What bedding do you use? - POLL

[roxyblue]

The horse bedding seems like a good way to go. I think I'll see if tractor supply has any the next time I go.....Thanks!

 

[mammat]

We use pine shavings-non deep litter. Found deep litter made the coop too moist. Tried staw/hay and one of my Austrolorps died from impacted crop after eating it. Sooooooooooo pine shavings work well for us

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I shake sweet PDZ on the wood floor and scrape it daily. Pine shavings for the nest boxes.

 

[Keltara]

Hi Emily-

I hope I'm not too late to give my 2 cents. I have three words. . .SAND, SAND, SAND!! Sand in the coop, AND sand in the run. There is nothing easier to clean, or more healthy for your girls. I live in Michigan and sand is even wonderful in the winter contrary to what people have said on other threads here on BYC. I just recently did a blog post on sand and how easy it is to maintain. Please visit my blog and I'm sure it will convince you that there is truly NO OTHER WAY. If you currently don't use sand, I encourage you to come see as well. It may very well convince you to change over. It is heavenly!!

Sincerely,
Kelly
✿Our Country Chronicles✿



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[Country Parson]

My understanding is Deep Litter is a method of managing the bedding, not a kind of bedding. Thus, you can deep litter with any of the above mentioned kinds of bedding (let me know if I am wrong about that. With that said I use primarily straw because I get it for free. I'll also throw in leaves in the fall (though these break down REALLY fast. While great for the eventual compost value, they don't really help for bedding purposes).

Now, I am the first to admit straw has big drawbacks---its difficult to shovel and it retains moisture (a problem for those of us in colder climates...moisture = increased humidity which can result in frozen toes/combs).

 

[jarobins]

I live at 8000 feet elevation in a canyon west of Denver. Moisture is NOT a problem here and I started with pine shavings and just keep adding a bale every few months. I haven't cleaned out the poop except when I notice big fresh ones while in gathering eggs. Their coop is 10'x12' and I only have 9 hens. I've added a couple straw bales this winter to give them some excitement (they loved scratching the bale all apart!)

 

[WLLady]

I use pine shavings with the deep litter method. 12 to14 inches deep and the girls churn it up really well. Found it got wet at 8 inches, but 12 worked fine. Then I completely change the entire bedding layer twice a year. If the water spills I will take out the wet stuff, if its a big spill. I use planer shavings in the nesting boxes (we do quite a bit of our own woodworking-only pine wood planer shavings though for nesting boxes). They are finer and the girls can build some pretty good nest walls with them. To help them churn the litter I throw a bit of scratch into the coop for their entertainment. Keeps them occupied on those nasty days that I don't let them out.

 

[BlueBob]

Anyone using pellets? I'm very interested but don't even know if I can get them in my area or what they cost. http://www.eaglevalleyabm.com/index.html . Not pimping, just found them on the net and from they're claims, seems to be a good deal.

 

[chickenman11798]

Hay with no nesting boxes works very well.

 

[stone_family3]

I use a mix of hay and pine bedding, however I think I'm going to switch exclusively to pine bedding. The hay was readily available which is why I opted for it to begin with.