Inexpensive coop litter options

[McChooky]

We have linoleum on the coop floors so it takes 5 minutes to clean. Our budget allows 20 lbs of bedding or (1) 4 cu bag of pine shavings per coop per month . We toss a coffee can full of shavings down on the floor daily after we clean .
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[McChooky]

My next coop will will have 1" hardware cloth on the floor so poop falls thru the mesh .

 

[imacowgirl2]

--Sand is cooler--Anyone use it on the wood floor of a coop raised off the ground?
Thanks, everyone.

We have a walk in coop that is raised off the ground and has a wood floor. I put cheap linoleum over the wood floor and we use sand on top of that. So far I really like it...we have a manure rake I bought from TSC that I zip tied 1/4" hardware cloth to, which essentially made a huge kitty litter scoop. We use that to scoop the floor every couple days. We have a poop board under most of our roosts, which we have PDZ on and scoop with an actual kitty litter scoop. We did have a couple time where the sand got compacted down and stayed soaking wet in one area for about a week due to a leaking chick waterer, and that sand stunk, but other than that we haven't had any odor problems.

That being said, we just started with chickens last March, so we haven't been through a snowy winter yet...my tune may change lol

Sand is also free for me...

 

[gtaus]

Be careful of free chip product from the towns road crew. You might get poisonous (to humans or animals) plants and trees.
Consider what grows on the side of your roads….

Where I live, that's not much of a concern.

If you can let the chips age that reduces the risk.

I would agree.

I have 1 hen who sleeps in the nesting box. She poops there, so I clean that often.

Recently, I have an older hen that is having trouble getting up on the roosting bar, and back down again. So, she has taken up nightly residence in a nesting box. I have to clean it out daily now. But I feel sorry for the old girl, and unless I cull her, I'll have to live with her sleeping in the nest box. I think I will just use paper shreds in that one nest box because I have to clean the poo out daily and lose maybe 25% of the nest bedding in the process.

In her case, I know it's not just a bad habit. I watched her jump down from the roosting bar one morning and she basically did a hard belly flop on the coop floor. A few days later, she no longer went up on the roosting bar with all the other chickens. I have a few chickens that I expect might not make it through our cold winter here in northern Minnesota. She is on the short list.

 

[gtaus]

My next coop will will have 1" hardware cloth on the floor so poop falls thru the mesh .

Is a wire floor bad for a chicken's feet? I had rabbit cages with wire bottoms, but the wire was 1/2 by 1 inch, and a rabbit's foot is much bigger/wider than a chicken's foot.

I can imagine the benefits of a wire bottom in a coop for some locations, but where I live, I really need a thick layer of litter to keep the floor insulated from our cold winter temps. It's not uncommon for use to get -35F to -40F for a week or so in the dead of winter. I don't think an open bottom wire floor would work where I live.

 

[Nyhillbillies]

Where I live, that's not much of a concern.



I would agree.



Recently, I have an older hen that is having trouble getting up on the roosting bar, and back down again. So, she has taken up nightly residence in a nesting box. I have to clean it out daily now. But I feel sorry for the old girl, and unless I cull her, I'll have to live with her sleeping in the nest box. I think I will just use paper shreds in that one nest box because I have to clean the poo out daily and lose maybe 25% of the nest bedding in the process.

In her case, I know it's not just a bad habit. I watched her jump down from the roosting bar one morning and she basically did a hard belly flop on the coop floor. A few days later, she no longer went up on the roosting bar with all the other chickens. I have a few chickens that I expect might not make it through our cold winter here in northern Minnesota. She is on the short list.

Awww, she & they might surprise you! What about making a ladder for her to get up to the roost on?

My hen, a little Barred Rock, is constantly picked on by the other hens. They won’t let her roost anywhere near them. By sleeping in the nesting box, she’s as far away from them as she can get! The only obe who doesn’t peck at her is the rooster- —-

 

[Nyhillbillies]

My next coop will will have 1" hardware cloth on the floor so poop falls thru the mesh .

That might promote foot injuries like Bumblefoot.

 

[Nyhillbillies]

We have linoleum on the coop floors so it takes 5 minutes to clean. Our budget allows 20 lbs of bedding or (1) 4 cu bag of pine shavings per coop per month . We toss a coffee can full of shavings down on the floor daily after we clean .
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Linoleum is a wonderful thing! We have it too (wood pattern, of course!). I use a dustpan and brush to scoop up soiled litter.
I really want to streamline the whole weekly cleaning situation. We are thinking of adding a tarp piece under the perches and putting the wood shavings on top. That way I would just pull out the tarp, fold, shake outside in the ‘dirt/shavings’ pile, and slide it back into place, adding more shavings.

Does anyone think a tarp used like that would create issues?

 

[gtaus]

We have a walk in coop that is raised off the ground and has a wood floor. I put cheap linoleum over the wood floor and we use sand on top of that. So far I really like it...

I live on a lake, and I used sand when I first got poultry. Sand works OK, as long as you constantly clean and refresh it. I prefer dry deep bedding, but sand can work if you put in more effort in keeping it clean.

That being said, we just started with chickens last March, so we haven't been through a snowy winter yet...my tune may change lol

I suspect that when the temps get below freezing, you will find that the chicken poo mixed with sand will be as hard as concrete and you might not be able to scoop it out with your chicken coop kitty litter shovel device. Where I live, our winters are long. The chicken poo freezes solid and starts to pile up in the winter. In my case, I toss on another layer of fresh paper shreds about twice a month throughout the winter. It keeps everything looking fresh in the coop. Frozen poo does not seem to smell, at least when it's covered up with a fresh layer of litter.

By the end of the winter, come spring time, I have almost 12 inches of litter in the coop floor to clean out. But that works for me because my coop my designed to hold up to 12 inches of deep bedding litter.

Sand is also free for me...

I always advocate using free resources for litter. Those big box stores make enough money on me buying feed bags. I don't want to give them more money for litter.

 

[gtaus]

Awww, she & they might surprise you! What about making a ladder for her to get up to the roost on?

Yeah, I have a ladder to get up to the 2 foot high roost. Maybe I'll put that back up for her. But the main roosting bar is 4 foot high and all the chickens are up there for the night.