Do they really need bedding?

[aoxa]

I just mucked out my coop this weekend. I bought six huge bags of shavings to put back in, but the whole thing was a mess to clean out. The flooring is cement, they free range during the day (except to lay eggs) Is there a reason to have bedding in the summer?

I have the means to do it if they need it. It just seems so much easier to shovel out the poop than all the bedding with it..

Oh and they seem to scratch the shavings all outside just to annoy me. It seems like a lot of upkeep. I can not easily put something in front of the door to block shavings...

 

[21hens-incharge]

I will toss this out there.
Linoleum is slippery. I do not like my hens hitting just hard floor when getting off the roost.
I want some cushion for those legs when they land.
Size of coop? 8x14.
#of birds in that coop varies. I tend to keep about 2 dozen in that one. The smaller coop is 6x8 and has 14 juveniles right now. Most will be moving to the big house soon.

Oh and I do a half clean method. I scoop out under the roosts, shove what I did not scoop to under the roosts. It takes one bag of shavings to replenish the now cleaned out main area.
I only have to do this twice a month.

 

[rooaroo]

unless you are a deep method person than a thin layer would be good. You want something to absorb the wet. Maybe half the amount but there should be a little something down.

 

[aoxa]

unless you are a deep method person than a thin layer would be good.  You want something to absorb the wet.  Maybe half the amount but there should be a little something down.

Why exactly though?

If I scoop out the poop every day, and hose down once a week to dry..

Straw did not work well at all, and shavings are so expensive!

Only reason I can think of is we have ducks, and they have a little straw bed to sleep in.

 

[aggiemae]

If you don't use any bedding you chickens feet (and so your nesting boxes) will be covered with poop.

Shredded paper, leaf mulch and lawn clippings are free, you can offset some of the cost of pine shavings by using free bedding most of the year.

I do not used deep bedding. I do use recycled paper pellets called "Crown Animal Bedding". It comes in 40 pound bags, one of our local feed stores sells it for $9.00 a bag the other for $20.00 (seriously!) It's 100% recycled, low dust and very absorbent. We keep it about 2" deep. It's easy to pick the poop clumps out, especially since I make my kids do it. They do it twice a day with a kitty litter scooper and dump the whole mess right into the compost pile. I add more pellets it as needed. We don't have a walk-in coop so it's not an issue here but unfortunately the bedding pellets do tend to 'travel' so you might have to but a 2x4 in your doorway to keep them in the coop.

 

[aoxa]

If you don't use any bedding you chickens feet (and so your nesting boxes) will be covered with poop.

Shredded paper, leaf mulch and lawn clippings are free, you can offset some of the cost of pine shavings by using free bedding most of the year. 

I do not used deep bedding. I do use recycled paper pellets called "Crown Animal Bedding". It comes in 40 pound bags, one of our local feed stores sells it for $9.00 a bag the other for $20.00 (seriously!)  It's 100% recycled, low dust and very absorbent. We keep it about 2" deep. It's easy to pick the poop clumps out, especially since  I make my kids do it. They do it twice a day with a kitty litter scooper and dump the whole mess right into the compost pile. I add more pellets it as needed. We don't have a walk-in coop so it's not an issue here but unfortunately the bedding pellets do tend to  'travel' so you might have to but a 2x4 in your doorway to keep them in the coop.

That makes sense with the feet thing! Good enough reason I will put some down. Never even considered that, and I have cochins too.. so poopy feet is bad.

I'll have to use the shavings first, since I already spent about $50 for the 6 bags. *sigh*

 

[heidiinalaska]

you may check and see if you have a local saw mill in your area. I can go get a black trash bag full of shavings for less than 1.50.

 

[aoxa]

you may check and see if you have a local saw mill in your area. I can go get a black trash bag full of shavings for less than 1.50.

 

Can't guarantee that there isn't any cedar mixed in. :/ I've tried it - trash bags for 3.50 - but it made them sneeze a lot.

 

[1muttsfan]

Sawmills usually sell sawdust and not shavings from kiln dried wood. It is dusty with a high moisture content, and is not very good bedding. A thin layer of shavings will last for a long time in the summer, and provides comfort and keeps their feet cleaner.

 

[aggiemae]

I had to do a lot of foot washing while the checks were in the small brooder. so 'poop foo't, or rather avoiding 'poop foot', was one of the determining factor in deciding coop size.