Coop floor bedding AUS

[Sloane Chickens]

What are we loving for coop floor bedding? We currently use mulch - which is working well! But looking at an easier upkeep now that we have more chickens!
thinking switching to sand? But not sure of the upkeep there!
What else is recommended? Wanting something that’s chicken friendly, easy maintenance, preferably not lice attracting lol.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

What are we loving for coop floor bedding? We currently use mulch - which is working well! But looking at an easier upkeep now that we have more chickens!
thinking switching to sand? But not sure of the upkeep there!
What else is recommended? Wanting something that’s chicken friendly, easy maintenance, preferably not lice attracting lol.

Just to make sure - you’re asking about the coop (where they sleep and maybe nest) or the enclosed outdoor run?

Is ther existing flooring wood, dirt, ??

 

[Sloane Chickens]

Just to make sure - you’re asking about the coop (where they sleep and maybe nest) or the enclosed outdoor run?

Is there existing flooring wood, dirt, ??

A coop here is typically where they sleep and lay eggs!
Ours are free ranged - on grass/dirt. So this is purely for where I lock them up at night - and where they’ll lay their eggs.
Our coop sits on a concrete slab. It’s currently got mulch - but due to our weather (wet, but humid) atm the mulch is going gross

 

[Mother of Chaos]

A coop here is typically where they sleep and lay eggs!
Ours are free ranged - on grass/dirt. So this is purely for where I lock them up at night - and where they’ll lay their eggs.
Our coop sits on a concrete slab. It’s currently got mulch - but due to our weather (wet, but humid) atm the mulch is going gross

Ok, just making sure. We often see posts talking about someone’s 5m x 12m “coop,” and think, That’s quite a coop!

Yeah, you’re in a bit of a pickle. Since it has a concrete floor, it isn’t going to compost in most cases.

Sand is popular among many in very dry climates, but it can get stinky fast in humid and wet climates.

Any folks here using a dry-compost bedding method in a coop with a concrete floor?

 

[Sloane Chickens]

Ok, just making sure. We often see posts talking about someone’s 5m x 12m “coop,” and think, That’s quite a coop!

Yeah, you’re in a bit of a pickle. Since it has a concrete floor, it isn’t going to compost in most cases.

Sand is popular among many in very dry climates, but it can get stinky fast in humid and wet climates.

Any folks here using a dry-compost bedding method in a coop with a concrete floor?

No that’s ok! I should have been more specific! Haha.

Yes that’s the hard part we are finding. I know a local breeder uses sand and loves it. But I’m just not sure (and it’s a big cost outlay so need to be sure!)

We are winter now and it’s been a miserable one.. the coop bedding doesn’t get wet unless the chickens are out and run in though. But it’s still a factor.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

No that’s ok! I should have been more specific! Haha.

Yes that’s the hard part we are finding. I know a local breeder uses sand and loves it. But I’m just not sure (and it’s a big cost outlay so need to be sure!)

We are winter now and it’s been a miserable one.. the coop bedding doesn’t get wet unless the chickens are out and run in though. But it’s still a factor.

Here’s a fairly recent thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ber-mats-over-concrete.1660101/#post-28543727

You might get some ideas there, or some names of other posters who have direct experience.

One suggestion I’ve seen is using wood chips, including pine flakes, instead of mulch. I’d be hard put to define the difference between mulch and chips or flakes, except to say that the latter are fluffier, I guess, and less likely to get soggy, maybe.

 

[Debbie292d]

We've had excellent luck using horse bedding pellets. They are 100% compressed pine and extremely absorbent, thus our coops and brooders don't smell. Here in the U.S. we can get them in the farm stores for around $8 for 40 lbs. In the coops, we change them once a year. The chickens keep them moved around. When they get wet, they change to dustless sawdust. By the time we change them out yearly in the coops, they have turned to about 80% sawdust.

In the brooders, it depends how long the chicks were in there, but usually every other batch. I stir theirs every couple of days with my hand as they can't scratch them around too well. Coccidiosis can't grow where it's dry as a bone.

 

[Finchbreeder]

Also in Aust - but the other side - some I know use hay - it can then be used as mulch on the garden when removed from the roost.

 

[snfork]

My chickens are now 4 months old. They are doing well on starter feed and chopped straw bedding. But I'd like to know if a rubber floor would be better in terms of not bringing in so much shopped straw into my house. Have any of you used rubber mats? The floor of my coop is plywood with the rubber paint that is usually recommended. Looking into ordering rubber mats for the 6x7 foot coop.

 

[DobieLover]

But I'd like to know if a rubber floor would be better in terms of not bringing in so much shopped straw into my house.

I would strongly advise against this.

Rubber mats are not absorbent and chicken bedding needs to be absorbent and as dust free as possible. Additionally, waste will make its way between the mats and it will be quite tedious to remove the mats to clean. New rubber mats off gas for quite a while and that would be hazardous to chickens with their delicate respiratory systems. Rubber mats over plywood would trap moisture in the plywood and promote rotting of the wood.

I get the not wanting to track bedding into the house. I have a dedicated pair of crocks that I slip on my feet to go out to tend my flock. They get kicked off outside (in my sunroom) and do not come in the house.