Straw a necessity?

I've used pine shavings, they work great. I've also used straw when I had some on hand, works well and is pleasing to the eye. I've also used pine needles, and office paper shredding. Be creative, try a few things and find out what works best for you!

 

You can use pine shavings. There are almost always options on these things.

 

We only have pine shavings in ours, but we did put a piece of cardboard in the bottom of the nest box just in case they settled that far down into it. All four of our layers have used the boxes from the beginning with no complaints.

 

Mine tend to kick the straw out of the boxes more than they do shavings. They know that if they dig through the straw they might find a grain of wheat or two.

 

theyjust need a soft layer for the eggs to land on. if you have a box that can hold a nice thick layer of pine shavings that would be ideal (I've found that pine shavings don't stay put as well as straw) so I use a combo of straw and pine, in the nest box I think pine is better, its so clean and you can easily see when it gets dirty - if it does.

 

I plan to use paper that is shredded from work. At nearly $6 a bale, straw could get a little expensive.

 

I use hay. Seems to work.

 

We have always used straw, but mainly because it will compost better than the pine....

The chickens don't seem to have a preference

We do use pine in the brooder though.

 

I plan on using straw just because I can get it free from our family's farm. I use pine shavings on the floor of the coop though.