What type of bedding?

[chantald]

Hello
My chickens are nearly full grown now. They love to roam the yard. I was using pine shavings as the bedding in their coop and then switched to straw. They love the straw but I'm not sure I like it. The coop floor (plywood I'm guessing.. converted amish shed) seems wetter than it was with shavings and it seems harder to clean.. I pitchfork the straw out and poop falls everywhere..so I end up scooping too.. instead of just scooping with the shavings.

I don't want to do deep litter at this point and I like to keep the smell down so I clean the coop once a week even though they spend all daylight hours roaming the yard..

What do you use for bedding and why?

 

[geareduplyn]

Check out the Coop Floor thread on page 2.

 

[Little Chicken Farmers]

I use a pressed wood pellet bedding that turns into sawdust as it absorbs. There are two different brands I have used...ABM Animal Bedding or DryDen bedding....google the DryDen. I use it in my horse stalls and tried it out in my coop works great. Very absorbent!! No smell!

 

[chantald]

Quote:
Wow.. that sounds great. I wonder if my Agway carries it.

I'll check out the coop floor thread. I saw the tread but thought it was "what to make the coop floor out of" (ie wood/wire etc) and not a bedding thread. Thanks

 

[chantald]

Well, It seems my Agway carries this

http://www.agway.com/catalog/rural/equine/shavings_and_absorbants/agway_premium_pellet_bedding_lb

and not ABM or Dry Den

The same? We have very limited choice as far as feed/farm stores nearby..Agway is really the only game in town..

 

[antlers]

Quote:
Your floor is likely wetter with straw because the chickens are bigger and going more. Absorbancy is a function (partly) of surface are. Shavings have more surface area in a cubic foot than baled straw but chopped straw will be close. It is not so much the material, its the form of it.

 

[pierce652]

Maybe you could pick up some cheap linolum (sp) tile and do the floor. That would make clean up easier and keep the smell down too. You could sweep out the bedding and hose it down if you like.