Do I HAVE to use bedding?

[HBuehler]

We don't use anything on our floor as you said they are not on it anyway.Our floor tends to flood in the center where there is no coops-we have all of the mini coops built up on the outside walls of the barn and the free rangers roost in the center..after you remove a foot of soggy wet muddy shavings once you don't do it twice and with 2 pretty big rains..the May flood and another 10" just a week ago the last thing we need or want is shavings down.When it's not flooding we have no problem keeping the bare floor clean and clear of bird poo and it goes in the garden without adding the acidity of wood shavings...plus the cost savings of covering the floor with shavings is huge..it would take a few pickup loads of shavings just to get a small covering on my floor nothing to say about several inches.

 

[franklinchickens]

We have linoleum flooring in our coop - which, like you, is only where they roost. No shavings at all. Every morning I go in and scrape up the poop with a dustpan and wipe down the floor. Once a week I go in with some non-toxic cleanser and wash it. We only have 4 chickens so it really isn't that big of a deal. They spend most of the day in the run which has sand & litter and out in the yard free ranging.

Here's the inside of our coop. Very easy clean up.

 

[dieselgrl48]

I have 4 coop's.One my large old 3 room one is concrete floor's.The 2nd we converted is wooden,the 3 is half concrete half wood, and I dont have anything in there now but old smokehouse has concrete floor too.The large coop I maybe just keep a sprinkle of cedar for odor, my 2nd coop which has 6 sep. pens I put pine shavings on the floors in the pen's and cedar in walkway for fresh.The 3rd one only houses a few silkie's now and getting ready to clean that coop and the big one.I will probably only put a small amount of shaving's for freshnest and do the nest boxes.I use one of the long scraper tool's but some shavings do help keep so much poo from drying on floor and needing a jackhammer to get it up.I isualy only give mine a good cleaning spring and fall and a little fresh up between.Yearling cow got in my upper coop today Weeee cow pattie's tooo.Gonna love that one

 

[chickerdoodle]

Shavings or any bedding that cushions the floor makes it easier on the chicken's feet when they jump off the roost. It can help prevent foot and toe injuries as well as bumble foot triggered by the jarring of the feet hitting a hard floor. I have vinyl flooring covered with 3" of shavings which cleans unbelievably easy!!