Straw or pine shavings in coop?

[SigChef]

My husband doesn't really want to use sand but I wouldn't mind it! How deep do you put the sand?

My sand is probably around 3 inches deep, I use medium all purpose sand which is about 9 dollars per 100# at Home Depot.

 

[shadow rabbit10]

Oh ok, which has to be changed more, straw or pine shavings?

I'd say pine shavings because they fly out of the coop and they are easier for the birds to kick around. Straw is more difficult for them to kick around, so you're not left with a bare coop floor as much as you would be with pine shavings.

 

[mommy of two]

Grrr! Now I am so confused on what to use! I love the idea of sand but now that I heard of the silica thing I am a little leery about it, and I have heard straw has mites and grows mold or something like that, and pine shavings are a pain in the butt to clean up! Would sand from a local stream be ok?

 

[nbenevento]

Lol...everybody has an opinion and we are all right! You know what I would take from all of this? You can use whichever one you want. I used to use pine shavings, now I use sand. Both work. Others obviously use straw. It works. In some places, chickens live in the wild with none of the above. Seems to work for them too. I suspect that we chicken owners care more about it than the chickens do.

 

[mommy of two]

Yeah I guess I will give sand a try! If it don't work then on to something else.

 

[TexasVet]

You'll love the sand! I used hay for a while, but it clumps together, stays wet where the droppings are, and adds seeds to the compost bin. The shavings were better, but they also tended to hold moisture, and there were just so darn many of them! The sand has been terrific.

I buy sand at the feed store, and it's about $5.00 a bag. I open the bag, let it dry for a couple of days, and then add it on top of the existing sand. Every morning, I go out with a kitty litter scoop and pick up all the droppings. Takes about 5 minute to clean the whole 10x12' building. And, the droppings go straight into the compost bin, with no extra/excess materials, so it grows at a much smaller rate.

 

[Betsy G.]

I'll put in my own 2 cents' worth here...

My chickens are pastured, so I don't put anything outside the coop. I use a base of wheat straw, then put pine shavings on top. The chickens make a huge mess of the coop for the first few days, digging through to find every last wheat kernel. This has me dumping wheat & shavings out of the waterer & picking straw out of the feeder a couple times a day, but it gives them something to do, so I don't mind. I change the bedding when it starts getting really smelly - probably every 6 weeks or so. Over the winter, I put down lots of straw, then added pine shavings on top as needed, without scooping everything out, to build up extra insulation. Cleaning that out this spring was NO FUN but the chickens were happy & healthy all winter.

I agree with others here - there are very few wrong ways and lots & lots of right ways. Keep trying new things until you find the best solution for you!

~Betsy

 

[Operafamily]

We always used Pine shavings... mixed with diatomaceous earth. Worked very well... no mites and quite easy to pick clean... if you have a nice place to put the shavings and it's fairly contained. Yes, they do scratch, but that's what they're supposed to do.
Hope this helps.

 

[Dave from Maine]

the short answer: hay is feed, straw is bedding. hay tends to cost more

That might be true in the midwest where a lot of grain is grown but the opposite is true in New England. Straw is about twice the price of hay. I usually use shavings because I can get them for free. I have also used straw, wood chips and sawdust. Not the fine sawdust from a table saw but the course sawdust from a firewood processor. The litter on the floor of the coop needs to do three things: insulate, absorb moisture and absorb odors. It's nicer if it is dust free. Straw is the best insulation but wood processing byproducts are better at absorbing moisture and odors. With that said I use straw in the nest boxes and whatever I can get for free on the floor. The birds seem to prefer wood chips but shavings are easier for me to handle.

 

[jnk hobby farm]

We have had chickens for 32 years. Our kids had them in 4-H and had lots of fun. We prefer using shavings. I think it is a personal preference. When the chicks are small, they stumble in straw and I think it is harder for them to walk in it. We use the old bedding in our compost pile and then it goes into the garden. As I said, personal preference.