Bedding problems

[Ray987]

Hello everyone

I've been raising chickens for over a year now and quails for 3 months, I've always struggled with bedding, I've tried several bedding materials that are available in my city (Hay, pine shavings, Construction sand)

Hay: is dirt cheap and easily available however terrible bedding material needs to be changed every day or two max and lots of dust (we don't have straw unfortunately, and can't order it from another city whatsoever it'll be too expensive then)

Construction sand: similar to beach sand, I've used it for around 2 months it kept things dry however cleaning it is a pain and produces a lot of dust

Pine shavings: I only used pine shavings for quails and It was great haven't tried it in chicken coop due to it being extremely expensive, I'm having to change it every 2-3 days under the quails too, the fact it's extremely expensive makes it a bad option for me

I can't seem to find a reliable bedding material that's cheap and efficient so I'm wondering what are my other options or what I'm doing wrong?

 

[Ted Brown]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...r-as-good-as-wood-chips.1503415/post-28208479

 

[jreardon1918]

Is this for the coop? Or the run. I have used pine shavings in the coop the whole time (8 years). For the first few years I used poop boards. That was OK, but I was not great at scooping. Now I just swap out the shavings fall and spring. I also keep a bale on hand to add some to freshen up the coop in between "cleanings". For the run, I combine; cut grass, leaves, garden cuttings and used pine shavings from spring and fall cleanings. The run ends up with a beautiful compost to put in the gardens. I hope this helps.

 

[Kiki]

I use peat moss in my quail cages. Good old dirt in m chicken coop.

 

[Yardmom]

I use hay because that is what I have easy access to. I don't change the bedding every day instead I just add a little when and where needed. Only when deep cleaning do I take it all out. I go many months between deep cleanings.
My method would probably not meet your current expectations of what you envision your coop, but maybe you could do a variation by adding clean to the top daily and deep cleaning once a month.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Why do you feel a need to change the bedding that often? I don't think the problem is the materials, too many people use those and can go much longer before needing to change them out. Can you help us help you by giving us some details? How many chickens and quail do you have? What do your facilities look like? How big are they, in feet or meters. Are you talking about a coop, a run, or both? Photos could be helpful.

Very important, what triggers you to change the bedding? Is it covered in poop? Is it wet? If it is wet, where is the moisture coming from? Does it stink?

 

[Ray987]

Why do you feel a need to change the bedding that often? I don't think the problem is the materials, too many people use those and can go much longer before needing to change them out. Can you help us help you by giving us some details? How many chickens and quail do you have? What do your facilities look like? How big are they, in feet or meters. Are you talking about a coop, a run, or both? Photos could be helpful.

Very important, what triggers you to change the bedding? Is it covered in poop? Is it wet? If it is wet, where is the moisture coming from? Does it stink?

Inside the coop, what triggers me to change is the poop, lots of poop, during warm weather it attracts lots of flies, the humidity here is fairly high (I live near the coast in Syria) it does stink, I don't have poop shelves

It's a small concrete coop, 3-4 square meters ish i have around 16 chickens and roosters in there they comfortably sleep on the roosting bars

 

[Penpal]

I would not use hay, especially in a humid area. When it gets wet it will grow mold.

Try having sand on the bottom and pine shavings on the top. Just a bit of pine shavings, then add on top, and add on top. The chickens will normally scratch at the shavings and mix it together.

I would also put a few drops of peppermint oil in a spray bottle of water, shake, and spray a mist of the peppermint water over the bedding. It doesn't bother chickens, but flies hate it.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm on the US Gulf Coast so I understand high humidity.

One square meter is 9 square feet. So 16 chickens in 27 to 36 square feet. Your chicken density is high. That can be enough room so they don't have behavioral problems but they poop a lot and you don't have room for them to spread out so it piles up. If it spreads out it will dry out but if it piles up too thick it can never dry out. The microbes eating it cannot get oxygen because it is wet so you get anaerobic microbes. Those stink and get slimy. During the day they are walking around and spreading their poop but at night on the roosts they are not moving so the poop can pile up under them.
I'd guess you have more room for them to walk around during the day. That might be enough room for the poop to spread out and dry out there. It depends on how much daytime room you have. But the poop build-up under the roosts is a common problem, that's why so many of us have droppings boards of some type under the roosts.

That would be my suggestion. Collect the poop under the roosts regularly so it does not build up enough to stay wet.

 

[StinkyAcres]

Can you get pelletized pine bedding for horses? @Debbie292d is a big fan of it. I'm planning to try it in my coop.