Chicken run floor...??

[gtaus]

I tried sand in my run here in Portland. Had to sift it almost every day and still had tons of flies. Several of my chickens died while we had sand and then as soon as I switched to deep litter wood chips everything has been great. I haven't had to clean it at all really ( my coop and run are covered which keeps it dry- essential to the deep litter method) and my hens are healthy and happy. It keeps them warm in the winter, and gives them stuff to dig in - more bugs for them to eat. Sand was not fun for them at all.

Except for the loss of chicks on sand, that was my experience switching over to wood chips. I'll never go back to using sand.

 

[gtaus]

I’m not an expert—that’s just what I’ve read. I think it has something to do with the oils. It’s possible they’d be gone in a long dead tree but honestly I have no idea. Maybe someone else will chime in here.

There has been some debate on using cedar shavings in brooder pens. Some people claim the cedar aroma overwhelms the chicks. However, the info I have read on the hatchery websites seems to indicate that there has been no real study on the effects of cedar shavings on chicks. So people use pine shavings to be safe, but the cedar issue might only be an old wives tale without any basis of fact.

In any case, I don't think some cedar wood chips mixed in with everything else out in the chicken run would hurt grown chickens. Probably just make everything smell a little better for a short while.

 

[Farmgirl1878]

We are in waaaaaaay-Southern Ohio where it’s always humid and usually wet. Sand works well for us in the coop, nest boxes, covered and open run, and on the pathway from the house. I use a long-handled wok skimmer to scoop poop a couple of times a day and it takes me about ten minutes for seven hens and five chicklets. I throw a bag or two of Sweet PDZ (zeolite) down a couple of times a year in the coop and on the poop decks to freshen things up and add back what ends up in the compost heap. Our summers stay well into the 90’s with 90% humidity and our winters get as low as -15 or so. The sand that is shaded stays comfortable for the girls, even the sand in the nest boxes.

I‘be never had a problem with flies, mites, or lice and none of the twenty or so chicks I’ve raised on it have eaten too much and gotten impacted.

 

[aart]

BTW, chips will only last a few weeks. Between the rubbing of the chip (as the girls constantly dig in them looking for worms and grubs) and the composting effect of chips mixed with chicken poop, the chips break down faster than you'd expect.

Eh, depends on how big the chips are.
The smaller, and softer wood, the chips are the sooner it will break down.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Does that apply to all cedar? I have dead standing cedar trees that I thought I couple chip.

I’m not an expert—that’s just what I’ve read. I think it has something to do with the oils. It’s possible they’d be gone in a long dead tree but honestly I have no idea. Maybe someone else will chime in here.

I have cedar chips in my chip mix (it would be literally impossible to get wood chips around here without cedar mixed in, as it's simply part of the environment) and I use aged chips in both coop and run. I feel very comfortable about using it in my set up. We have Western cedar which is lower aroma than Eastern red cedar (which is more aromatic and the type of cedar associated with hope chests and insect repellents).

I would probably avoid using all cedar, or fresh cedar (well, fresh anything really... pine sap is awful!), or cedar in closed-in environments (i.e. indoor brooder, coop lacking in ventilation). My coop is well over recommended ventilation plus has a high ceiling for added air volume.

Many coop builds have cedar and I don't think people ever consider that. My current coop has cedar trim, my old one (which is now a chick brooder) is 100% cedar.

Obviously if you're not comfortable with it, don't use it, but I've been mixing in cedar for the last few years and there's been no sign of respiratory issues in my flock.