Flooring materials

[fdehaven]

I use wood chips for my flooring would I be able to use straw instead. I think it would be easier to clean.

 

[clairabean]

You can use whatever you like. Many people use straw.

Straw Pro: easy to get, usually
chickens love scratching through it to find seeds
sort of easy to muck out and compost
Con: gets wet fast and stays wet
hard to dry out once wet
breeds all sorts of nastyness when wet
hard to keep dry
compacts easily, forming a huge nasty mass
you will need to clean coop out frequently
smell

Wood ShavingsPro: also easy to get
chickens love to make little hollows to cuddle in
easy to shovel out when cleaning coop
Usually stays dry
Dries fast once wet
**DEEEP LITTER METHOD** rocks
You will not need to replace frequently
keeps smell down
Con:
Can get a bit dusty when shoveling out
takes time to compost- years in some cases


So, there you go.

 

[Drk_Wlf]

I prefer wood chips, I use hay in the winter just because it insulates better and I use the deep litter method adding more hay as needed and then cleaning it out in the spring, so I don't have to clean as much when it's freezing out. But once in warms up I clean out the hay and stick with wood shaving and cleaning the coop out every week or so, I find there is less smell and it's easier to clean and doesn't hold mosture as much as hay or staw does.