coop bedding- what do you prefer??

[RockyRose]

Great thread - the great bedding debate. I think a lot depends on your climate. When I lived in New England I used straw in coops that were raised 3 feet off the floor, never had a problem. Now in Georgia with a new set of birds (and half as as many) I didn't like the straw, thought it drew in more flies so went to sand and scooping poop after hearing other people say they liked it. I sure didn't - a cat litter scoop left lots of little bits of poop and it didn''t take long before the ammonia smell arrived. There was nothing I could do short of "washing" the sand, so went back to hay/straw. BTW, this coop has a floor that isn't raised, the humidity has been really high too. I happen to like the straw better, I throw a layer on every few days and after a few layers will clean it out for the compost heap.
I had a farm store tell me a long time ago that chickens could choke on straw - I've seen my play with it but not try to eat it. The baby silkies still in the brooder have shavings and play with that too. They'll have straw and shavings when they move to their coop, later today (hay in the nest boxes, shavings in the coop). Will see how that works for them.
The flies are always a problem living next to a cattle farm, so no bedding will change that. They land on my car as much as the coop lol.
No matter the bedding, cleaning has to happen

 

[holm25]

Every animal we own has straw .

 

[Michael OShay]

Great thread - the great bedding debate. I think a lot depends on your climate. When I lived in New England I used straw in coops that were raised 3 feet off the floor, never had a problem. Now in Georgia with a new set of birds (and half as as many) I didn't like the straw, thought it drew in more flies so went to sand and scooping poop after hearing other people say they liked it. I sure didn't - a cat litter scoop left lots of little bits of poop and it didn''t take long before the ammonia smell arrived. There was nothing I could do short of "washing" the sand, so went back to hay/straw. BTW, this coop has a floor that isn't raised, the humidity has been really high too. I happen to like the straw better, I throw a layer on every few days and after a few layers will clean it out for the compost heap.
I had a farm store tell me a long time ago that chickens could choke on straw - I've seen my play with it but not try to eat it. The baby silkies still in the brooder have shavings and play with that too. They'll have straw and shavings when they move to their coop, later today (hay in the nest boxes, shavings in the coop). Will see how that works for them.
The flies are always a problem living next to a cattle farm, so no bedding will change that. They land on my car as much as the coop lol.
No matter the bedding, cleaning has to happen

 

[MeepBeep]

I like pine shavings but they are not cost effective for me at $5 - $6 a bag for me to do the entire coop with, so I only use pine shavings in the nesting boxes... For the rest of the coop I use straw as I can get it for $1 - $1.50 a bale during harvest and $2 - $2.50 a bale all year long, and I have a ton of straw on hand anyway for the goats and llama bedding...

Sand and the sorts is really not an option as my coop has a solid cement floor and it would freeze into a cold rock during winter...

 

[Alicecoop]

Pine shavings mixed with a little DE as a deep litter method is working great for me, I would be careful putting scraps in he coop that is where the smell and flies are coming from. I give mine veg. Scraps and pick up what they don't eat in an hour or so.

 

[6of6chicks]

Pine shavings mixed with a little DE as a deep litter method is working great for me, I would be careful putting scraps in he coop that is where the smell and flies are coming from. I give mine veg. Scraps and pick up what they don't eat in an hour or so.

Not sure if that's directed at me, but probably, lol! My scraps go in the run only. Once a day I give them something from the garden (usually whatever is too far gone for me to want). Part of a melon rind, corn cob, greens, etc. Not a lot - just an afternoon pick-me-up.

Does anyone know if Tractor Supply carries the right kind of DE? I know there are safe & unsafe types (?) - I'm just not sure where to get the right kind?

 

[karenduke]

I think what you choose really does depend on your coop and run setup and your climate, plus the current weather, and add in the chickens' current mood. We have an old horse barn that's on a decent slope, and started with a dirt floor. We've used pine shavings, straw, pine needles, etc. We have gradually gotten the entire barn's floors - the stalls and the common areas, plus the attached runs - covered in gravel dust. It's MUCH larger grains than sand and drains reasonably well when it gets wet. The birds like to take dust baths in it, and the gravel floor stays cooler in the summer. What I'm doing now is leaving exposed gravel dust floor in most of the coop, but straw placed under the roosts so it's easy to rake up poop and throw straw & all into the compost. Our birds also like straw in the nest boxes as they like to rearrange it just so while they're sitting there waiting for the big moment. However, I'm taking clues from the bird's choices. The biggest hen house/horse stall has about 25 chickens and their choice of wicker baskets with straw in them, their original 5 gallon buckets laid on their side, a shelf 4' off the ground with a wooden box, and we just added a wooden locker box about 6" off the floor spaced with small cinder blocks with straw in it. Where are they choosing to lay? They've dug out a hole under that locker box - between the cinder blocks so they're save from a cave-in - and all try to crowd in at the same time to lay UNDER the box on the gravel dust floor. So what our chickens are liking THIS WEEK is most of the floor left in bare gravel, straw around the perimeter to poop on or gather into piles as they please. If I throw in some garden goodies or weeds on the bare gravel and they don't eat them in a few hours then it's easy to pick them up or rake them up off the gravel floor and throw into the compost. We are using diamataceous earth on top of the gravel and under the straw. And I am putting a considerable amount of mint leaves and other herbs in the coops for whatever natural protection this might offer against bugs, rodents and snakes and for the nice smell.

In the winter it's easy, we use the deep litter method using mostly straw and pine needles over the gravel dust for a nice smell. But this just doesn't work well for OUR barn in OUR climate in the warm months.

I wouldn't presume that what we do is the best choice for everyone, just thought I'd share what's working for us right now. I'm also taking some clues from what I learned keeping parrots for 25 years. I'm adding in extra things for them to play with and perch on like parrot swings and just plain old firewood logs. I move them around and change things up a bit. It's so funny to see a chicken playing on a parrot swing or chew toy!

 

[Oscarsgravett]

I agree pine shavings are the best in my opinion and straw for the nest boxes

 

[YoGramps]

First off, I'm in North Georgia, Fort O, where are u? To the question at hand, I use a combination of pine shavings and straw bedding but I think the key is air circulation. I have built a fairly good size house (we refer to it as the girls condo). I have a screened door, two 22 x 55 " windows that I made removable and have ventilation coming in front the roof line as well, and then there's the entrance for the girls to come and go. People who come comment on the fact that with 50 birds in there it does not smell. To help eliminate waste, I built a hopper and attached to the one wall with no window which dispenses pellets gradually as they eat instead of them slinging things in all directions. I put a layer of shavings in the nesting boxes covered by straw bedding and everyone seems happy. Cleaning is a snap as I build the condo off the ground high enough for the girls to have cool ground to lay on as well as I build a clean-out so that I just push the wheelbarrow up under and lift the 2 x3 insert in the floor and cleaning is a breeze.

edited by staff to remove personal information

 

[RockyRose]

Thank you for the suggestion Michael, but I can't hose out the coop with my laying hens because of it's setup. It would never dry. I've been tempted to run a fan outside in my dog kennel to dry it out - my picky husky mix doesn't want to get his paws wet and won't go out more than once a day! Lots of shade and daily heavy rains for a month makes for a challenge in the coop and the kennel.
I forgot to add that I do use DE before adding layers of hay and I hang 3 fly strips changing them once a week. Even before the fly strip is hung it's caught a dozen flies. The odor is not bad, we really just have a lot of flies around here. I make a conscious effort to keep the dog kennel clean too - it's one more fly attractant in my yard. With cow piles right next door there's only so much I can do.