What is Your Favorite Bedding?

[MyLoveableChick]

Hay?


The one I use the most is pine shaves, which one is yours?



Leaves?

Pine Shaves?


Or Other?

 

[biteme2134]

I have pine in my nesting boxes. Sand inside and outside the coop. Said is amazing imo. I clean the coop every few days. Takes about 20 minutes of somewhat like cat litter cleaning but then the sand is almost perfectly clean. No smell, mostly. I add a few bags through the year as they toss it out into the run and my cleaning takes some away too. And I change out all the sand to new sand maybe once a year to freshen it. Then run gets rained on so it's self washing and doesn't get replaced as much oh and I've had close to 20 chickens now we have 13

 

[MyLoveableChick]

Sand sounds amazing, since it doesn't really stink when the chickens do their business. I should give sand a try. The only bedding I use is pine shaves and hay.

 

[biteme2134]

You should! Here's a reason I'm sold- I have pine in the nest boxes and we had an egg brake or laid shell less. Regardless the entire box of pine had to be replaced due to ants! Which wasn't the ants falt but more so due to the egg sticking to every piece of pine in there! I've had an egg laid from a roost, Crack on the sand, ants found it... All I had to do is throw some sand on top. Now the spill is a mush and scoop little spot. No more egg droppings and the ants leave. It was night and day different from the pine shavings

 

[RJSorensen]

I have moved from straw to pine shavings, have been really happy with them. I have not seen nor tried sand. It does seem to satisfy many folks, I guess it is just personal preference…

Best to all and your birds,

RJ

 

[biteme2134]

I think some like sand in warmer climates too. I'm in Georgia. Maybe the sand doesn't keep warmth in as well in colder winters? I'd have to research that one...

 

[RichnSteph]

I'm using about 6 inches of sand in the bottom of the coop and shredded paper in the nesting boxes. For us is was an easy choice. Where we live is all sand so I just go shovel a few wheel barrow loads out of the back of the property and dump it in there. The shredded paper comes free from work.

RichnSteph

 

[ChickensofBBN]

We use pine shavings in the coop and nesting boxes, and sand in the run. We love the sand! We only fully clean the run about once a month, and even by then we have very little smell. We drilled holes in an aluminum scoop shovel and use it to scoop and sift the poop from the sand. Takes about 30-45 minutes to do a detailed sifting of the full run, and our run is about 7'x14'. It's great because the chickens are able to dust in the sand in the run, and the sand dries quickly if it rains so there's never a muddy mess. We put drainage pipes in under the run to drain off any excess water when we were building our coop and run, and we have a 4"-6" base of sand in the run.

 

[Alex47]

Is there a good brand of sand or just beach sand?

 

[MyLoveableChick]

there are different types of sand. which one suits your chickens and you is the one.