Coop bedding/litter - which is best?

[blacklab]

Being new to chickens, I'm reading conflicting things about what is the best bedding/litter to use inside the coop. I love the pine shavings, but they are expensive and I'm seeing that wheat straw isn't good because of holding moisture/insects. Sand seems so "unfriendly" and not cozy. What do ya'll say? Thanks!

 

[aart]

Being new to chickens, I'm reading conflicting things about what is the best bedding/litter to use inside the coop.

...and you will read more 'conflicting' options here in your thread.
That's because different things work better in different situations...and everyone has differing opinions.

What kind of bedding you use may depend on how you manage the manure.
This is about cleaning, but covers my big picture
-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily(takes 5-10mins) into bucket going to friends compost.
-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.
-Pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.
- My runs have semi-deep litter(cold composting), never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.
Aged ramial wood chippings are best IMO.
-Nests are bedded with straw, add some occasionally, change out if needed(broken egg).
There is no odor, unless a fresh cecal has been dropped and when I open the bucket to add more poop.

That's how I keep it 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 7 years.

 

[drinkoj]

We use four to six inches worth of pine shavings for our 4x8 coop and haven't had to add much to it since I built it in May. I use poop boards and scrape them off or sift out the poop from the sweet PDZ litter box I made once a week. I just throw some scratch feed in there and let the chickens turn the shavings and the poop that lands on the shavings. This results in me not doing any cleaning of the pine shavings, unless I just get the itch to turn them with a pitchfork for fun.

 

[Aapomp831]

SAND. It is extremely inexpensive and all you need is a kitty litter scoop to clean the poop in the am. You can get it right at Lowe’s, and you only need to change it completely about once a month. Pine shavings end up EVERYWHERE.... in your dryer, stuck to every carpet and they DONT come up with a vacuum. Very frustrating, I hate pine shavings. I only use them for chicks under 8 weeks.

 

[drinkoj]

That’s why you clean the poop out of it everyday, I’m not a fan of the deep litter method.

Cleaning the coop daily....

 

[imnukensc]

I don't find pine shavings to be expensive at $6 for a "bale" at TSC, but if you have pine straw and leaves free for the raking in your yard, that will work just as well. I would neither use straw nor sand in my coop.

 

[blacklab]

Hmm, at TSC here, a "cube" is around $14! It comes in bales? I'll look into that - I love the way they smell and look! Thanks!

I stand corrected - it's the "Aspen" shavings that are so expensive - yes, found the pine for $5.99. Think I'll stick with that!

 

[RRM]

Being new to chickens, I'm reading conflicting things about what is the best bedding/litter to use inside the coop. I love the pine shavings, but they are expensive and I'm seeing that wheat straw isn't good because of holding moisture/insects. Sand seems so "unfriendly" and not cozy. What do ya'll say? Thanks!

Not really sure what you mean by sand seeming so “unfriendly” and not cozy. Our chickens are only in the coop at night to sleep and immediately get up on the roost bars when they go in right before dark, then are back out in the run at daylight till we let them out to free range for the day. Sand makes coop clean-up very easy in our opinion, the sand stays dry and no smell. Everyone has their own opinions though...

 

[Aapomp831]

Not really sure what you mean by sand seeming so “unfriendly” and not cozy. Our chickens are only in the coop at night to sleep and immediately get up on the roost bars when they go in right before dark, then are back out in the run at daylight till we let them out to free range for the day. Sand makes coop clean-up very easy in our opinion, the sand stays dry and no smell. Everyone has their own opinions though...

Yes. It is also a better insulator, being much more dense. And it’s easy to mix DE into without it all just falling to the bottom.

 

[3KillerBs]

The problem with sand is that it doesn't contribute to the poop composting. The poop dust just gets mixed into the sand and stays there.