What kinda beding?

[Chicken Girl]

What kinda beding should i put in my coop over the winter? It smells realy realy bad in there in the winter. And i live in Wisconsin so its to cold to clean it out. What should i do!!!???




Chicken Girl

 

[kcfuerst]

Bedding?

My gals sleep on a roost, not bedding. 2x4's on the flat.

If you mean what to put on the floor of the coop or under their roost, I recommend wood shavings sprinkled with PDZ and DE. It keep the dropping dry and eliminates flies, just give it a stir every couple days.

I haven't changed the wood shavings in my coop since April and it still smells like wood in my coop. The area under the roost get changed out about once every 6 weeks.

 

[Chicken Girl]

Oh WOW!!

lol How many chickens do you have? My i have a brooder box in my coop and they sleep on that not on the roostes. I know i have crazy chickens. lol I have 30 right now but i will have 27 over the winter. What is PDZ and DE? And were can i get it?


Chicken Girl

 

[HarlansHollowFarms]

I use pine shavings, and I keep adding more when it starts to smell. I sprinkle feed on the floor so the chickens will turn the shavings.

If it smells to badly, maybe you need more ventilation.

 

[Tonopah Pati]

I use pine shavings in my nest boxes and on the ground inside my run/pen. (It is more like an Aviary.) I have three Hutches in the enclosed run/pen. One bale covers most of the area. I leave their dust holes uncovered. It smells so nice. I like to walk on it and the chickens seem to like it. It is dust free. It makes cleaning very easy. You can buy it at most feed stores and it comes in compressed bales, that are plastic wrapped and you can fit them in most car trunks.

 

[kcfuerst]

Here is a link to PDZ: http://www.sweetpdz.com/our-products.html

DE is diatomaceous earth, equally important for the control of flies, and internal and external parasites. You can sprinkle it everywhere, in the coop, on their food, in the run. You can Google it for your area. It must be food grade, not the kind used for pool filters. I buy mine here: http://www.groworganic.com/item_PMB105_Diatomaceous_Earth_50_Lb_Bag.html but I am in California. Others on this forum could help you locate something near you. Here is a link for more info: http://www.agriorganics.com/agriculture.php?Pid=5

I only have 9 birds, but these things will work for your 30.

How big is your coop? Where are your nests? Do they poo in their nests? How tall is the brooder box? Is it portable? Is it on the floor? Does it open from the top?

If you would rather have your gals not sleep on top of your brooder, then you can cover it with something to prevent that, such as a slanted board that they would slide off of and can't get a foothold, or some strings of wire across the top to make it uncomfortable.

However, if that area is where they like to sleep and you don't mind, I have a picture in my head of what you can do. Follow me for a minute.

If the top of your brooder area is flat.... Add some roosts made of 2x4s flat the length of the brooder and about 12" apart, how ever many will fit. Would be easy to make something that either separate and free-standing over the brooder (like a table with four legs) or attached, whatever you want. Make it at least 12-15" higher than the brooder box. Then, make a liner or pull out tray of plastic, metal or wood to put underneath the roost (on top of the brooder box) to catch all the poo. You can make the tray flat, or make it like a box so that you could put wood shavings inside to keep the poo from sticking and help absorb some of the mess. Personally, I would make it at least 10" deep.

The roosting area should be higher than the nesting area. Chickens like to get as high as they can, the higher the better.

Here is a picture of what I do for my girls; and if I had 30 birds, I would do it the same way, just bigger. My coop is only 8x8':

 

[Chris09]

I like to use Pine "chips"in the coops. (Its finer than shavings but not as fine as saw dust.) In the breeding and brooding pens I like to use leaves in the fall/winter ( I have lots of maple trees and I bag all the leaves just run the yard vac. over them)

Chris

 

[chickenlady81]

I use pine shavings in my coop. It seems to do the trick.

 

[fldiver97]

Hi, I live in WI too. I have used PDZ and pine shaving for floor. I don't know if you have aMounds nearby but they sell it. Also Stall Dri. Or you can try a feedstore or farmers co-op. I started with straw but it is messy. They sleep on a roost now and I have poop board with raised edges under the roost, filled that with PDZ and scoop it out like cat litter.

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

I've been using layers of wood pellets, aspin shavings, and Stall Dry. I'm in the moist Pacific NW and haven't had to clean out the coop since putting them in there back in March.

I do have a droppings board that I scrape every morning into a cover cat litter bucket.

Every month and a half, I sprinkle a thin layer of the Stall Dry and then spread a new bag of aspin shavings from Petsmart. I like the smell better then pine shavings.

Granted I have a 12' x 12' coop and only eight hens currently but have lots of ventilation. No smell no flies.

You get the Stall Dry at farm supply store. Commonly used in horse stalls in these parts.