Sand vs Pine Bedding??

[rayrose]

My birds only stay in the coop over night to roost
and go inside to lay eggs. They spend the majority of time in
the covered run. The roost is on top of a sand box, which I
clean out daily with a kitty litter scoop, which takes about 5 minutes
to do. I use playground sand because it's dryer and doesn't clump.
Because of this set up, there is no odor. The coop floor is loosely
covered in pine shavings, which I clean out and replace annually.
Takes exactly one hour.
I use the poop to enrich my watermelon patch, while the pine shavings go in the run.There is no odor in either the run nor the coop, because of the vast amount of ventilation that I have, and I don't let poop accumualate. See my coop.

 

[townchicks]

I think deep litter works great in a run. In a small coop, you need something that you can scoop out daily. I have four hens in a small coop that is always open to a secure run. I think of the coop as their "bedroom" as all they do is sleep in it, and lay in the attached nest box. I use Sweet PDZ in my coop, and scoop out the poop with a cat litter scoop. You can also do this with sand, but I like the PDZ because it absorbs any liquid, unlike the sand. You could probably mix it with sand also, and get the liquid absorption still. I get PDZ at Tractor Supply.

 

[aart]

but I like the PDZ because it absorbs any liquid

Best part about PDZ is it absorbs ammonia.

 

[Sally PB]

I have 2 bales worth of shavings in my coop, which is about 45 sf for 7 chickens. Most of the poop goes on the poop board (covered with sweet PDZ) and is scooped daily.

The chickens spend most of their time out in the run, but a fair amount of time in the coop. There is some poop mixed in with the shavings, but the only time I smell anything is when someone has dropped a fresh cecal poop. I find old poop in the savings, but it's totally dried out and doesn't smell at all.

I'll be replacing all the shavings later this spring, and put the old ones in the run. I'll harvest some compost out of the run this fall. The cycle will begin anew.