Wood chips or straw?

[bertman]

Before I put our pullets in our new coop I did some research on BYC about the best thing to use in the coop. A long-time chicken person said that he used equine pellets and found that they are very absorbent, you don't have to clean all the poop out because the birds scratching around will work it in to the pellets, plus it smells great and lasts a long time then gets composted.

So I have used that method for two months and found it to be very easy and clean and it smells good. Our coop has good ventilation but it is small and there are six birds in it so I am surprised at how the pellets keep the smell down. Every couple of weeks I rake out the big poop pieces and the feathers, then spread DE, then layer on another thin layer of fresh pellets.

Yesterday I put in a new poop shelf under the roost. I had intended to do that from the gitgo but never did. This morning when I let the ladies out of the coop I was AMAZED at how much poop was on the shelf. I am NOT a daily chicken coop cleaning type of person and that shelf was NASTY, so now I'm thinking I might just remove the shelf and go back to letting them poop directly onto the pellets since they were working fine before in the heat of summer.

 

[Inadalou]

Hi! I use wood chips in my coop because I don't have access to straw.

 

[AngelaClassAct]

What is DE that everyone is referring to sprinkling down? Sorry, I'm a newbie!

We currently use part dried out grass clippings, hay, and pine shavings. I've heard about the quine pellets, and I think I might want to try that method.

 

[Chick1043]

I use straw. I think it's softer than wood chips. I don't want my chickens getting a splinter and then bumblefoot!!

 

[jmjmcelwee]

In our coop pine shavings (we buy the blocks from Tractor Supply for less than $5). In our run which is covered, we use a mix from our local garden nursery - it's branches and leaves run through the chipper but it's not mulch yet (no chemicals added). A "scoop" runs us $10. The girls love to forge for the bugs that like to live in it and it's fine enough they've started to "bathe" in it!

 

[Rileys6chix]

i have straw in my coop and nest boxes. easy to clean but do have to say the bird droppings do not get absorbed. But the good thing about the straw is that its super cheap, and gives the coop a barn smell and gets the job done. I had wood chips and shaving when the chicks were inside, it tended to pack up, most likely because it absorbed everything. i have a mixture of dirt and sand on the run floor and everytime i cut the grass, i throw the clippings in there, and they scratch and burrow and have a great time. Hope this could help! good luck!

 

[SuburbanSue]

I use pine pellets (Equine Pine from TSC) in the coop. My husband made a chicken "pooper scooper" with a paint roller frame (thing you roll over to get excess paint off). It.'s like a giant litter box scooper. I've had the pellets in for almost 3 months and haven't had to change but I will this weekend. Very happy with it. in the run we are all dirt and I have made little sections that I have an area of sod, an area of sand, the rest is dirt. When we mow the lawn I throw in the grass clippings which they love (no chemical lawn) and every now and then I throw in some straw for them. I do throw down the food grade diamatious (sp??) earth in both the run and coop. Rake the run once weekly, coop every other day or so with the pooper scooper.

SuburbanSue
2 Red Stars (Scootaloo and Brandy), 2 Black Australorps (Timmi and Daisy Jo), 2 Buff Orpingtons (ChickiePoo and Daphne) and one adorable cross beaked Dominique (Wishbone)

 

[FuzzyButtsFarm]

Sand Sand and more Sand. I have two main chicken stalls, one has sand and the other has shavings (deep liter method). They all hang out in the one with sand during the day and roost in the other at night. The only thing I can think of that in this heat the sand may be cooler.