Straw vs. wood chips

[trulyviolet]

Quote:
i used to use shavings but they really did smell fast

i clean the pen
put the pellets in about 3 inches deep
and they scratch and peck them into sort of a sand like texture
it only takes a couple days
they seem to like doing that too

i noticed that it doesn't smell
a wood kind of odor
like pine
and poop smells go away fast

if i don't clean the pens or top off as often as i like......
there isn't any odor like with shavings


vi

 

[Guitartists]

Added straw to their coop and nest boxes yesterday... today an EGG!!! As soon as I put the straw in, they started rooting around in it..... I think some of my girls definitely prefer it to the shavings.

 

[what was i thinking]

i went from hay to shavings. my eggs production has went down. i guess production might be the wrong word. they stopped laying in the boxes. i have went from 6 to 8 a day to 2 or 3. they are still locked in today because i have the next door neighbor waiting for eggs and i need two more today. i am not go at hide and seek. they have to be laying some where. i think i am going to put some hay in some and leave shavings in some. do a little survey!

 

[auracana07]

I personally use wood shavings all year round from a guy who gives them away for free. During the winter I use a bit of straw also as some insulation against the cold. I haven't used wood chips before, but I wouldn't suggest them because like you said they're kind of annoying in many ways. Just remember if you get some particularly dusty wood shavings let your coop air out for a bit.

 

[P@P@2four]

Used wood shavings sparingly at first, then moved over to straw (neighbor across the street sells them for $2 a bale) ... but after a couple of weeks, I noticed they harbor more moisture, don't seem to stay as clean. We moved back to pine shavings (more expensive) and the deep liter method for winter. Putting down stall dry under the pine seems to help with moisture and it definately "feels" cleaner in the coops.

I don't know if the girls prefer shavings to straw. Didn't really notice a difference in egg laying. I'll have to keep an eye on that over the next couple of days.

 

[cmom]

I use Spanish Moss, but I live in Florida where it is plentiful. I have seen post on some threads where some people use leaves.

 

[ctcasper]

Thanks for all the information everyone. We got some straw for free so we will at least use that up, but I am not sure what we will do long term. As far as the girls liking the hay, I definately can tell that the hens are happier when we keep the nesting boxes filled with it, they get in there and root around and I think they lay more.

 

[cheeze]

I have been using hay not straw just regular grass hay out of my field.

seems to work great but i do have a wood floor barn style coop not a dirt floor. the floor is still bone dry i was worried about rot at first but not anymore

no smell ever other than if they eat something crazy like last week the whole barn smelled like a wild onion for one day lol.

i have all my hay for free so i do top dress the main areas around where they eat,drink,sleep everyday to keep them off of the poo

about once or twice a week if it needs it i do the whole floor with about 3 inches of fluffed up hay which turns into about 1/2-1 inch after they compact it down .

also the grass hay has nice greens still in it in winter time when my yard and most of the "free range " is dead.

9 out of 10 times when i feed them and put out hay they pick through the hay and get all the goodies then go back to the food.

so i guess im sayin i would take hay over straw or wood chips . also on a side note i keep snakes and i use wood chips for bedding so you cant tell me wood chips arent just as dusty if not more so than hay

 

[JanieMarie]

Quote:
I guess I overlooked the obvious! Ive always used straw and its worked just fine but I bale grass hay for the horses and never even thought about using that for chicken bedding! I'm gonna go top dress their pen right now and see how they like it! Thanks

 

[TexasVet]

I also rake up the "hay" that's left when I mow my fields and the hens love it. The problem is that you can't use it as mulch in the garden... too many weeds pop up later!

No straw is available around here, so I switched to pine shavings. I just cleaned out the coop this morning and got two wheelbarrows full of wonderfully poopy shavings to add to the garden. By spring it'll be perfect for tilling under and will help break up the black land (clay).

Next time I see alphalfa hay at the feed store however, I'm going to buy a bale. It makes wonderful nest box material and when wet is good fodder for the chickens.

Kathy in Texas