Bedding?

[Socalchef00]

I was wondering what everyone uses as bedding in their coops?

I currently use pine shavings but ive heard people use other types as well.

What are your pro and cons of the bedding you use?

 

[HaileysHenHouse]

I just use straw it's cheap and it works in all seasons. You only have to clean it about 1 a month (depending on how many chickens u have). And for me and I have a cramy coop it's pretty easy to clean. And my dad sometimes even uses it for fertilizer.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I use pine shavings, in winter we use hay with it. In my turkey shed we use sand.

 

[blucoondawg]

I used pine shavings at first but switched to straw it's far cheaper and the chickens seem to like it better when you throw in a fresh bale

 

[sawilliams]

I used straw at first but didn't have a good way to store a bale and most of it got water logged or tore apart by the dogs. Same price but seemed such a waste. We switched to pine shavings, I don't seem to go through near as much except with the baby chicks and it's so much easier to clean up. The bag for easily into a large storage tube too. So it's safe from my dogs and water. I've read on other posts hay can harbor mites making an infestation harder to fight, pine shaving smell better.

 

[blucoondawg]

Straw price varies by season and location, I always watch Craigslist farm and garden section and when I find it for 2 dollars to 2.50 a bale I take my trailer and get 50 bales at a crack, I stack it on pallets next to my chicken run and tarp it. 50 bales lasts me over a year and I usually sell a few bales to friends for garden mulch or their chickens. When I was using wood shavings it was around 4 dollars a bundle, it takes at least 3 bundles, 4 is better, to cover my coop after cleaning and another bundle every week or 2 to keep it decent. If you have to pay 4 or 5 bucks for straw then wood may be cheaper, I refuse to pay that much that's why I buy in bulk when I find a deal. If I had a building to store it in I'd get hundreds at a time when I found it for 2 bucks and sell it on Craigslist for 3 or 4 bucks like everyone else does but I don't have that kind of storage lol.

 

[aart]

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