Bedding

[lauraschicks]

I use the pine flakes and the deep litter method and I am good for 6 months... In one week I get to hoe out the coop for winter and spray it with my wonderful home made coop cleaner..smells so good.. and fill it up with new flakes for the winter... and in the nesting boxes... My girls love when I change it out....

so what is the recipe for your homemade coop cleaner that smells so good, if I may ask?

 

[CliffB]

Lots of people rave about using sand as bedding for its convenience and low cost. I almost did too until I came across this article, 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.

What do people in the western states do to keep their chickens from living in and around sand? I always wonder this when i see people write articles talking about how terrible sand is for chickens to be around. Do the people in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and the likes just not care about their chickens as much as everyone else?

 

[Jager]

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 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.

 

[Jager]

if you have a farm store near you agway or tractor supply they sell large bales of pines savings for 5 to 6 dollars per bale instead of buying shaving at walmart. the pine shavings bale are packed tightly so it lasts for quite a few weeks with putting 6 to 8 inches of pine shavings on the floor of a coop. the shavings are very large so my girls do not eat them.

 

[Sean O]

I purchased mine from tractor supply in April. I change their bedding once a week and still have over half of my pine shavings left in the bag. I have seven chickens. They pack those bags real tight.

 

[Larry Idle]

What about feline pine?

 

[chickiegal]

I have used peat moss and am very happy with it. One of my girls uses it for dust bathes. It's very soft and the urine is immediately absorbed. A fellow chicken-keeper who works at Home Depot suggested it as she has used it for years as well. The only downside is if there a breeze it can be dusty. It hasn't had any adverse affects on my girls respiratory-wise. It's also inexpensive.

 

[JD123]

This is my first winter with chickens. We have used sand since we got our chickens this past spring and I love it! We only have six chickens so scooping the poo out of the coop is not that big of a deal. However, now that the weather has gotten cold so quickly (thank you Polar Vortex!) I decided to dump a layer of pine shavings over the sand to help with insulation and keep their feet off the cold sand. So far it seems to be working.

 

[unionhillchix]

could i use pine straw in my nesting boxes? havent got chickens yet but thought pine straw might be cheaper than normal straw

 

[CliffB]

Everywhere i read rants and raves about how pine straw is a great free alternative to bedding.