Coop bedding for Arizona hot climate

[Stephanie AZ]

Good morning, We are within days of completing our new coop. Our question is what is the best bedding for hot climates? I had thought deep litter method but of our members of BYC did not recommend it. I am not sure why but we are open to advice.

Also, I am going to introduce some new hens to my flock, what is the best way to do this?
Thank you.

 

[BlueBaby]

I'm in AZ. I just have a dirt flooring in my coop and attached run, but we have several member's that live here in AZ. that you could ask them what they are doing over in our Arizona states thread here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/arizona-chickens.31227/page-6925#post-21126226

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

Bedding depends are you set up... lets see. Howe many birds in how much space?

Best way to introduce new birds is called look but don't touch, like through a fence or kennel for a few days so they can meet but no one gets hurt. They work it out a little from behind bars before full exposure. After that, I place them on roost after dark so everyone wakes up together. I might move feeders and stuff around to mix it up for the old timers and lessen some of the territorial issues. And during introduction, sometimes extra feeders and water are provided. And lots of visual barriers to disappear behind.

Good luck!

 

[Stephanie AZ]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

Bedding depends are you set up... lets see. Howe many birds in how much space?

Best way to introduce new birds is called look but don't touch, like through a fence or kennel for a few days so they can meet but no one gets hurt. They work it out a little from behind bars before full exposure. After that, I place them on roost after dark so everyone wakes up together. I might move feeders and stuff around to mix it up for the old timers and lessen some of the territorial issues. And during introduction, sometimes extra feeders and water are provided. And lots of visual barriers to disappear behind.

Good luck!

 

[Stephanie AZ]

Our coop is raised 2 feet off of the ground and is 6’x8’ with a 8’x16’ run.
I am planning on 8 hens total.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Our coop is raised 2 feet off of the ground and is 6’x8’ with a 8’x16’ run.
I am planning on 8 hens total.

That can work, but it will be tight. The general recommendation for back yard keepers is 10 square ft per bird inside the coop and 100 sq ft each in the run. Things that effect this... bird attitude and breed, keeper cleaning, bad weather like snow, nutrition, and enrichment. Sorry, I know this isn't what you asked.. but I think it does tie in.

I want to talk more about your original question, but hoping for more input from more members.. mean while I'd like to mention that at about the second fall/winter all hens (usually) will molt and stop laying eggs for a couple months while they use the energy to replace and regrow feathers. For this reason I like to suggest that you get only a portion of your original ladies and adding a few more the next spring so they will (in theory) be laying by the time most the others are molting. Or if you don't think you mind... re-home some of your original less favorite gals earlier in the spring so their new family gets some eggs before molt and add some new pullets to yours. This is my usual route.

In case you haven't seen them yet... (again off topic ) these are some fun comparison charts for different breeds...
https://livestockconservancy.org/images/uploads/docs/pickachicken.pdf

http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html

Happy chickeneering!