Good Flooring

[oceanjean]

Thanks

 

[Wonky Pronk]

I like to use straw instead of hay in the coop

 

[RoseMarie1]

I have sand in the roosting area and I really like that because it's easy to scoop the poop out and keep clean so it doesn't stink and draw flies. Then the run is dirt which I am looking into doing the deep litter method in there.

 

[Hokum Coco]

I have been raising chickens for decades.

Last October I tried wood pellets for the first time as a floor bedding.

Now the wood pellets resembles saw dust.

It froze harder than a brick through out our Canadian winter and my floor had the characteristics of concrete but now it is back to sawdust form.

The birds dust bathe in it daily. I think they ate more than their share of it when it was first introduced to them in pellet form (with no side effects).

It is as good or better than anything else I have tried to date. I have experimented with more than my share. If anything I may switch to saw dust.

I have not yet tried sand. I plan to in the near future just because of the good reviews sand has received on this form.

However saw dust or should I say wood pellets has my one thumb up to date.

Just as an after thought I like to add I have 11 birds and I have not changed the floor bedding in my coop since last October.

I have poop boards under my roost that I clean one day before it needs it. There is a poignant order that reminds me when I have gone one day over in the coop when the poop boards need changed.

I know their is droppings in the bedding but it is undetectable at present. As long as there is no ammonia smell and the girls are happy with it. So am I.

My coop is the grey metal shed to the left 4x8 foot print.

I garden as well and I know my bedding is going to make excellent compost when I remove it.

 

[Prettypuddles]

My coop is not quite done yet and my chicks are not in it yet. I was thinking about using pine shavings ($7 for a huge amount) so that I could easily scoop it out and into the compost pile.
I live in the city and I must drive a little too far for straw. I'm using pine shavings in their brooder right now and it seems to be working very well. The brooder is in the house and I don't smell anything nasty yet. I have 14 chicks 2 weeks old.

I was debating straw, sand, pine shavings and even kitty litter. I like the idea of kitty litter, its natural clay and easy to just scoop out the droppings, but I would not want to throw all that into the compost pile. My yard is full of clay as it is! LOL I guess I could give it a try sometimes though, it can't hurt anything.

 

[apteryx]

I go with wood shavings in the coop and sand/dirt in the run. I am contemplating switching the run to all sand to address mud issues. I have had no problems with the shavings in the run - no odor, and the girls seems to be very happy with the bedding.

 

[Prettypuddles]

Thanx for the advice. I will stick to the pine shavings in the coop. The run is not finished yet, so of course it is still 'lawn'. I am going to try to landscape it with 'chicken resistant' bushes (wish me luck LOL).
If the lawn in the run gets destroyed I am also considering sand in the areas that get the wettest.

My coop so far. Just hafta finish the vinyl siding. We've been working on it for about a month. Its 98% done! I can't wait for the chicks to get in there. Waiting on an automatic door that I ordered this weekend.