What is the best bedding for in the coop?

[thanson123]

We are going to be transferring our chickens into the coop soon and I just wanted some opinions on what the best bedding is for in the coop.

 

[gtaus]

We are going to be transferring our chickens into the coop soon and I just wanted some opinions on what the best bedding is for in the coop.

For me, the best bedding is what I can get for free. Having said that, I am having great success with the dry deep litter method using wood chips that I get for free from our local county landfill. The wood chips smell good - to me - and they absorb the chicken poo like magic. I have also used dry leaves in the coop, and they work too, but they break down pretty fast. I have thrown in some shredder paper into the coop and that has worked as well. Shredder paper, by itself, can get wet and matted down. But mixed in with my wood chips it seems to be fine. I can get all that stuff for free.

I have used straw and hay in the past, but did not like it as it seemed to get wet and smelly and needed to be cleaned out all the time. I know some people use sand with success. I live on a lake, and could get sand for free, but I prefer to go with the wood chips with the idea that later I can compost the bedding with chicken poo and use it in the garden. I already have too much sand in my garden.

One more plug for the deep litter method, I have had my chickens on deep litter in the coop for almost 1 year without cleaning and there is still no smell from the droppings. To me, that is fantastic. I will be emptying out the wood chip litter later this spring and starting over, but honestly, I think I could go even longer if I wanted.

 

[Acre4Me]

Depends on your setup. As mentioned above, several options. Some, like sand, work better in dry/arid areas. We use pine shavings from tractor supply. Our coop is elevated and walk-in style with a vinyl floor. We put a new pack of shavings in, then turn several times over a period of time. Once it gets smelly and loaded with poop, then we remove, clean, put in new. In the winter, when it is frozen solid, we have to add new on top of the frozen shavings then clean out when it thaws. We do have a lot of upper ventilation in the coop.

 

[aart]

What kind of bedding you use may depend on how you manage the manure.
This is about cleaning, but covers my big picture
-I use poop boards under roosts with thin(<1/2") layer of sand/PDZ mix, sifted daily(takes 5-10mins) into bucket going to friends compost.
-Scrape big or wet poops off roost and ramps as needed.
-Pine shavings on coop floor, add some occasionally, totally changed out once or twice a year, old shavings added to run.
- My runs have semi-deep litter(cold composting), never clean anything out, just add smaller dry materials on occasion, add larger wood chippings as needed.
Aged ramial wood chippings are best IMO.
-Nests are bedded with straw, add some occasionally, change out if needed(broken egg).
There is no odor, unless a fresh cecal has been dropped and when I open the bucket to add more poop.
That's how I keep it 'clean', have not found any reason to clean 'deeper' in 5 years.

Welcome to BYC! @thanson123
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[thanson123]

ok thank you