First winter with chickens

[Spacemantharp]

I was curious as to whether straw or pine shavings would be best for heat retention and waste of course. I use straw but they move all of it where the lay their eggs. Well one makes a sorta nest not in the individual boxes..Do they still need the roost bar after they start laying eggs in there? Mine seem to lay more if I remove it during the day. I thought about trying a finer cut straw for horse bedding but idk. Block they sell is perfect size for a few clean ups. Idk if they really like the reg straw. Any suggestions are welcome. Thx

 

[nuthatched]

You don't want heat retention, you do however want something that dries quickly.
And yes, they still need roost bars, you don't want them to sleep in the boxes.
The only difference in winter chicken keeping vs summer, for most places, is making sure the wind can't blow on them directly and making sure there's plenty of ventilation to let warm, moist air out of the coop.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I was curious as to whether straw or pine shavings would be best for heat retention and waste of course. I use straw but they move all of it where the lay their eggs. Well one makes a sorta nest not in the individual boxes..Do they still need the roost bar after they start laying eggs in there? Mine seem to lay more if I remove it during the day. I thought about trying a finer cut straw for horse bedding but idk. Block they sell is perfect size for a few clean ups. Idk if they really like the reg straw. Any suggestions are welcome. Thx

Nest boxes for day (egg laying), roosts for night (sleeping.) Roosts should be higher than the nest boxes.

 

[FrizzledWyandotte7]

I was curious as to whether straw or pine shavings would be best for heat retention and waste of course. I use straw but they move all of it where the lay their eggs. Well one makes a sorta nest not in the individual boxes..Do they still need the roost bar after they start laying eggs in there? Mine seem to lay more if I remove it during the day. I thought about trying a finer cut straw for horse bedding but idk. Block they sell is perfect size for a few clean ups. Idk if they really like the reg straw. Any suggestions are welcome. Thx

I use shavings, give them access to extra feed, and have plywood around the bottom of the run to keep out snow and drafts. I did use hay/straw to insulate around the coop and the elk took over my backyard. So I don’t recommend doing that if you have elk in the area.