What's Everyone's Favorite Bedding?

[bucky52]

i use wood shavings.last summer i did the sand.but it cost well over 50.00.to cover the coop floors.i will just stick to shavings.my coop stays clean my DH installed poop boards under the roost.each morning i clean the boards. the hens only go in the coop to lay.

 

[Hooligans7]

i use wood shavings.last summer i did the sand.but it cost well over 50.00.to cover the coop floors.i will just stick to shavings.my coop stays clean my DH installed poop boards under the roost.each morning i clean the boards. the hens only go in the coop to lay.

Two questions, bucky52: 1) Where do your hens sleep (if not in the coop)? 2) What did you do with the fouled sand?

 

[lauranickerson]

I've been doing shavings and it's just too dusty for me. Everything gets covered in it, and I wanted to try something new. I bought 6 bags of sand and that seems to be adequate...maybe another bag would be perfect. They are about $2.50 a bag here in Northern Michigan. I've already noticed a cut down on dust. The smell is better, but it wasn't bad in the first place.

I have done straw before, and it wasn't all that bad. I use straw in my run and every week or so I rake it up and put it in my compost pile. It's a heaping wheelbarrow full. By the end of the week, it's broken up and in small pieces. I throw scratch in the straw during that week so they dig through it and break it up.

So far with the sand, I've just taken my kitty litter scoop and sifted all the poo out. There really isn't much in there anyways since they're outside for almost the whole day. It will be even better when I let them free range later this summer (waiting for them to start laying eggs).