Bedding

[Suzjeff]

Is is better to use sand or wood shavings on floor of coop?

 

[Kiki]

I prefer dirt.
It's personal preference.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

I use pine shavings, but that’s just my opinion. I’m assuming your talking about bedding, and not the actual floor if the coop?

 

[3KillerBs]

You might find this article helpful: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/using-deep-bedding-in-a-small-coop.76343/

Where, in general, are you located? Climate matters in many aspects of chicken-keeping and choice of bedding is one of the places where it matters the most.

People who use sand as bedding successfully are usually located in dry climates. No matter how faithfully you scoop, you end up with a lot of fine particles of chicken poop mixed into the sand and if it ever gets wet it REEKS.

Dry organic material -- shavings, straw, pine straw, corncob, rice hulls, hemp, coffee chaff, etc. -- as bedding works in any climate. A lot of this comes down to personal preference.

 

[aart]

What kind of bedding you use may depend on how you manage the manure.
This is about cleaning, but covers my big picture
-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily(takes 5-10mins) into bucket going to friends compost.
-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.
-Pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.
- My runs have semi-deep litter(cold composting), never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.
Aged ramial wood chippings are best IMO.
-Nests are bedded with straw, add some occasionally, change out if needed(broken egg).

There is no odor, unless a fresh cecal has been dropped and when I open the bucket to add more poop.

That's how I keep it 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 7 years.