Shavings vs. Straw

Don't know which is better,but straw is cheaper for me than shavings.

 

At the beginning I used straw which the chickens always kicked out of the coop until they were back to a bare floor. I switched them to shavings, no issues with chickens kicking it our the door..

I would say it's a combination of personal preference and what works for your situation.

 

While it's true that straw is cheaper than pine wood shavings, there is an inherent risk to using straw in the coop. Straw has hollow "shafts" and mites/lice love to hide in them...not worth the risk for me for the difference in price...JMHO

 

Roost mites hide in cracks or crevasses in anything, wood, plastic, concrete, whatever, plus in shavings, hay, or straw. Anyplace they can hide from daylight and wait until after dark to attack. Other types of mites live on the chickens.

I personally don’t see any difference in what type of bedding you use as far as roost mites go. If they are around, they can find a daytime hiding place.

Best is a pretty nebulous term. We all have our own criteria, conditions, poop management techniques, and access to different things. What you want is something that will keep your coop floor dry and absorb moisture from poop. Different people use dirt, sand, shavings, straw, hay, ground up dried leaves, cotton seed hulls, wood pellets, just whatever they consider “best” for their unique conditions.

I don’t know how often you will clean that out down to the concrete, if ever, or what you will do with the stuff you take out. I clean mine out in the fall about once every four years and put that on my garden, not because I need to but I like that stuff in my garden. Some people do that in the fall on an annual basis. Some clean twice a year. Some clean practically every week. Some compost it. Some put it in the garbage. We are all unique with unique circumstances and management techniques.

It looks like that concrete slab is elevated so it should not have any water coming into it from outside. About anything will work in that. I suggest you think about what you can get fairly inexpensively and will fit your disposal method.

Good luck!

 

I think a deep layer of shavings to absorb poop and I have found that a thin layer of straw on top of that helps keep the shavings in place. They don't tend to get in the waterers and feeders as much with straw added.