Coop Materials

[Dom G]

First, are you talking about your coop or your run? Using "ground cover" and "coop" in the same sentence is throwing off my understanding of your question.

I use sand in my 4x8 foot coop. It works well if you are someone who is willing to scoop daily. Not so well if you prefer to set-it-and-forget it for several days. (crushed limestone construction sand from my local gravel company)

I use straw in my 10x20 foot run. sorry. my run is roofed with wire, but open to the elements. I find the straw gets worked down into the soil by the hens and breaks down into a rich beautiful loam over time. The loam drains nicely, as opposed to my native clay soil which barely drains at all. I occasionally throw some aspen shavings in the worst spots if it's an especially muddy area.

Best wishes on your change-over, whatever you decide on .

I’m talking about inside my coop. I’ll probably go with sand, thank you for the insight!

 

[Tahai]

If you haven't already read this, it's a good breakdown on sand in the coop. She has good youtube videos on her thoughts as well. https://www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/sand-chicken-coop-bedding

 

[jreardon1918]

I second wood chips. Along with unfertilized grass clippings, leaves, garden waste. Further we take semi-annual pine shaving clean out from the coop and add them to the run. We never have to "clean" the run. We just take what we need to add back to the gardens.

Edit: I just saw the post about in the coop. We do pine shavings. We used to have poop boards and they were scooped every few days. Now the poop boards are gone and we leave the poops to be dried by the pine shavings. Cleanout happens semi-annually.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I use wood chips in the majority of my coop specifically because it's free. Hemp under roosts for sifting. I only clean out once a year so the hemp lasts a long time, which helps mitigate the cost.