what kind of shaving to put in coop

[peanut67]

Hi I am wanting to put shaving on the floor of my coop. I have a dirt floor that gets wet when it rains very hard , we have done every thing we can to keep the water out but there is a slight slope to the ground around the pen on one side we did level the ground in the coop. I did not know if the shaving that you use for horse's would work or not. My hens are almost a year old

Peanut

 

[PeepsCA]

For adult birds it should be fine, but NOT for young keets. I prefer coarse straw or large flake shavings, not the fine fluffy stuff. Buy some rubber horse stall mats to put down over the dirt, then pile your shavings on top of those, that will greatly reduce the sogginess of your bedding. I prefer deep litter in my coops and pens so that there is minimal coop cleaning for me, but you'll need to research that here on BYC if you'd like to go that route.

 

[peanut67]

Thanks Peeps ca I did research it on BYC, my husband clean out the coop and then went to town and got the shavings it looks very nice and all ready smell better. Was not sure what to use since I have a dirt floor so thanks so much for your help, I know I can always count on you to have the right answer thanks again Peanut

 

[peanut67]

Hi Peeps can you tell me what I can spray in the house to help control the flies there are terrible,I did put the shavings in and did put seven dust sdown also but flies are just awful, we have had so much rain so i know that makes it worse also but not sure waht to do to help with the flies. You are probably going to start charging me for all of you good advise Peant

 

[nailladi]

How do you feel about sand Peeps??

 

[PeepsCA]

peanut.. I don't spray chemicals in my coops/pens. If I have a fly problem I will hang those fly traps (that already have bait/attractant in them and that you just add water to). But make sure to hang them up high, out of reach of the birds. They work good, but they stink bad, lol.

 

[PeepsCA]

How do you feel about sand Peeps??

Sand works great for bedding... just heavy as heck, and well I can't compost it for the garden lol. I was using it for bedding in a couple of my coops/runs yrs ago, but changed to the deep litter method as my flocks and coops increased. Now I mostly use sand in my dust bathing bins, mixed with ashes from my wood stoves so my birds stay (external) parasite free. I don't use it for keets tho, just for my mature birds.

 

[peanut67]

Thanks I was not going to do any thing untill I heard from you ,but I have been told to use the strips looked at orschlen yesterday and did not find them so will keep looking thanks again peanut

 

[PeepsCA]

Oh the sticky fly strips? LOL... uhhh... those do catch a lot of flies, but I've had birds fly up and get tangled up in those before, rip them down, run all over frantically freaking out... picking up anything else that would stick to the strip all along the way

Once I caught the freaked out bird it was a major MESS to deal with, and needless to say scissors had to be involved. THAT STUFF IS NASTY STICKY, lol.

Funny now, but not so funny at the time... and the bird was definitely NOT laughing, lol.

 

[peanut67]

HI peeps just thought I would let you know I have had a couple of gunieas hatch more on the way thanks so much for all of your help. I have been having a lot of trouble with black snakes in my coop I had a few hens on eggs but the snake scared her of so put them in the incubator killed that one then 2 days latter had another on it ate at least 12 eggs but killed him also or should I say my hubby did they are really hard to kill. Next year going to put all eggs in the bat or it is exciting, first time for me. Trying every thing we can to keep the snakes out my coop looks like Fort Knox's HAHA But thanks again