Bedding

[sunflour]

this is the "biggest" kind available here. We use it for the nest boxes. They wont eat it in the nest boxes but as soon as some gets on the coops floor they will eat it.

Most of that does look like the fine shavings mine eat like popcorn. Mine snacked on it in the nests.

 

[Wyandotte 123]

I like to use grass hay they do eat it but its very good or you can use grass cuttings from when you mow the lawn. They like that and they don't go through it very fast.

 

[Riverdog]

I use Pine shavings in the coop and have never had a problem with the girls eating it. I put pink insulation board on the ceiling of the coop (4'x4'x6') and their perch was high enough that they could reach it...they ate that, fortunately no ill effects. In the fenced and covered pen area, I mix pine shavings with sandy loam and that works well. They love to bathe and nest in it on hot days.

 

[catsbully]

hay is great and bad...they can safely peck at the hay seeds but its a job and a half to clean out the coop after its been down for a while...

 

[zeis]

I started out using straw in the coop this summer, seems like the wood shavings absorbed moisture better, so switched to it this fall. Haven't noticed my girls or roos eating it, Guess I need to watch and decide whether to stay with pine chips or switch back to straw for winter. Have been using a mixture of straw & pine chips for the nesting boxes. I insulated the walls and ceiling area with 3.5 x 16 roll insulation, then covered it up with thick mat board/card board. They have made no attempt to peck at it, thus far.

 

[Majestymom]

What about feline pine?

 

[Juno]

I use Aubiose horse bedding which is fantastic! It's made from hemp. Very lightweight, composts really quickly and absorbs moisture but dries out fast. Costs more than shavings but lasts longer and the girls won't eat it.

 

[roseyred]

I'm fortunate to have an open stall for my chickens to call home during the winter. Our stalls are more like run in sheds for the horses as they don't have a walkway before the stall entrance. They poop in there very infrequently so it's basicly a dried poop/dirt floor witch is warm and dry and full of little bugs lol. I put hay over it sparingly and the chickens stamp it into the poopdirt. Maybe try getting some manure and spreading it out to dry in the sun. It seems so also help the chicken poops dry out faster and become dust. I rarely see droppings on the ground. I think sand holds more moisture and holds it longer than dirt.. You could totaly come scoop some dry poop from the other run in stall lol.

 

[yellowchicks]

Lots of people rave about using sand as bedding for its convenience and low cost. I almost did too until I did more research on my own, and decided to steered away from sand. Sand can be scorching in the summer, ice cold in the winter, or cement solid when mixed with water and poop, it also does not decompose well. Imagine chickens jump off from the roost and landed on a slab of cold cement in the winter.

I have been using pine shaving since the beginning, love it for its softness, moisture and odor absorbency, and readily decompose as a carbon matter to offset the chicken poop as a nitrogen matter. The only problem is cost. So far Walmart seems have be the cheapest bedding but it is marketed for rabbits and small animals. I use it for chickens.

There are always pros and cons in each type of bedding material. Experiment and see which one works for your setup and weather.

edited by staff

 

[roseyred]

My girls like to dig a hole to the floor in the middle of their nest box so I use hay because it has more structure than shavings. It looks more like q birds nest and less like a fluffy circle with a hard wood center for eggs to break in