Your bedding opinion

[sammi]

I use pine shavings in the big compressed bags from farm/livestock supply.
a little bit of straw in the nests, and corners, but I keep that changed out, since hay and straw when they get wet, can throw out mold spores.

 

[lfoose]

I have read that Stall Dri, Dri Stall-i forgot which, is good to use in the coop. I saw on the bag that it has DE in it. Does anyone know if this is the food grade DE? If it isn't, is it still ok to use in the coop since it is mixes w/other things?

 

[lizardz]

Quote:
I don't know if it's food grade or not, but if it isn't, it shouldn't be used for your chickens. Mine scratch around in the bedding to find any spilled feed, and I would be concerned about them picking up non-food grade DE. I use just plain pine shavings, using the deep litter method. I've had the coop for over a year and clean it all out about every 3 months. Seems to be working well for us.
Liz

 

[KierBri]

i've been using stall dri in my coop for three years now, i throw big handfuls in with the shavings, haven't had any promblems.


many times shavings purchased in bulk are not kiln-dried and are still green (wet) they won't fluff or absorb like the dried and they won't help with warmth in the winter.

thanks for the peat moss idea i'm going to try that out in the run instead of sand!

 

[LynneP]

if you use peat moss, it is compatible with sand, other beddings, DE, Stall Dri and Stable Boy...

 

[chickenbike]

I think I may have the bedding issue sorted, but not quite! I will use pine shavings. I would like to use food grade DE. We are building the playhouse coop (4'x8' design). The only change will be making the henhouse 3'x4' instead of 2'x4'.

The run area will be on grass. We plan to move the coop every month or so, except for winter where it will be in one location (due to electrical source for heating).

Within the henhouse itself, how do I lay out the bedding? Do you sprinkle the DE, then put in 4" - 6" of pine shavings? Do you sprinkle the DE on top of the shavings as well? Do you do more "layering" of shavings and DE? Is the nest box filled/layered the same way?

As for the run area....do you layer shavings on the ground after the grass has worn? Do some people concrete the run area and then lay shavings down? Would a concrete area as the longer, winter area be a good idea? Spring, summer, early fall areas could then be 3-4 different locations on the grass?

I appreciate any advice, thank you!

 

[cluckychick]

How often do you change out bedding in your brooder box?? My box is 4x8 and I change it every other day but it doesn't look as if it needs it but I do it anyway. Could I go longer between changes? There are 17 chicks in there that are going on 2 weeks old.

Also, at TS I found this stuff called DNZ or DMZ or something like that, that is used in stalls and such. The bag says all natural ingredients and good for cages, coops and such for odor control but sold in the horse section. Basically the same as the food grade DE. Does anyone know of this or seen it? If so what are your opinions??

 

[KierBri]

Quote:
that's the stall dri stuff we're talking about, works good.

 

[KierBri]

Quote:
i sprinkle some stall dri, then put down shavings. i don't use any in the boxes, they normaly stay pretty clean and dry.

my run is exposed to all elements so i would think shavings would be a soggy mess. does anyone use shavings in their run? or do most people here have a roof over it?