What's in the bottom of your coop?

[butterflygardener]

I wanted something easy that worked great, so...we have pine shavings in coop, deep litter. I add more shavings when needed and clean out 2-3 times a year.
Their run is sand, and it's covered so it stays dry-that way the poop dries and disappears. They also have an enclosed 'yard' attached that I can let them play in during the day that I throw leaves and other goodies in.

I have found that some brands of pine shavings are much more absorbent than others. This year I will change out the sand. I'll use the sand to fertilize with.
Pine shavings in nest boxes.

 

[AlienChick]

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[speckledhen]

Nothing on the ground outside, just dirt. We throw in leaves in the fall for them to play in. Shavings outside where they can get wet would hold in moisture, like mulch in a garden, not a good thing, IMO, since they get food in it and that could mold and cause sour crop.

Pine shavings in the coop floors, straw mixed with pine shavings in the nestboxes. In summer, we use more pine shavings in the nests because straw is so hot.

 

[acw123]

Sand in the coop, hay in the nesting boxes, grass and hay in run. LOVE the sand in the floor of the coop. It is so much easier to clean without having to throw out the sand, just scoop with a large litter scooper and it is clean again. Hay outside is just to cut down on mud when it rains. I am considering going to pine shavings for nest boxes.

 

[ddcoyne]

We are definitely putting a sandbox under their roosting tree. Then we can clean it out almost like cat litter. Thanks for all the replies! We are learning so much on this new endeavor!

 

[WoodlandWoman]

The coop has wood shavings. I developed a sensitivity to conifers, so we use aspen. Before that, I used pine for many years.

The run has sand on the end that's bare. The other end has grass or other plants, sometimes dirt, depending on the time of year. The chickens free range during the growing season and are confined to the run late fall until very early spring. Basically to protect them from migrating red-tailed hawks when there's no leaf cover and during deep snow. If they were confined to the run year round and I couldn't keep vegetation alive, it would all be sand.

 

[Donner]

Pine shavings over dirt in the coop.

Right now, the coop is in the fenced yard with the dogs. So, we just let them out to free range. I am going to get around to fencing off a two portions of the yard next to the coop, and let the chickens destroy one, then see if I can plant it, while they destroy the other section. If I do it right and get the timing right, I should have lots of healthy greenery for the chickens to eat most of the year.

 

[cackydoodledoo]

Lots of chicken poo is what's on the bottom of my coop!!!!!

 

[ynotravid]

It's my first week. So far I have hay and food grade DE in the coop and nothing in the run. The dirt is really soft right now in the run so I'm just letting them dig that up right now and I sprinkle DE on any poop every so often.

 

[QualityPolish]

My coop is off the ground so the bottom is wood, with a drop out box for easy cleaning. And the run is just grass

QP