Sand or deep litter for a warmer coop?

[Dani & Mikey]

Kind of pricey: https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...-western-forage-certified-chopped-straw-25-lb

Regular cheap baled straw works perfectly for DL. My chickens turn it into chopped straw in a few days.

Yep, the Standlee is what I get - they have it at our local feed store. I like the chopped stuff because it is so much easier to deal with - rake and turn in the run, lang straw is such a mess and my chickens do not chop it for me... though some like to eat the whole long stalks like spaghetti which is also concerning.

Thank you! I am so glad to see that it is indeed at my local TSC.
I had planned on just using the regular, baled straw until I came across a certain chicken website that basically explained that straw is the root of all evil in chicken land. Everything from the spaghetti style eating to the mold, fungus, and moisture retention. Most of my friends look at me like I’ve grown 2 heads when I say I don’t want to use straw. My grandpa used it. My bff and chicken mentor uses it.
*sigh* I don’t want to make of it. I am glad to hear of so many different methods that work. I am sure to find the right blend of things for us.
Thank you for letting me bounce these very basic beginner questions off of you guys!

 

[aart]

I had planned on just using the regular, baled straw until I came across a certain chicken website that basically explained that straw is the root of all evil in chicken land. Everything from the spaghetti style eating to the mold, fungus, and moisture retention.

Take everything with a grain of salt.
Those things are possible, that does not mean they are probable.

I use straw in my nests. Last bale I got, parts of it were more like chopped straw, so I mixed some in with the coop shavings this winter and out in the run.

 

[lazy gardener]

And you find that it still works just fine as long as you get out there and mix it up a bit?

Yes. It's still much wetter than I want it to be. But, that's the nature of winter time. I can't choose what the weather patterns will be. Nor can I choose when fall rains will come. I'd rather deal with wet leaves in my coop than deal with shavings in my coop. Any time I try to do DL with shavings, it is more apt to cause an ammonia issue. When the snow melts off, I can then get outside to the clean out door under the roosts, and clean out some of that sodden bedding. Then, I can move the dryer bedding to the "under roost" space, and the cycle will continue.

Thank you! I am so glad to see that it is indeed at my local TSC.
I had planned on just using the regular, baled straw until I came across a certain chicken website that basically explained that straw is the root of all evil in chicken land. Everything from the spaghetti style eating to the mold, fungus, and moisture retention. Most of my friends look at me like I’ve grown 2 heads when I say I don’t want to use straw. My grandpa used it. My bff and chicken mentor uses it.
*sigh* I don’t want to make of it. I am glad to hear of so many different methods that work. I am sure to find the right blend of things for us.
Thank you for letting me bounce these very basic beginner questions off of you guys!

Take everything with a huge grain of salt. Sift it through your "does this make sense" filter. Then, if you still have some questions, do some more reading, and make your decision based on your research, common sense and what your gut tells you. My chickens do eat hay. I'll catch a hen slurping down a 12" strand like a piece of spaghetti. I may try to catch her and pull it out of her beak, but that's often a lesson in futility. And, I realize that when I'm not around the birds eat plenty of hay. I've never had a case of sour crop or impacted crop in my flock. So, IMO, that's yet one more of the "hay is bad" old wive's tales debunked.