Survey: Pine Shavings, Hay, or Straw in Nest Boxes (Cold Weather Climate) ?

[olepackrat]

I'm building my first coop/run and have been reading the forums on this and the answers are quite varied, which might be due to climate, or just chicken/personal preference. Given that it is hard to "count" the answers among many posts/threads, and after searching several search results on Quizzes that didn't seem to really cover this topic in a quiz/survey form, I thought I'd try to put this out there.

Many thanks in advance!

 

[Hokum Coco]

I'm building my first coop/run and have been reading the forums on this and the answers are quite varied, which might be due to climate, or just chicken/personal preference. Given that it is hard to "count" the answers among many posts/threads, and after searching several search results on Quizzes that didn't seem to really cover this topic in a quiz/survey form, I thought I'd try to put this out there.

Many thanks in advance!

There are practically as many answers to this question as their are chicken ranchers.

In my coop I use pine shavings as bedding when available. Some times I have to use wood pellets.
Nest boxes
In my nest boxes I fold a feed bag to fit (nest boxes are 1 ft³). When a bag gets soiled; fold a new one; pop out the soiled; pop in the new. Feed bags are a nylon mesh bag.
Frozen poop just peels off in below freezing temperatures and just flakes off in summer when left out in the sun to bake and dry.

I have 66 trips around the sun it is the best method I have stumbled upon.

Make sure the twine is removed from the open end of the bag it can get tangled around your birds.

 

[CluckerCottage]

In my nest boxes, I use plain cheapie plastic dishpans with a half-moon cut out for easy entry.
I fill them with shavings. Easy to remove them for cleaning when necessary.

 

[hje007]

My absolute favorite bedding is dried grass clippings. Soft fluffy and perfect in the nest boxes! Unfortunately those are not available year round so at other times I use a mix of pine shavings and hay in the coop and run. Shavings go in the nest boxes in winter.

 

[RonP]

My vote for "Other".

I use shredded mail, no glossy or metallic inks.

 

[worms7]

I use shavings in coop. Shavings &
a bit of straw in nest box shavings on bottom straw on top
cheers Phil

 

[aart]

Many things will work, it does boil down to personal preference.
Don't over think it, pick one and try it..... if you don't like it, try something else.

I like a flake of straw, shoved in tight and 'bowled' out in center, stays together nicely for cushion.....
.... except for when pullets start laying, they will dig thru anything.

 

[Korzak]

This is our first year with chickens. We have been using pine shavings about 6" deep, hoping to do the deep litter method. Nothing is decomposing, though, and I had to swap out half the used shavings for fresh stuff, because it was starting to have an ammonia odor in the coop. I am going to start working in some grass clippings and see if that helps.

 

[aart]

This is our first year with chickens. We have been using pine shavings about 6" deep, hoping to do the deep litter method. Nothing is decomposing, though, and I had to swap out half the used shavings for fresh stuff, because it was starting to have an ammonia odor in the coop. I am going to start working in some grass clippings and see if that helps.

But this survey is about nest bedding.....not coop bedding.

You wouldn't want to do a composting deep litter in the nests.
It will take more than just shavings and grass clippings to get composting going.
Here's a great description of contents and how to manage organic 'bedding' in a run or coop...and there's a great video of what it looks like.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1037998/muddy-run-help-please#post_16017992

 

[Korzak]

But this survey is about nest bedding.....not coop bedding.

You wouldn't want to do a composting deep litter in the nests.
It will take more than just shavings and grass clippings to get composting going.
Here's a great description of contents and how to manage organic 'bedding' in a run or coop...and there's a great video of what it looks like.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1037998/muddy-run-help-please#post_16017992

D'OH! Thanks for the help! How often do you change out the bedding in the nests? Our girls just started laying two weeks ago, and I have pine shavings in the nest boxes, too.