How much bedding do you need?

[CrystalAnon]

I’ll be a first time chicken owner in a month. I’m getting everything I need together now.
I thought for sure there would be a thread on how much bedding you need to have on hand to last a while, especially with the difficulty it’s been to get certain things sometimes. I could not find a thread on this, so I apologize if this has been talked about before.
About how long, in your experience, will 88lbs of hemp bedding last?
I know everyone has a different situation, but we have a coop that’s slightly smaller than 8ft by 6ft 7in (outside measurements) about 50 sq feet inside. We’re only planning on spreading bedding in the coop, as needed & the laying boxes. Not in the run. And of course, as bedding for the chicks in the brooder for 5-6 weeks. We’ll have 10 chicks (god willing) when they arrive & likely a couple less once we figure out which of the 4 straight run chicks are female or male.
About how long do you folks think 88lbs could last, with daily (and probably obsessive) cleaning?
I’m probably overthinking & overbuying… but this is so important to me to have everything they need & more.
Thank you!!!

 

[rosemarythyme]

RentACoop's description says 1 bag (33 pounds) can cover an 8'x6' coop with 1.5 inches of bedding (approximately 50 square feet) which sounds about right. Let's assume you double the thickness of bedding to around 3" - that'll use up 66 lbs in first application, leaving you with 22 lbs for refreshing. That should last a year I think. I only do a full clean out once a year but refresh the hemp portion of the coop 3-4x a year as some does stick to poop even when I sift it out.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

A lot of us do the deep bedding method which means 6" of bedding in the coop to start, and just add throughout the season until you clean it out. Lots of people do a big clean in spring, and reset the bedding, and then again in the fall. Hope that helps! Your package of hemp will likely saw how many square metres or feet it will cover etc as well. In the brooder and coop I also mix shredded newspaper. Free and available and easy.

 

[CrystalAnon]

RentACoop's description says 1 bag (33 pounds) can cover an 8'x6' coop with 1.5 inches of bedding (approximately 50 square feet) which sounds about right. Let's assume you double the thickness of bedding to around 3" - that'll use up 66 lbs in first application, leaving you with 22 lbs for refreshing. That should last a year I think. I only do a full clean out once a year but refresh the hemp portion of the coop 3-4x a year as some does stick to poop even when I sift it out.

Awesome! Thank you… this gives me a good basic idea about what to expect. I couldn’t really picture it in my head, given that I’ve never dealt with hemp bedding before. I wasn’t sure how compact it would be in the bag & how much it would fluff up when you spread it.

 

[CrystalAnon]

A lot of us do the deep bedding method which means 6" of bedding in the coop to start, and just add throughout the season until you clean it out. Lots of people do a big clean in spring, and reset the bedding, and then again in the fall. Hope that helps! Your package of hemp will likely saw how many square metres or feet it will cover etc as well. In the brooder and coop I also mix shredded newspaper. Free and available and easy.

That is a great idea… mixing in the newspaper. In fact, in my line of work, I need to shred a lot of paper, for the financial protection of our clients. I’m sure they would not mind our chickens pooping on the shreds, for extra, extra protection!
Great idea! Thanks!

 

[CrystalAnon]

A lot of us do the deep bedding method which means 6" of bedding in the coop to start, and just add throughout the season until you clean it out. Lots of people do a big clean in spring, and reset the bedding, and then again in the fall. Hope that helps! Your package of hemp will likely saw how many square metres or feet it will cover etc as well. In the brooder and coop I also mix shredded newspaper. Free and available and easy.

One question I would have with that, do you ever find any issues with dust, with the paper shreds?
I live in central Florida, so I think we’ll probably have little issues with it, due to the humidity, but I was curious if you noticed anything like that with shredded paper mixed in the bedding.
It surprises me that people start with 6” of bedding! So they just walk all around in the fluff, until they get into their run? How does that work? Sounds pretty cozy though!

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

@CrystalAnon I like the deep bedding because we have harsh winters, so it's nice to have that extra dee cosiness in the winter. No issues with dust from the paper. I think dust in coops is usually their dander and feather dust most of the time?

 

[Raptor Chicken]

We started out buying the pine flakes from TSC every week.

We switched to straw once we found a local supplier and now buy two bales every two months.

One bag of pine flakes from TSC was $6. The bales of straw are $6. You do the math.

 

[CrystalAnon]

@CrystalAnon I like the deep bedding because we have harsh winters, so it's nice to have that extra dee cosiness in the winter. No issues with dust from the paper. I think dust in coops is usually their dander and feather dust most of the time?

We’re in Central Florida. I wonder if the deep litter method would be okay for warm weather too.
We’ve had a pretty cool winter, so I’ll def keep it in mind next year, before we have cold fronts.

 

[Ascholten]

when it comes to bedding in the egg laying area, I find that less is better. i give them maybe 2 inches of bedding max in there. I used to really poof it up, thinking it'd be comfortable for them with a deep bed for egg laying. They didn't like it as much and Id find eggs down in the poop area and other areas as they moved elsewhere to lay. keeping it fairly low in there kept them happy.

Just my observations

Aaron