Chicken beding

[mrskalka]

Hi everyone, I'm having a few problems with my flock.... they eat and scatter woodchips eveywhere! I made sure to get natural untreated pine chips,the large chip.
My question is what else could I use? I don't want my chucks eating chips and possibly get sick. I do feed them some alfalfa so I couldn't us it in the coop they would eat it all. Iv thought about straw but I'm scared they will eat it 2.... 0_o
I have sweet pdz under thier roosting bars so what I put in thier nesting boxs gets spread to the point I cant even see the pdz. Let alone scoop it. Iv left them empty so far but winter is coming and I don't want them to get cold.
Any suggestions?

 

[Leigti]

Do you have a picture of the inside of your coop? How high above the nesting boxes are your roosts? Are you using a poop board?

 

[mrskalka]

I don't have a picture,but it's one you get from tractor supply. I took a screen shot from the website. It's just temporary until I finish thier perm. coop.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr...-red-barn-8-chicken-chicken-coop?cm_vc=-10005
I added a link, I dnt want my picture so seem copyrighted.
The nesting boxs r below the roosting bar off to each side. Thier are 2 slide out trays under the roosting bars. (Mine swelled with rain and dnt slide out anymore)

 

[henless]

Have you thought about putting leaves/pine straw in your coop? You don't have to put it real deep since you have a smaller coop, but it would be something they could scratch around in. It's also free, if you have trees.

I put mine in deep, but I have a large coop.

 

[mrskalka]

I never thought of leaves. They only thing is I have elm trees and it takes them a while 2 loose all thier leaves. Plus we have been having problems with bugs and fungus so they have been sprayed. I'd hate 2 make my feathered children sick. That's an awsome idea tho! In a couple years if the fungus is gone and I'm sure no pesticides r left I will for sure try it. It seems so low maintenance. id try to get some from others but I'd hate if they had the same problem and forgot.
you're girls look so happy and healthy beautiful flock

 

[Mahlzeit]

I also used leaves. Saves me a ton of money on shavings, composts great(pine shavings seem to take forever to break down) and it seems to keep the smell in the coop down(in my opinion anyway). I would gladly give you some of my leaves I have more than I know what to do with.

 

[junkman56]

my coop floor is 30 sq. ft.,I use pine shavings, pine straw and leaves on my coop floor, I change the bedding about every couple weeks. I also use all three in the run, I don't change that I just keep adding.

 

[aart]

Hi everyone, I'm having a few problems with my flock.... they eat and scatter woodchips eveywhere! I made sure to get natural untreated pine chips,the large chip.
My question is what else could I use? I don't want my chucks eating chips and possibly get sick. I do feed them some alfalfa so I couldn't us it in the coop they would eat it all. Iv thought about straw but I'm scared they will eat it 2.... 0_o
I have sweet pdz under thier roosting bars so what I put in thier nesting boxs gets spread to the point I cant even see the pdz. Let alone scoop it. Iv left them empty so far but winter is coming and I don't want them to get cold.
Any suggestions?

I don't have a picture,but it's one you get from tractor supply. I took a screen shot from the website. It's just temporary until I finish thier perm. coop.
http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr...-red-barn-8-chicken-chicken-coop?cm_vc=-10005
I added a link, I dnt want my picture so seem copyrighted.
The nesting boxs r below the roosting bar off to each side. Thier are 2 slide out trays under the roosting bars. (Mine swelled with rain and dnt slide out anymore)

With a coop that small I'd just use the PDZ.
They are going to scratch stuff all over.....it's what they do.
How do you know they are eating enough chips to get sick?
Are they baby chicks....how old?
1000's of people have used the baled large pine shavings with no problems.

 

[azygous]

On a suggestion from a fellow BYCer, I recently switched from wood shavings in my coops to sand. Boy am I ever happy with sand as a bedding for my chickens!

I hated the mess of wood shavings. My chickens, as you say yours do, were eating the stuff, and it got tracked out into the run which is sand.

It's so easy to keep clean. I even did away with the poop boards in one coop and eliminated half in the other coop. A metal cat box scooper makes cleaning out the poop each morning a breeze. I kept the wood shavings in the nest boxes, however.

There is also the advantage of sand acting as a heat sink, helping to keep coop and run a bit warmer when the temps dive in winter. It's an excellent insulator.

And cheap.

 

[mrskalka]

On a suggestion from a fellow BYCer, I recently switched from wood shavings in my coops to sand. Boy am I ever happy with sand as a bedding for my chickens!

I hated the mess of wood shavings. My chickens, as you say yours do, were eating the stuff, and it got tracked out into the run which is sand.

It's so easy to keep clean. I even did away with the poop boards in one coop and eliminated half in the other coop. A metal cat box scooper makes cleaning out the poop each morning a breeze. I kept the wood shavings in the nest boxes, however.

There is also the advantage of sand acting as a heat sink, helping to keep coop and run a bit warmer when the temps dive in winter. It's an excellent insulator.

And cheap.

That is an awsome idea!!!! I will for sure do that!! I live in a very Sandy place we have it everywher
I'm glad 2 knw my chucks rnt the only ones who eat the chips. I'm also like u I hate the mess. I already have the kitty scooper for under the roosting polls so I will be ready for sand!
Thank u so much for ur advice!