What bedding do you use? - POLL

[drafthorserider]

I have a small 2 stall barn I turned into a chicken coop. We also have horses so have access to plenty of straw. We get it fresh each year from our farmer neighbor, so have never had any that is dusty. My chickens have straw in their coop which they keep scratched around enough when they are in there to keep it fluffy and underneath is hard packed dirt (from original horses) so it is easy to scrape out. They are only in at night or when we are going to be away past dark (and we work at home, so that isn't often), so they aren't on it all of the time. Their outside run (when we are away) is fenced pasture, so mixture of grass/rock/old horse poop/and straw that they have dragged out of their house. Otherwise they roam the pastures, yard, and driveway. I have tried sawdust, but can only get it around here from TSC and it is really dusty, so I don't like to use it.

 

[Nicole01]

Pine chips! I love it and it's cheap.

 

[katrinabadina]

I agree with sand, sand and sand.
We're newbie chicken parents and I was convinced to sand thanks to BYC. I think it's great. The only problem is I couldn't find any information about sand in the NESTBOX. We did end up buying some hay but the chickens just pull it out of the nestbox so I just threw sand in there instead. We only have one laying chicken yet but she doesn't seem to mind the sand in the box, lays her eggs there happy as can be. So for anyone else out there who is wondering about alternate nestbox bedding (partially out of pure ease of only dealing with one material throughout), sand in the nestbox (as well as inside coop and run) seems to work for us.

 

[redhen689]

I have used various types of wood shavings... Usually pine.. but have used chain saw shavings that I cleaned up after my brother had been cutting up a HUGE tree. (free)
I have also used shredded paper, which works okay.. sort of, but it sticks to the eggs sometimes... It's free though.
Someone recommended shredded corregated cardboard. I'm wondering how you'd go about shredding it.

 

[mommissan]

I have used various types of wood shavings... Usually pine.. but have used chain saw shavings that I cleaned up after my brother had been cutting up a HUGE tree. (free)
I have also used shredded paper, which works okay.. sort of, but it sticks to the eggs sometimes... It's free though.
Someone recommended shredded corregated cardboard. I'm wondering how you'd go about shredding it.

I'm using shredded corrugated cardboard in my nest boxes and I'm pleasantly surprised. It's rigid enough that really wet waste drops through the pieces and its very absorbent. It doesn't smell and it isn't as unsightly as shredded paper. I'm thinking about mixing it into the pine shavings to stretch the time between cleanings. Actually, the girls are doing that for me as they are tossing it ALL OVER the coop. I'm going to monitor how it composts this summer. I shred it in my office shredder (24 page). The shredder doesn't like it, but it does the job and gets short time-outs when it overheats. It's labor intensive; takes me 3-4 hours to fill a 30 gallon trash bag, but, after all, it's free....

 

[ThePigeonKid]

I use deep Litter/pine shavings

 

[roxyblue]

Well I did it!....I switched from straw to sand. Although it has only been a couple hours I already have a lot of comments to make on it.
What I like:

• I like the look, white, and very clean looking.
• I like that it seems like it is very easy to clean, and even bought my self a giant chicken pooper-scooper to help me get the job done.
• I like the texture and the dust and particle free environment.
• It's cheap......and I will only have to buy it once a year.
• I no longer have to deal with bags of bedding that I can't fit into the compost piles/

What I do not like:

• How much it weighs, if I ever have to get the sand out of there I have 50 pounds of it to deal with.
• That it is cold to the touch, during the summer I'm sure the girls will love to just chill in it, but right now....I dunno about it.
• The girls are pretty scared of it right now....but I'm sure that they will warm up to it in a few days.

So far I am really liking this stuff........thanks to you guys!
-Roxy

 

[hartsfarm]

I am new to raising chickens and i have been using fresh grass clippings from yards i mow. (i run a lawncare business in florida) mostly augustine and bahia lawns. my chicks seem to love it. so my question is are there any harm in doing this? I was thinking of using it in the hen house too.

 

[Keltara]

Well I did it!....I switched from straw to sand. Although it has only been a couple hours I already have a lot of comments to make on it.
What I like:

• I like the look, white, and very clean looking.
• I like that it seems like it is very easy to clean, and even bought my self a giant chicken pooper-scooper to help me get the job done.
• I like the texture and the dust and particle free environment.
• It's cheap......and I will only have to buy it once a year.
• I no longer have to deal with bags of bedding that I can't fit into the compost piles/

What I do not like:

• How much it weighs, if I ever have to get the sand out of there I have 50 pounds of it to deal with.
• That it is cold to the touch, during the summer I'm sure the girls will love to just chill in it, but right now....I dunno about it.
• The girls are pretty scared of it right now....but I'm sure that they will warm up to it in a few days.

So far I am really liking this stuff........thanks to you guys!
-Roxy

You are going to love it! Don't worry about the weight of it. You won't have to remove it. My girls don't mind the feel of it. They spend all winter out in the run anyway (which is covered in cold earth! Inside the coop, they only lay eggs or sleep on their roosting pole. Did you make a pooper scooper like mine with the stall rake and hardware cloth? That makes it even more fun to clean! You will likely need to top your sand off more than once per year. I've had to do it 1 times since summer. My coop has 150 lbs. of sand in it, and I topped it off with an additional 50 lb. bag. No biggie really when you consider how cheap a 50 lb. bag is! The bottom line though, is that there is no cleaner coop than one with sand. It is CLEAN, clean every day!

Enjoy the pleasure of sand in the coop. I'm so happy I could help in your decision making! ✿◠‿◠

Kelly
✿Our Country Chronicles✿

 

[Keltara]

Well I did it!....I switched from straw to sand. Although it has only been a couple hours I already have a lot of comments to make on it.
What I like:

• I like the look, white, and very clean looking.
• I like that it seems like it is very easy to clean, and even bought my self a giant chicken pooper-scooper to help me get the job done.
• I like the texture and the dust and particle free environment.
• It's cheap......and I will only have to buy it once a year.
• I no longer have to deal with bags of bedding that I can't fit into the compost piles/

What I do not like:

• How much it weighs, if I ever have to get the sand out of there I have 50 pounds of it to deal with.
• That it is cold to the touch, during the summer I'm sure the girls will love to just chill in it, but right now....I dunno about it.
• The girls are pretty scared of it right now....but I'm sure that they will warm up to it in a few days.

So far I am really liking this stuff........thanks to you guys!
-Roxy

You are going to love it! Don't worry about the weight of it. You won't have to remove it. My girls don't mind the feel of it. They spend all winter out in the run anyway (which is covered in cold earth! Inside the coop, they only lay eggs or sleep on their roosting pole. Did you make a pooper scooper like mine with the stall rake and hardware cloth? That makes it even more fun to clean! You will likely need to top your sand off more than once per year. I've had to do it 1 time since summer. My coop has 150 lbs. of sand in it, and I topped it off with an additional 50 lb. bag. No biggie really when you consider how cheap a 50 lb. bag is! The bottom line though, is that there is no cleaner coop than one with sand. It is CLEAN, clean every day!

Enjoy the pleasure of sand in the coop. I'm so happy I could help in your decision making! ✿◠‿◠

Kelly
✿Our Country Chronicles✿