Let's Talk About Bedding and Litter

[Vicker]

I'm just gonna hit some high spots. As I look back over the past 17 years of keeping various poultry and water fowl, my biggest take away is that you must be adaptable and a little bit creative. You start out with one method and find out pretty quickly how that will need to be modified. And you learn that what works best with one generation of birds may not work for the next. You adapt to weather challenges, random predator experiences, and changing demands on your time. The best coop, run, litter, feeding/ watering method, brooders, etc., are not set in stone by any means. It's all what works at the time.
Unless I'm using my portable coop, my favorite litter has always been large pine flakes--deep method.

 

[RubelliteRose]

How many chickens do you have?

21- 3 cockerels to be removed in the next month or so

What sort of climate do you live in? Wet or dry? Hot or cold?

Cool in the winter - mostly 40s, a few weeks in Feb. in the 20-30 range. Warm enough that weeds never die so chickens can free range year round.
Summers are hot and humid. Temps in the 90s heat index mostly 100+
We have the potential for wind driven flooding from the nearby bay, but have not had a bad flood since we got chickens .
Picture of worst of past flooding. Not too horrible, but not great. Lasts a few days at most.

What bedding do you prefer in the coop? What are it's major advantages? What are it's major disadvantages?

We use TS flake pine shavings in both coops. Love that it isn't super absorbent so it doesn't get wet from the humidity.

How do you manage your coop bedding? Do you have a poop board? Do you scoop poop? How often do you change the bedding?

In the small coop- scoop large poops daily and toss in compost pile(only takes a couple of minutes), no poop board. Add extra shavings as they get broken down to dust(a few times a year). Complete bedding changes are only once a year or so. Used bedding is tossed into the large part of the run.
In the large coop- we have poop boards with a sand/pdz mix that are scooped daily. Pine shavings are on the floor. Extra shavings added once or twice a year. Complete clean out once a year with the shavings added to the large part of the run.

What litter do you prefer in the run? What are it's major advantages? What are it's major disadvantages?

We have sand in the smaller original run and deep litter in the expanded larger part of the run.

How do you manage your run litter? Is your run covered against rain/snow or open to the weather? Do you scoop poop?

The smaller sandy run area is covered, the large deep litter part of the run is only partially covered .
We originally used sand due to our concerns about the potential flooding. We used sand to have a fast draining run that was built up almost a foot deep. Other advantage- the area under the raised coop stays dry almost all the time so there is always a place to dust bathe in the run. Disadvantage!!! - the sand needs to be scooped twice a day and the sand main area of sand compacts hard so I must loosen it with a hoe or 4 tined garden rake monthly.
The deep litter part of the run needs no maintenance other than adding more litter. We use a mix of pine bark chunk mulch, pine shavings from the coops, pine needles and hay. We haven't removed any composted material yet as we are still building up the level in case of flooding.

If you have more than one coop/run do you manage them differently? Why?

See above. I should also note that the small coop is scooped daily also due to some over crowding. The both coops and run are connected so they are free to sleep where they want. The small coop is sized for 6, generally has 8 and on rare occasions, (and if I don't catch it before it is too dark) they will try to clown car 11 in there.

1. Has your system changed over time? Why?

Only due to the addition of the newer coop and run.

Is there something you'd like to change if you could? Why? What is preventing you from changing it?

We are still debating whether to convert the sandy area to deep litter. Perhaps once we have the other section elevated more, we will. The sand is SO much more work than the deep litter, but we don't want to spend money on more litter so building up the level takes time.

 

[aart]

Currently 16 hens, my usual winter limit, but have had as many 30+ in the spring/summer.
Have used this for the past 8 years, works well so no need to change it.
Sorry, not going to go thru the questions posed, my location is under my avatar.

What kind of bedding you use may depend on how you manage the manure.
This is about cleaning, but covers my big picture

-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily(takes 5-10mins) into bucket going to friends compost.
-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.
- Large flake pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run or now discarded in the woods.
- My runs have semi-deep litter(cold composting), never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.
Aged ramial wood chippings are best IMO.
-Nests are bedded with straw, add some occasionally, change out if needed(broken egg).

There is no odor, unless a fresh cecal has been dropped and when I open the bucket to add more poop.
That's how I keep it 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 8 years.

 

[rosemarythyme]

1. How many chickens do you have?

10 hens

1. What sort of climate do you live in? Wet or dry? Hot or cold?

Wet and moderate, averaging between 30-85F.

1. What bedding do you prefer in the coop? What are it's major advantages? What are it's major disadvantages?

I use wood chips as the main material and hemp under the roost area. Advantages to this is the chips are free, and hemp is easy to sift and compost friendly. Disadvantages are the chips are lousy under the roosts (hence the hemp) and hemp isn't terribly cheap.

1. How do you manage your coop bedding? Do you have a poop board? Do you scoop poop? How often do you change the bedding?

No poop board. I sift under the roost daily. Full clean outs are 1x a year.

1. What litter do you prefer in the run? What are it's major advantages? What are it's major disadvantages?

Deep litter. Advantages are it's completely free, uses up yard waste that I'd otherwise have to pay to remove, provides great drainage, controls mud and odor, can be sifted as compost for gardens, low maintenance. The birds enjoy digging through it. Disadvantages... so far no complaints.

1. How do you manage your run litter? Is your run covered against rain/snow or open to the weather? Do you scoop poop?

No real management, other than raking it 2-3x a year to reduce all the death trap potholes. Run is netted but otherwise uncovered, which isn't a big issue due to drainage. I do scoop surface poops to reduce the amount of crap humans and chickens step in - that poop goes to compost as well.

1. If you have more than one coop/run do you manage them differently? Why?

Just 1 coop/run.

1. Has your system changed over time? Why?

Well I used to have a tiny coop and no run litter - yikes! The mud got so bad and stinky.

1. Is there something you'd like to change if you could? Why? What is preventing you from changing it?

Wish the run was larger... it's "big enough" (44 sq ft per bird). Really no point in changing it due to cost, as there's no issues with it or with the flock, but I just think it'd be nice if it was even more roomy.

Would like to have at least a partially roofed run someday, but don't want to make the investment at this house/with this set up.

 

[3KillerBs]

The small coop is sized for 6, generally has 8 and on rare occasions, (and if I don't catch it before it is too dark) they will try to clown car 11 in there.

Before I had my big coop I had that going on with chickens who *should* have been in three coops jamming themselves into 2.

The sand is SO much more work than the deep litter, but we don't want to spend money on more litter so building up the level takes time.

If you have room to store the entire truckload, you can often get free wood chips from a tree-trimming service.