How many of you use hay for your coops?

[kuntrygirl]

I have raised/open air coops and I use hay in all of them. It's so much easier to clean. All I do is pick up the hay and poop on the hay put it in the compost pile, sweep out any poop that may have fallen out from the chickens scratching and put more hay down. The girls love it. I only pay $3.00 for a bale of hay. It's not expensive at all.

Here are pics of 1 of my raised coop with and without hay.

With hay:

Without hay:

 

[bobbi-j]

Quote:
Straw is usually 1.50-2.50 higher than hay. It is cleaner than alot of hay.

Why would straw-an agricultural byproduct- be 1.50-2.50 higher than a bale of hay, which is grown and harvested specifically as fodder? We do hay every year, I have never seen anyone charging twice as much for a bale of straw as a bale of hay. I have never paid more than $2.00 for a bale of straw, hay might go for 3 or 4.

I think it all depends upon where a person lives. I'm in a rural area, and straw is cheaper than hay. Not sure how much it sells for by the small bale, though, as just about everyone around does the big round or square bales.

 

[NYRIR]

Quote:
I don't have any animals that eat hay...(I wish I had more property and then I would)...I haven't found a local farmer that sells straw yet,I can only get it at Agway...for 7.50 a bale.So 3.00 a bale for hay versus that or 4.99 a bag for pine shavings.That would be why I'm considering using feed for bedding

If I find straw cheaper....then it'll be straw in the coops.

 

[NYRIR]

Quote:
Very nice set-up...

 

[NYRIR]

As for the vermin problem? I haven't had one because I have 3 hunting cats...the only mice/voles etc. I have seen are half eaten

My coop also has a wood floor,so I don't see how you could do the deep litter method...unless I'm mistaken,that's only for dirt floors,right?

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
Very nice set-up...

Thank you.

 

[kuntrygirl]

How much is straw?

 

[NYRIR]

Quote:
Straw for me (unless I can find a farmer around here....not many wheat crops here) is 7.50 a bale at Agway

 

[youngjedi32002]

I tend to fill the removable tray with a small amount of pine shavings (to soak up any moisture/odor) and put hay on top of it, so the chickens have something to do when they are in the coop. Then, weekly, I replace the hay and put some more shavings in. My chickens are only 3 months old and have only been in the coop for 6 weeks but it has been working great for me and I have only had to do a full-on clean out once, and that was before I tinkered with the amounts and times and "perfected" my method! I buy my hay from a farmer in the area for $6 a bale and I am still on the first one, with plenty left, even though I've been using the same bale to line the rabbit hutch! I put up a cardboard "wall" in the nesting box when I moved the girls in and filled it completely with hay for insulation. Seemed to work very well! It was still a bit chilly out when they moved in and I heard you shouldn't open the nesting box until they are ready to lay. It doesn't seem to want to switch over to Spring quite yet, here in New England, even though it has teased us a time or two so I think that nesting box will be staying stuffed for the time being! I would almost imagine there is a summer's worth of hay just in there! I keep it in a covered waterproofed wooden container that is raised off the ground so I am not very worried about mold, but I have been watching it since we've had so much rain! I figure I will open the cover and get some sun in there anyway, once I can be sure we will have a dry day! My run is a mess in all this rain though. I have been working on an extension with a roof because it gets so mucky that all the hens hide under the raised coop! That equine pine might be worth investing in for spot problems! Good info on this thread, I will have to follow it!

 

[ClaytonHowell]

Straw I think is what you mean. I do not use it as it rots and molds when it gets wet. I use wood chips and sawdust. For larger animals straw is better because of the lower cost and how often you have to change their bedding.