coop bedding- what do you prefer??

[Laurie59]

Hubby is saying leave homemade coop bottom bare wood,I am saying NO.I will continue with plan to line with tarp tacked down and will put combo of wheat straw and pine needles.I also found recycle bin on side fits perfect in half of house...easy clean.Run is dirt with mint growing in it.

The Dixie Chick move is weather delayed !....Lil Coop moved and covered.

 

[Phoenixxx]

Phoenixxx, You live in Nova Scotia? Holy smokes batman! How in the world did you end up on BYC forum? What kind of chickens do you have there? I think you are the first person I have ever talked to from there. My relatives are from Scotland and ireland. Michigan is a whole world away from you! I sure hope you find this site friendly and helpful.

Yes, I live in NS; originally from the netherlands and grew up in southwestern BC How I found BYC: I dove headlong into my chicken adventure and as a result, quickly encountered various issues I did not have an answer to. Punch ANY chicken question into google and a BYC thread will be within the top three results! So now I'm here, and it's awesome

Kinds of chickens: I've had loads, had a bad start to this year with predators. Will never do "rhode island reds" (commercial layers are marketed thus by the people selling their used sex-links) ever again and working on a mixed flock of heritage breeds right now. We can get most of what's available down south, but some breeds, such as a PRODUCTIVE LF cochin or an asil are not available.

 

[Our Roost]

Laurie59, How well does mint grow in run area? Whole thing planted or just a portion?

 

[Phoenixxx]

Hubby is saying leave homemade coop bottom bare wood,I am saying NO.I will continue with plan to line with tarp tacked down and will put combo of wheat straw and pine needles.I also found recycle bin on side fits perfect in half of house...easy clean.Run is dirt with mint growing in it.

The Dixie Chick move is weather delayed !....Lil Coop moved and covered.

The tarp will be shredded in a week. Then you'll still be left with scraping the wood floor with a shovel. Don't waste the tarp.

 

[Our Roost]

Phoenixxx, getting late here and this is my last response for the evening. Pretty dumb of me to relate Nova Scotia to Ireland and Scotland. Duh! You live in that special part of the world where only critters and select people can survive? What do I know other than very little about Nova Scotia. Anyhow, I have a few Canadian friends that frquent BYC. You might want to check out Mechels/Malines club of North America on line. Quite a few people from your neck of the woods and darned nice ones also. Good breeders with good contacts and good chickens. Shelley Scott has a thread called Belgian Malines, The New Generation on byc. check them both out. Goodnight!

 

[Hen-rietta]

Welcome Cats and Chicks! Bedding, as you can see, is a hot topic around here. I'm fairly new myself so I'm no expert but I can tell you what I've experienced. I too have a small coop (see my profile picture) and use shavings. My girls come out during the day but my husband has been in the hospital for about a week now (he's fine & should be home soon) so I haven't been doing much besides feeding them lately. This is causing them to become a little anti-social and they are staying in the coop more often. With this, I have found that the coop doesn't stay clean quite as long. However, I have also found that if I clean the clumps and what not out of the coop every other day or so, things are much better and I actually go through less waste because I don't have as much to clean out because it isn't stepped on and dragged all over the coop. I picked up a small beach rake & shovel (minus the pail) at a Dollar Tree store and use those to pick up the clumps. The coop smells better, the girls are happier and it's easier for me than if I wait and let it pile up and mush together. Actually, they get a little testy if I wait more than 3 days and they start showing signs of not being happy, such as knocking their roosting bar to the floor, or pooping in their food container.

You may find that it's probably not necessarily your hens that are making it smell bad and cause the flies. It's probably the treats you throw in. I have a small feeder in my coop as well and don't really have a problem with waste on the floor. If you are putting kitchen scraps or other treats in there, they are probably rooting for them, which is great, but not catching them all before they start to decay, hence the fly problem. Is it possible to get a treat ball or some container that you can put the treats in? This may help as you can take them out if they aren't eaten by the end of the day. A treat ball (or other puzzle like container) is great because it keeps them busy, which keeps them happy.

 

[PappasMomma]

I use straw. I change it out about every week or so and use it as a base for my garden. cover with top soil and the veggies love it.

 

[PlaidBattleAxe]

I use pine chips. (kiln-dried ones from tractor supply) I've had my chickens for about 3 weeks and Ive yet to have to clean any poop out of my coop. I'm attempting deep litter method (turns out I'd had the wrong idea about it... it starts out bare minimum bedding and only in the nest boxes and then adding a handful every few days to the floor of the coop--according to the friends I acquired the chickens from). I add a shovel full of dry garden dirt once a week and they scratch it around and mull things about and there is legitimately no smell to my coop/run. At all. I was convinced I'd have stunk ourselves out of the house (as the coop is 5 feet from the corner of our house), but so far we've been lucky. It's been humid and wet and very very HOT where I'm at in PA and still no stink.

 

[PlaidBattleAxe]

Welcome Cats and Chicks! Bedding, as you can see, is a hot topic around here. I'm fairly new myself so I'm no expert but I can tell you what I've experienced. I too have a small coop (see my profile picture) and use shavings. My girls come out during the day but my husband has been in the hospital for about a week now (he's fine & should be home soon) so I haven't been doing much besides feeding them lately. This is causing them to become a little anti-social and they are staying in the coop more often. With this, I have found that the coop doesn't stay clean quite as long. However, I have also found that if I clean the clumps and what not out of the coop every other day or so, things are much better and I actually go through less waste because I don't have as much to clean out because it isn't stepped on and dragged all over the coop. I picked up a small beach rake & shovel (minus the pail) at a Dollar Tree store and use those to pick up the clumps. The coop smells better, the girls are happier and it's easier for me than if I wait and let it pile up and mush together. Actually, they get a little testy if I wait more than 3 days and they start showing signs of not being happy, such as knocking their roosting bar to the floor, or pooping in their food container.

You may find that it's probably not necessarily your hens that are making it smell bad and cause the flies. It's probably the treats you throw in. I have a small feeder in my coop as well and don't really have a problem with waste on the floor. If you are putting kitchen scraps or other treats in there, they are probably rooting for them, which is great, but not catching them all before they start to decay, hence the fly problem. Is it possible to get a treat ball or some container that you can put the treats in? This may help as you can take them out if they aren't eaten by the end of the day. A treat ball (or other puzzle like container) is great because it keeps them busy, which keeps them happy.

Where do you get your treat balls? I found one at our local tractor supply and it was so tiny in circumference (like the size of a tiny catnip ball) I didn't think my ladies and gent would go for it (they are honest to goodness piranhas when it comes to fruity treats---if you whip out cranberries it's no holds barred).

 

[Hen-rietta]

I too got mine at my local TSC but they had a couple of different choices. One of the ones was about the size of a fist and built like a cage (more for lettuce and larger treats), with a bell on the bottom, like this.

but there are others out there too. This one looks great for nuts and seeds, http://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog/Feed-and-Water-Supplies/Chicken-Fun-Toy-p963.aspx
This other site had some good homemade ideas too. Some of them I wouldn't necessarily try but others seem like a great idea and lots of fun. In fact, I think I might throw some blueberries in my freezer as a treat in the morning for my girls.
http://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog/Feed-and-Water-Supplies/Chicken-Fun-Toy-p963.aspx

Let me know how you make out with this. I love to hear what works for different people and their hens. I know that my girls like to do tricks, okay, one trick (jumping) for their treats. I never thought of rolling them across the lawn for them to run after but it's a great way for them to get some exercise too. I once heard, and am a firm believer in, "a bored chicken is an aggressive chicken". When my girls are bored, they aren't mean but they are more aggressive.