What bedding do you use in your coop??

[JanetS]

I know this has been discussed before but hoped to start a new conversation.

We have had chickens for a few years now but have not found a "good" bedding for the coop. We started out with
pine shavings but it was so messy and hard to clean out. We have been using sand (washed construction sand) for over a year now and have been fairly happy with it but we have been having breathing issues with our chickens lately. We don't know if it's related to the sand or not but have decided to change to a different bedding just in case. But what kind? I have been looking into Coop Klean but it's not available in our area and it's expensive. We would have to travel about an hour away to get it, which is not to convenient.


Are you happy with your bedding?


Thank you for your replies!
Janet

 

[MamaRudey]

Deep litter method here. We use horse pellet bedding and Sweet PDZ. Also we randomly toss some DE in there, and firelace ash. Our run is hay, grass clippings, any scraps they get. All that jazz.

 

[HighStreetCoop]

Quote:
They sell them in 50lb bags at the feedstore. I love it. It doesn't clump or compact or retain water.

 

[Blooie]

The straw is a great idea too, although it's not quite as absorbent. Even though it sounds like most of your issue is melting snow and frozen ground thawing, is there a way to cover your run to keep subsequent rain and snow out to give it a chance to dry out a little? Otherwise you'll just be spinning your wheels. (I know, bad pun with the sticky mud, but somebody was going to say it, might as well be me!) Actually the bales of pine shavings are so compacted that it would probably take maybe 2 or 3 to get a nice drying layer at least started, and they only run about $4.50 at Tractor Supply. The large flake would be better in this situation than the smaller flakes. If your only option at this point is to use the old stuff, then do that. I think it sounds like you really need to get something going and quickly, and necessity is the mother of invention! Toss in some of those dry leaves you have too - if they are moldy at the underside of the pile then just skim off the top layers..

 

[justplainbatty]

Can I use fabric scraps in their nesting boxes?

I think that would hold germs and moisture, how would you clean it? I guess you could use folded up bath towels and wash them every few days (no fabric softener) but that seems like a pain. I would say try shredded new paper but they will eat it. A bale of hay or straw is pretty cheap. If you only use it for nests it should last a long time. (keep it dry so it doesn't mold).

 

[Spartan22]

Can I use fabric scraps in their nesting boxes?

I used those scrap fabric w/ wood shavings before, they got nasty easy, went to straw & pine shavings

 

[JanetS]

I used to use straw, and cleaned the coop out every day. But we ran out of straw too quickly, so we switched to sand. The sand adsorbs wetness, and it isn't dusty. I still use straw in my nest boxes, because the chickens don't like to nest in sand. I still clean the coop everyday, but with sand, it takes a shorter amount of time.

What kind of sand? We are using washed yellow construction sand. We've had 3 chickens die with respiratory problems and wondered if it has something to do with the sand. We are still using it but we're adding more ventilation to see if it makes any difference. I agree about how easy it is for cleaning.

 

[Blooie]

I am happy with mine. We are using the deep litter method in both the run and the coop. Before I figured out that I needed to add other material, I was using pine shavings only and like you I couldn't see much advantage to it. The shavings didn't seem to breaking down. Now ours consists of pine shavings, leaves, grass clippings in summer, weeds and garden trimmings, chicken poop, and whatever is at hand to toss in there. I don't worry about cleaning it out regularly. I am very happy with the deep litter method, even though I have recently learned that I haven't been taking full advantage of the decomposition aspect of it. But I still have no odor, no pests, and healthy chickens.

 

[jsevcheck]

Blooie are you referring to your coop or run?

 

[Blooie]

I am using deep litter in both.

Edited to add: Been over a year and I haven't had to clean the coop yet. Have taken some litter out of the run and replaced it once when the lawn watering tractor jumped the track and got stuck against the run while we weren't home, but that mess would have happened regardless of what was used in the run.