Pine or straw for four week olds?

[SarahF]

Hi all! I haven't been on BYC forum in over a year, but I am getting back into my chicken groove next week

I have ordered 27 four week old silkies and am thrilled

Today DH and I are getting the coop together and were debating if we can just start with straw for bedding? I would love your advice!
Thanks
SarahF

 

[Fred's Hens]

I really like straw, true straw, not hay, as some folks do confuse the two.

I do use shavings, lots of them, but the straw is really nice. Frankly, it decomposes faster in the garden as well. This winter was brutal and I've used lots of shavings as I ran out of straw too early and haven't made the trip to get more bales. Next year, I will stuff my loft with bales of straw.

I also find straw more economical, FWIW

 

[galanie]

Frankly, my chickens like straw better. Pine shavings are easier to manage for most folks but I'm with Fred. Straw is better in the garden and chicken poo plus the bedding for compost and mulch is one of the reasons I got chickens plus the chickens like it better, so that's what I use. The down side for me is that I have to drive SO far to get it. The feed stores close to me don't carry it and try to give me hay when I ask for straw.

 

[cherp68]

We use pine shavings. We just picked up 3 4-week old Ameraucana chicks last weekend and they were on either hay or straw (it was a farm). We always use the pine shavings because we read somewhere when we were getting started that using hay/straw can cause serious mite problems. I don't know if this is really true or not, but since we started we've always used the shavings. It's not expensive and seems to last us a while, it also composts fine in my garden.

 

[jaketheeggman]

I did pine shavings for all 60 days before they went into the coop.

 

[SarahF]

Thanks for the advice! I am picking up the chicks today and they are going straight into the coop. They have a mini-coop in there with a heater, so they'll be on straw right away. We used to keep the chicks in our basement until it was warm enough outside, but it was way too dusty with the pine shavings or straw.