What are you putting on your coop floor this winter???

[Desert Rooster]

any one know where i can find pine shavings in southern california?????? i live in hesperia, and im just about done building my coop and would like to add pine shavings to the coop floor.

 

[Beekissed]

My feed store sells them and any pet store will sell them also....try to get pine instead of cedar.

 

[chickfamilyonsleepyhollow]

Quote:
I have a vinyl floor as well and have been using wood shavings w/out a poop board beneath the roost boards (the coop is not insulated) and so far the shavings have not gotten damp and I haven't had an odor problem (6 birds in 4 X 8 coop) ... my biggest concern is with cold weather that they'll spend more time in the coop which means more poop so we're putting a board under the roost this weekend ... I think we're gonna start using DE ... do you use it?

 

[featherz]

I have been using DLM with a vinyl floor and so far there is no odor, which is amazing because we have too many birds in the coop.. Not by choice, but I haven't been able to get the guineas to leave and free range as they were intended to do, they just want to hang with the chickens!

We have about 8" of pine shavings on the floor so far plus a bit of DE and stall dry. No odor, my husband (who is only home once a week so his nose is more accurate) says it smells like a weird herb, but not like ammonia. I don't use a poop board on purpose. I'm wondering, should I do a full coop cleanout before winter or leave it? It's been about two months on the current batch with occasional partial cleanouts and new shavings added.. I stir it now and then, which probably isn't all that necessary with crazy guineas.

 

[NicInNC]

I'm confused about the pine straw. Is that the same thing as pine Needles? How do you clean the coop? I currently have just sand in our coop. Would it be beneficial to add pine straw on top of that? It seems to me like pine straw would be a pain to clean out.

 

[gingerpeach22]

Nic, pine shavings are little bits of pine wood shaved off a log. There are no pine needles at all. It is just as though you took your jack knife and peeled some thin wood pieces off a stick. They are sort of small and many are a bit curly. I buy them at the feed store, compressed into a big, rectangular bag. I plop a half bag onto the floor and in no time, the chickens have put it all over the floor by scratching while they look for yummies which might be on the floor. Does that help? What you do not want is cedar shavings, something you often find in regular pet stores for other types of caged animals.
Then, you just leave them on the floor for the chickens to walk on. Their poop dries out quickly, the moisture drawn out by the fine wood shavings. Some people just add more shavings over time, letting the floor get deeper and deeper and then shovel it all out once in awhile to replace with blond new shavings. This is called the deep litter method.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Yes, pinestraw is the needles from longleaf pine or some other species with *long* as opposed to short needles. In some regions e.g. NC it is sold commercially, in bales or bulk, as mulch.

I have not used it for chickens myself but I assume you'd treat it like straw or chopped straw, and remove the pooiest portions (or all of it) and replace. As opposed to sand where you are more just removing the droppings, or letting them 'disappear'.

I would really not recommend mixing sand with anything organic. It just makes a mess and hard to clean.


Pat

 

[tammyd57]

For winter, my coop will have the same thing it has during the Spring, Summer & Fall--12-18" of straw.
My coop has a dirt floor, it is VERY dry here, and it doesn't get cold. That makes for perfect deep litter conditions.
I don't have to turn the litter, throwing in a handful of BOSS every day convinces the chickens to dig it all up for me.
I rake out compost once a year. A LOT of compost.

 

[cressrb]

So much to learn, but thankful for this forum. We are setting up coop next week and getting five six month old pullets to start.
My question is where do you get the pine shavings? I think that is the way I want to go.
Bonnie

 

[FlipFlopFarmer]

pine needles are the same as pine straw, it comes in bales at most plant nurseries, and home and garden centers, walmart usually carries big bales of pine shavings in the pet section, top shelf, or go to walmart.com and see if u can find it and request site to store at no cost to you. Cedar shavings are carcenogenic ( cancer causing) to small animals and birds. It usually causes respiratory problems and tumors in the resp tract. Burning cedar trees and inhaling smoke, im told is also bad for people. Most cedar in dog beds isnt linked to problems, because the dogs dont live on them 24/7, small animals like guinea pigs and rats, and birds, stay caged alot, so u see problems with them more. If you cant find pine shavings, u may find pind pellets, they are compressed pine sawdust, and stay in pellet form until wet, which is nice, they are more expensive than shavings though. As far as sand, if you add hay or staw, invest in an " apple picker", it is a rake like contraption on a handle that is used to seperate horse poop from shavings and dirt. U scoop up the straw, and shake gently, and all the sand falls out. Good luck.