Coop litter...please weigh in!

[ninabeast]

Hello all...our 12 2-day old babies are going to be in the brooder for a while, and we're absolutely tickled with them. My asthmatic lungs, however, are not loving the wood shavings. It's not horrible, but not great. Looking forward to the coop, I have a question for you all:

Is sand a viable alternative as a litter? Have you ever tried it? What are the pros and cons?

Any other ideas you might have for alternate litters would be most appreciated, especially those that might be appropriate for deep litter use.

Thank you!!

 

[JustClucky]

My chicks are a bit older,the youngest is about two weeks, but I use sand! I switched from wood shavings and it's really helped to keep the brokered cleaner, less feed is wasted and they looooooove dust bathing in the sand. I don't know about the benefits if you're asthmatic, though as it's still kind of dusty when you first pour it in.

 

[debid]

Are you sure it's the wood shavings and not the bird dander?

 

[ninabeast]

Yes, I had a reaction as soon as I lined the brooder floor before the peeps had even arrived. I'm sure they don't help, though!

 

[WoodlandWoman]

The first few days I have chicks, I usually have them on paper towels. You could do that right away, until you get something else set up.

I've developed a sensitivity to confers, so I need to use aspen shavings instead of pine these days. It works fine for deep litter in the coop. We can get big compressed bales, just like pine.

Small animal litter made from paper or grain processing would work in the brooder, too. I think it would be expensive for the coop, though. Sand is certainly an option for the brooder. A sifting scoop like the ones used to clean out pet reptile enclosure sand would work great for you. You wouldn't be using the deep litter method with sand, though. You'd be sifting or raking it regularly, to clean it. You can also use poop boards under the roosts in the coop, to keep waste down.

I would be prepared for a lot of dust from the chicks and the chickens. Birds put off a lot of dust when they grow in new feathers. They have a sheath covering them, which comes off as flakes and dust, as the feather unfurls. Chicks molt constantly, as they grow in new, larger feathers. If the chick dust starts to bother you, you can finish brooding them out in the coop or move them to an area of the house that won't bother you as much. A HEPA filter is nice, but may not be enough for you, if they start to bother you.

 

[patandchickens]

I don't know anything about sand for a *brooder*, one way or the other. I can see potential concerns with chicks eating too much sand and starving, but I really have no idea.

For a *coop* though it works fine EXCEPT THAT you live somewhere that it gets real cold for a long time every winter and there is a fairly good chance the sand will freeze solid and even when it ISN'T frozen solid it is extremely, extremely cold on their feet (b/c it is so conductive and holds so much coolth, so to speak). I really would not suggest sand on the floor of an upstate NY coop.

You could look into other alternatives, such as the WoodyPet type pelleted bedding (dunno how your allergies would feel about that -- it is low dust but still wood based) or shredded paper (which personally I loathe but some BYCers like it) or straw (although straw often has a high mold-spore load).

I guess I'd suggest experimenting with some of those and see how they work for you?

You probably ought to wear a GOOD WELL-FITTED dustmask whenever you're working int he coop, though, if you've had this much reaction just to shavings. Chicken dander really is "amazing" stuff.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[GiddyMoon]

There is a guy in town here who runs a feed store and raises show chickens. I was told to go talk to him about chicks..he told me he never uses any bedding besides paper towels in his brooders. He layers down some news paper for insulation, then a couple of layers of paper towels, puts a few bricks around to keep in in place..changes it once or twice a day as needed. I have asthma & allergies too, was on prescrip meds for 30 years..moved to AZ and it all went away as soon as I got here..but I too was concerned about the dust..paper towels it is.

 

[MeowCluckBark]

Quote:
I use horse bedding wood pellets. They don't bug my asthma at all. I switched to that for cat litter ages ago.

 

[allpeepedout]

Quote:
I did something similar. First two weeks on paper towels to prevent splayed legs on top of cotton towels, changing frequently and putting down fresh top layers as interim change between daily complete changes. Then went to many overlapping layers of flat newspaper. It was not slippery and they ran around and jumped just fine. Add fresh top sheets throughout the day, then quick and easy to roll up entire bedding, fold over, dispose of, replace once a day, in under 5 mins. Kept my 7 chicks very clean, no odor until 6 weeks, then too much output! Add extra layers as they grow and scratch up top layer for fun.

Dust is from feathering not bedding (in my case), and is super fine and pervasive.

Have you thought of an air filter?

Good luck.