Why use bedding at all?

[jahphotogal]

As I was cleaning out my coop this morning, I got to wondering: what's the point of having bedding on the floor of their sleeping area? They're standing above it on the perch all night - what do they need the wood shavings for? Not that I mind -they're not expensive for the amount I use, they smell nice, and it's a little easier to scoop out the poop if it's in shavings.

I don't have a droppings tray or anything like that - I made my coop myself and I just have to scrape the stuff off the floor and out the little door (bad design - I'm thinking of making a whole new coop next year.)

So - do you all bother with pine shavings under the sleeping perch? Maybe nobody does and I just misunderstood what they were for when I was getting started!

 

[thebanthams]

its easier to scoop pine shavings or straw than scraping poop off the floor. plus chickens likes too keep their feet dry when they play in it !

 

[carolinasculpture]

Hi! I had the same thought as I was removing the 6th large rat snake from my coop a few weeks ago! Mice seem to like the wood chips, the snakes came for the mice and stayed for the eggs! Anyway, I got rid of all the wood chips, put Sweet PDZ on my poop board and just shake a bit of it on the floor for the occasional poo, have roll out nest pads in the boxes and put a small section of hay and Sweet PDZ by the door to dry off their little feet as they come inside on rainy days. So far so good! And no more mice or snakes! Good luck!

 

[galanie]

It's to help keep the floor dry. It soaks up moisture. Moisture is bad, it makes odors worse, attracts insects, makes the heat hotter and cold, colder. It also grows pathogens.

 

[nakstk]

Under the roosts in our coop we put chicken wire. (I know I will hear that its not 100% predator safe.) It's been that way for over a year and we have not had any troubles with anything getting in there. The poop falls through and lands on the ground. The other part of the coop has a wood floor and they don't hang out too much on it so there is not that much poop to clean off. I only keep the pine shavings in the nest boxes and those stay relatively clean.

 

[Y N dottes]

I have sand on the bottom of my coop. It does the same thing as pine shavings, but I like it better because it looks nice, easy to clean, and is quite cheap. drys the poop out pretty fast so it doesnt smell at all!!