at cleaning time, and put down a fresh layer.

Chickens usually scratch up their bedding, which would shred any paper underneath. But in a prefab coop with a pull-out tray, I am guessing they will not spend enough time inside the coop to mess up the paper.

(But I only recommend paper if you have a free source. I would not go pay for paper to use this way.)

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Newspaper is good advice but I predict the longer they are in that little coop, you'll probably wind up ditching the slide out trays and then you can use whatever bedding you want (such as your idea to use leaves and shavings.) Also because those things are so little, I'd clean it daily with 3 hens.....

 

[Adolph Otto]

Thanks for your replies. I'll definitely ditch the trays and drop in a plywood floor. I'm also adding more ventilation high on the gable sides with louvered vents. I figured I'd be looking at a daily cleanout. I'll be free-ranging the hens.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

My 4 prefabs all have the slide outs. I don't use them though and just scrape them out when I clean. Don't see a point in replacing them when they still do their job as a floor.

I use wood shavings. I just stock up on my feed runs and clean probably between 1x a week and 2-3x a month, depending on the mess and weather. More often in summer because of flies.

 

[saysfaa]

I use pdz and sand on the poop board. I scoop it every morning. Unlike the rest of the coop, the poop board needs to be scooped every morning since the poops just sit on it.

For bedding, I use mostly maple leaves that I gathered last autumn and stored in brown paper lawn bags. They don't need to be shredded; anyway I don't see any advantage to shredding them. They do need to be dry enough or they mold. I haven't cleaned the leaves out yet (started using it 10 months ago). It doesn't need cleaning yet, I can't find the old poops. I like some pine shavings or other things with different textures mixed into the leaves.

 

[NatJ]

For bedding, I use mostly maple leaves that I gathered last autumn and stored in brown paper lawn bags. They don't need to be shredded; anyway I don't see any advantage to shredding them.

If the chickens scratch around in them, the leaves end up shredded anyway.
But agree there is generally no need to shred leaves before giving them to the chickens.