I hate pine shavings!

[NNYchick]

If you have a tsc they sell bagged straw in the horse section. That's the only place I have found it local.

Ok thank you. I will keep that in mind. I live in an area with a lot of dairy farms and Amish, somebody has to be growing straw.

 

[Folly's place]

They need to be growing wheat, or, in the south, rice. That's where straw comes from! I disliked straw so much as horse bedding, compared to shavings, that I've never used a lot of it in the coop or run. Do you buy the chopped straw? Isn't it expensive? Does regular baled straw work well? I just add some hay or straw to the nest boxes, and it gets kicked out into the bedding, and it's fine. Mary

 

[debid]

Straw is sold at the co-op here for about $4/bale. If you run it through a wood chipper, it makes some fluffy bedding and if I remember correctly, one bale yields about three garbage cans full. I never used it unchopped.

 

[GC-Raptor]

They need to be growing wheat, or, in the south, rice. That's where straw comes from! I disliked straw so much as horse bedding, compared to shavings, that I've never used a lot of it in the coop or run. Do you buy the chopped straw? Isn't it expensive? Does regular baled straw work well? I just add some hay or straw to the nest boxes, and it gets kicked out into the bedding, and it's fine. Mary

I use compacted straw. It's squashed into a small but heavy bundle. When you cut the straps it expands slightly. The result is its nearly as soft as hay. It costs $11.99 at TSC. GC

 

[AlleysChicks]

They need to be growing wheat, or, in the south, rice. That's where straw comes from! I disliked straw so much as horse bedding, compared to shavings, that I've never used a lot of it in the coop or run. Do you buy the chopped straw? Isn't it expensive? Does regular baled straw work well? I just add some hay or straw to the nest boxes, and it gets kicked out into the bedding, and it's fine. Mary

I can't find straw here at the feed mills. And no one sells it locally. Tsc has bagged for $10-11. And I use it because it lasts forever and not messy to haul it around. Plus it's compressed so there's more than it seems.
Hay is expensive and I don't care for it in the coop. I tried some last year and it didn't hold up well.

 

[catinthecoop]

I've been using the TSC yellow bag (fine) shavings in my coop. They work ok, I think primarily because I have 4 chickens in a 6x6 coop. I put a little PDZ down with the shavings, haven't noticed a smell, everything seems fine. I clean once a week in there.
In horse stalls? I hate the stuff, only put pellets in my horse's stall because I can't stand the shavings. Impossible to pick out, track everywhere, get caught up in hay making a hay/shavings/poop mess. On the other hand the time or 3 I have had straw in a horse stall I HATED it, impossible to deal with, just strip the stall because it's impossible. Never thought about using it on the coop floor, but did put some in nesting boxes. I think I actually like it in the nest boxes because it sorta stays put.

What do people prefer about straw in coop? I can't imagine it's easier to clean out than shavings?

Had one horse with a chopped flax straw bedding in its stall and was thinking about trying to find it for the chicken coop. I like the smell better than shavings and it doesn't track like shavings either. Also seems in general dryer, without dust and easier to clean up.

 

[User395221]

It's far more dusty

The stuff I would get has had the dust extracted. You also need to get the kiln-dried stuff (although I'm not sure whether they sell any other sort - they must do, or they wouldn't advise making sure to get the kiln-dried).

One of the chook farms has a fact sheet where the owner says she doesn't like hay in runs, but I'm not sure whether she's differentiating between hay and straw. It's in Word format if anyone's interested. http://compspoultry.com.au/fact-sheets/
The main dislike seems to be about mice hiding in it, and having pooed in it at the farm.

I think it's a matter of opinion what you like and it also depends on climate/location. What might be a mouldy mess in (say) Florida or Far North Queensland will be as dry as a bone in Alice Springs.

You also need to keep an eye on whatever you're using and keep it in balance like other compost. We've had a lot of rain recently - the normally "dry-as-a-bone" run turned into a quagmire. I dumped a couple of bags of bark chips in there, and it's nice and dry for the girls to walk on again. I think you can use whatever you want, as long as you keep an eye on it and deal with any imbalances in aeration, moisture, etc. Some materials need more "eye-keeping" than others, IMO.

I do use dried wood shavings in the coop. I was getting pine shavings, but last time I got this bale of aspen. I wasn't really paying attention when I bought it (I didn't realise it wasn't even pine, until the other day) and nearly died when I realised I'd paid like $50 for it (the pine shavings are usually about $10 or something). BUT it turns out that it is "super-compressed". It's been lasting me months and months (I've still got at least half of it left) and it's really good stuff.

I wouldn't like much straw in my outdoors runs because I know it gets slippery when wet and I'd likely come a cropper. Still, in summer, it's no big deal. Not only location matters, but season as well.

 

[NancyNurseCxMama]

No personal experience with straw but the negatives I have heard are that it gets wet, moldy, slimy, and doesn't break down easily.
I have also seen where people say that mites can easily set up shop in the hollow shafts of straw and then are really hard to get rid of.
One of the well-known chicken ladies on the internet uses straw and says she hates pine shavings because they are too dusty and claims her chickens got a respiratory infection from them.
Really experienced chicken-owning friends of mine toss straw on top of snow to give the girls a better walking surface but otherwise use pine shavings.
I am lucky to have good drainage in my run so even after heavy rains it doesn't get too muddy and dries quickly. I toss some pine shavings in there and turn the top over every few days for the heck of it. I throw a few handfuls of PDZ in the run too.
Pine shavings on the floor of the coop with some PDZ, PDZ on the poop boards. Clean the poop boards with a kitty litter scoop every few days and remove whatever poops I can find and feathers from the poop floor. Egg boxes have a deep bed of pine shavings.
So far, really no stink---I think I can thank good drainage and PDZ for most of that?
And I only have six girls so I am sure that helps!
There are so many different climates and conditions in which we raise our birds so, whatever works for you, do it!

 

[barred2rock]

I use compacted straw. It's squashed into a small but heavy bundle. When you cut the straps it expands slightly. The result is its nearly as soft as hay. It costs $11.99 at TSC. GC

That's what I use, except it cost $9 something at my TSC. The longest pieces are about 4" long.

 

[GC-Raptor]

That's what I use, except it cost $9 something at my TSC. The longest pieces are about 4" long.

Yeah, I'm jealous. You are closer to the wheat growing region. That extra $3 at my TSC must be the shipping costs to get it here. GC