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.

 

[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!

 

[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

 

[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.

 

[aart]

Do you think that’s a good idea, to opt for the skirt?

Yes!

I didn’t want the hardware cloth on the ground to impede their scratching.

...or injure feet.

 

[Ascholten]

The skirt absolutely. The hardware cloth, they don't know what it is, and will dig anyways, and possibly hang up a toe and hurt themselves. Not to mention the poop and stuff will just get hung up in it as well, clog it and make a nasty mess that you won't be able to 'fix' as easily as you'd be able to with just bare ground to shovel off of.

The sandy dirt is fine. but ONE THING. You live in Florida, howdy neighbor!

The physical location of the coop, and the overall slope off the ground. It NEEDS to be higher or at the very minimum even with everything else. When you get that 3 pm gully whumper that rolls in and dumps 2 inches of rain in 30 minutes, it needs to be able to run off and not sit there and turn the coop into a cesspool. How good does your sand drain? Being central, Im going to say you got a lot of silt in it too, and it may like to just hang out and not so much drain off.

with this in mind, maybe some sort of French drain setup or something to bring water OUT of the coop might be a good idea. Just some things to think about.

Aaron

 

[Ascholten]

Regardless of the fact that it's deemed safe in small amounts and is used in poultry (and livestock) farming as a disinfectant, I still wouldn't use it on or around my own flock simply because it didn't pass the "rat" test.

In rats, chlorine dioxide gas altered the structure of blood cells and prevented DNA formation in several organs. The changes in blood cells caused mild hemolytic anemia, a condition in which blood cells are destroyed and removed before their normal lifespan is over. Additionally, an oral dose of 14 mg in rats damaged proteins in their brain cells, demonstrating a potential for neurotoxicity. Makes me wonder if it could wreck similar havoc on chickens over time with continued use...? In MY OWN MIND, I'd think it's possible, which is why I'd personally choose not to use it on or around my chickens.

So to an extent, I actually agree with you but that doesn't mean I think @CrystalAnon is doing anything wrong.

With that said, we need to accept that other people are going to choose to do things differently and "differently" doesn't always equal "wrong."

Take a deep breath.

which is exactly why i said that people need to do their own research and make their own decisions. You can pick any topic in the world, and go on the internet and find half the people saying great choice and the other half saying BAD BOY !!!!

Just remember though, people selling a product, doctors pushing for some sort of attention, or accolades etc, companies that make something etc, generally are NOT good sources for ALL the needed info. They have agenda's.

Unfortunately as we have found with the covid garbage, governments and the so called 'experts' will willingly lie to you as well... to push an agenda. So who can you trust anymore? THAT is the million dollar question.

Aaron

 

[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!