I have read so many different opinions on what materials to put on the floor (ground) of my coop/run. I need help. Sand sounds great, but I read about certain health concerns. Hays seems to create to much of a mess. I am looking into recycled cardboard, but once again I have no experience. Please advise!
Welcome! I use baled shavings used for stall bedding, over stall mats, over a old cracked concrete floor. The mats made clean-out easier because the cracked concrete is so uneven. I'd prefer a dirt floor but it's not worth tearing out the cement. Mary
Your guess is as good as mine. I've heard sand=yes, sand-no, hay=yes, hay=no, straw=yes, straw=no. I'm confused as heck. I'm just winging it.
My coop has hay or straw in the nest boxes, which ends up on the floor with the shavings. It's fine. After dealing with horses and cattle in stalls, shavings are MUCH easier to manage than straw, and I like deep bedding, not daily poop scooping, as the sand users seem to do. Easy/ low maintenance is more my thing. Mary
I have a dirt floor, and I'm using the deep litter method. I use shavings, leaves, pine straw and grass clippings for the litter. I put large flake shavings in the nest boxes. When I gather the eggs, I fluff up the shavings to make sure no egg is hiding, and change it out every couple of weeks or so. I just dump the nest shavings on the floor to add to the litter. Smells good and the chickens love digging through the litter looking for scratch. I tried hay in the boxes, but my chickens didn't like it. They also don't like the small shavings. It packs down too much. They like digging into the large flakes and making a nest for their eggs.
