What to use for bedding?

[KivasShepherd]

My coop has a heavy marine plywood floor , I repaint this every year seems to help in the cleaning process. I use finely chopped wheat straw with pine shaveings and a little cedar mixed in to deter pests. I can't use wood pellets because a few of the free-range ducks come in the hen house and can't tell the differance bettween the wood-pellets and the feed pellets! You could try building a framed wood floor just under the roost pole for easier cleaning in the worst area modify a garden hoe for easier scrapeing . Just remember that the fertilizer has to be looked at as an added bonus to keeping chickens! Well back to cleaning!

 

[Hokum Coco]

I am sure my chickens ate more than their fair share of wood pellets, shredded paper, Styrofoam and God knows what. They are 3 years old going on 4 still laying. I just look at it as filler similar to what is put into some of the products we consume as humans.

My kids have ate plastic lego, dirt, grass, leaves, tires of match box cars, cigarette buts, sand and play dough when I was tending them. I always took it as a sign that they were hungry. They are all adults with families for the most part and all survived my parenting (including my wife).

The secret to a long lasting relationship is neither of us decided to get a divorce at the SAME time 44 years for me.

Oops! but I digress that happens when I am home alone unsupervised.

 

[Coop de Cuse]

I have been experimenting with a combination of sand (High Desert Play Sand from Home Dep), PDZ and pine shavings. The sand is white, so very easy to spot-clean when needed. I am crazy about keeping everything super clean, so I weigh cost and efficiency and will continue to experiment. Sand does seem to give a lot of bang for the buck and the shavings are $4 a bag. One bag of PDZ may last as long as a year. All three are super absorbent and are working great for my 14 chicks and 5 guineas.

 

[KivasShepherd]

I only mentioned the problem because I lost a few ducks from them eating the wood pellets, the wood pellets expanded when the ducks got back to the water and it caused their crops to rupture...not pretty!
With your kids eating such a variety of odd items one would almost be afraid to fall asleep near them....might wake up missing a limb! (JK) Little ones seem to go thru a phase where everything goes into the mouth . Atleast with puppies you can crate train to prevent this....for some reason this is frowned upon with children? I dont see the problem myself ,just think of a dog-crate as a play-pen with a lid! Interesting side topics on here . Poultry Show tommorrow so Have to get going!

 

[tbachli]

Any drawback to using shredded paper for bedding? Thought about this as I'm cleaning out my shredder, which is sometimes a compactor! Performing the medical procedure to dis impact the shredder, and want to use the by product as an egg catcher or for bedding.

 

[Hokum Coco]

Any drawback to using shredded paper for bedding?

Works best if intergrated with wood pellet shaving or another bedding in proportion it blows around and is not the best if used by itself is my experience anyway..

Nest boxes
In my nest boxes I fold a feed bag to fit (nest boxes are 1 ft³). When a bag gets soiled; fold a new one; pop out the soiled; pop in the new.

POOP BOARDS are the "BEST" addition yet. Handles well over ½ of the poop in my set up keeps ammonia smell in check 3½" below roost excellent for catching eggs laid through the night (roost are in cups for easier removal and cleaning). I recently friction fit a piece of vinyl flooring over my poop board.it makes clean up even easier; Pop out; Scrap; Hose; Pop in.

Winter months even easier flex over compost bin DONE!

Easy peasy!