Online advice from "experts"

[RainbowHen]

Do you have harsh winters? I am worried about the sand freezing...

Wisconsin here. Anything you have in your run will freeze.

 

[Folly's place]

Having a larger flock, not four or five birds, and humidity, and freezing weather, I can't imagine using sand, and poop scooping daily? No way! Also, chickens want to dig for stuff in deep bedding or deep litter, something not so easy in frozen or wet sand.
Mary

 

[aart]

Only thing use rolled oats for is to soak up electrolyte/vitamin solution for a boost during long (really)cold waves.
So they don't dip wattles in open liquid, and it's served at room temp, not 'warm'.

 

[GC-Raptor]

The amount of online advice from people like the Chicken Chick, Fresh Eggs Daily, and a plethora of others is always so different. Lately it is the use of DE, giving your chickens oatmeal, and using sand in the coop/run.
I would like to hear from you all what you think about the above topics.

Never used DE. I use Permethrin dust.
Never fed oatmeal or oats. I make a wet mash with their regular poultry crumble.

Never used sand. I use pine shavings in the coops and dump shavings from coops

into pens when I clean coops weekly or biweekly depending upon number of occupants.

GC

 

[centralcaligirl]

I have tended to combine chicken run with compost pile, so anything suitable for compost just gets thrown in the chicken run. The chickens stay busy and happy digging through it and eating little bits. Anything suitable for coop bedding (dry leaves, hay, straw, wood shavings, etc) tends to get put in the coop first, then later moved to the run, and then later yet it may get moved to the garden.

I do this too. It's a good system of using coop bedding for three purposes. Coop bedding first, then run material (mixed with other compostable plant matter, usually green), then garden compost.

The other thing to consider is the whole picture of your garden needs and how your chickens fit into that. I started with chickens not just for the eggs but for the benefits to my vegetable garden (e.g. large amounts of high quality organic fertilizer and compost). So part of it depends on your individual goals. Because of that, sand was never a real option for me.

 

[aart]

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.

-Pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.

- 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 7 years.

 

[RainbowHen]

Having a larger flock, not four or five birds, and humidity, and freezing weather, I can't imagine using sand, and poop scooping daily? No way! Also, chickens want to dig for stuff in deep bedding or deep litter, something not so easy in frozen or wet sand.
Mary

Agreed. I would never use sand in the coop but that's just me. I only have a few birds and the sand run has a roof so it works out well for me. I don't really maintain the sand at all. Working on another run for them that will be mainly compost, wood chips etc.

 

[TP2]

Never used DE. I use Permethrin dust.
Never fed oatmeal or oats. I make a wet mash with their regular poultry crumble.View attachment 2341927
Never used sand. I use pine shavings in the coops and dump shavings from coops View attachment 2341933into pens when I clean coops weekly or biweekly depending upon number of occupants.View attachment 2341931
GC

Thank you!

 

[TP2]

So online advice from random strangers on a forum, to compare with online advice from random strangers with websites?

DE--most sources seem to agree that breathing it is bad, and that it doesn't work when wet.
A chicken coop is always either dry or wet. If DE doesn't work when wet, and if it gets thrown in the air to breathe when chickens scratch in dry bedding, then I don't think that's a good thing to use. But I don't think it's deadly dangerous either, more like a slightly-harmful waste of time and effort.

Oatmeal--I would serve wetted chicken feed instead of oatmeal. Easier (no cooking), probably cheaper, and certainly has the nutrients balanced right. Wet it with cold water in the heat of summer and for a cool treat, use warm or hot water in winter for a warm treat. Chickens seem to love it. But oats can be an acceptable food for chickens, and should be fine in moderation.

I have issues with the oatmeal article on the ChickenChick website. No point in cluttering up this post with them, but I listed them at length here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...meal-to-chickens.1339256/page-4#post-21942543

Sand--apparently wonderful for some people and some places, but not for everyone. Good especially for those who like being able to scoop the poop out ever day and live in dry climates. The threads I've seen complaining of stinky sand seem to be mostly in wet climates. I've never used it myself.

I have tended to combine chicken run with compost pile, so anything suitable for compost just gets thrown in the chicken run. The chickens stay busy and happy digging through it and eating little bits. Anything suitable for coop bedding (dry leaves, hay, straw, wood shavings, etc) tends to get put in the coop first, then later moved to the run, and then later yet it may get moved to the garden. (When I say "anything" gets thrown in the chicken run--not if its really poky, like blackberry plants. Or poisonous, like potato leaves & rhubarb leaves. But I include plenty of things that chickens "shouldn't" eat like orange peels and avocado skins and onions, because the chickens don't eat enough of them to cause a problem-- like how chickens do not eat enough wood shavings or sand or coffee grounds to cause a problem, when those are used as bedding.)

I trust this site way more.... there is so much experience!!!!

 

[Kiki]

Just because someone pays to have their own website does not make them an expert in what they are saying.

DE is worthless.
Feeding oatmeal takes away from the bird getting a complete balanced diet and does nothing good for its health.
Sand, no thank you...I prefer dirt.