what do I put on the coop floor?

[beckysaur]

I'm just getting ready to transfer my orpingtons from their box inside to their coop outside. What do I put on the floor of their coop? Is straw okay? How thick?
Thank you for any advice!
becky

 

[Wildsky]

Pine shavings. Straw will hold the moisture and get really nasty.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

DBF uses straw in his; I prefer pine shavings in mine because they are more absorbent. When the smell gets bad, I just add another bag. With the straw, we pull it all out and replace it every couple months. I think it's just personal preference.

 

[wendy]

We use hay in the winter to help keep it warm for the chickens. We put several inches of it. But we are in Louisiana. I know you have alot different climate than us southerner's

 

[bigredfeather]

I use pine shavings as well. Start with a good 4-6", maybe a little more, as a base. It will help the floor to stay warm as well. I add a trash bag full once a month with some DE powder. No smell, no moisture, it works great. I am going to clean it out this spring and put on my compost pile. Great fertilizer for the garden the following year.

Good Luck!

 

[The Chicken Lady]

I always used straw (deep litter method) in my coop, but think that pine shavings would probably be much easier to clean out. Straw can get heavy (especially if your chickens figure out how to tip over their water container

).

Therefore, my vote is for pine shavings.

 

[FractalFarmer]

We use pine shavings. Keeps it quite clean and odor-free. I remove the poops pretty often with a kitty litter pooper scooper. I'm able to leave most of the clean shavings behind, so it's pretty economical.

 

[RooptyDoo]

We use pine shavings. Straw gets nasty alot quicker then pine shavings. I have noticed also that pine shavings keeps the stink down quite a bit.

 

[sklingonz]

Right now in my coop we have straw. I have noticed that it really does get stinky pretty fast. I am wanting to go back to shavings as soon as the weather permits.

 

[tamlynn]

I like to use rice hulls. See if your local feed store carries them. They absorb moisture well and are easy to clean up and great for a compost pile because they are tiny and will decompose quickly.