Chicken coop bedding

[Cheryl]

It's time to clean out our chicken coop and replace the bedding.  What do you use?

In the past, we've used leaves, hay, and wood shavings.  I don't want to use the hay again.  That turned into one big mess underneath the top layer.  I don't have enough leaves raked up yet to cover their floor, so that's probably out.  That leaves the wood shavings.  If I buy them at Tractor Supply I'm not sure how much they'd cost. 

Any ideas? 

[greyhoundgirl]

We use the pine shavings from TSC or Atwood's.  They're not expensive...I want to say about $5 for a big thing of them which would probably replace them twice for our coop (4 x 6').  But here and there, we've also occasionally had access to large quantities of shredded paper and have used that when we do.  It's not as nice smell-wise, but still works well because we can compost it afterward.  And we empty our house shredder into the coop as well.

[mooremama]

I use the pine shavings from Tractor Supply.  I like them better than anything else we've used.  I like them because they absorb liquids and they help keep down the smell.  I will put grass clipping, leaves or paper in the coop too but I always make sure that the majority of bedding is the shavings.

Beth

[Cheryl]

Thanks, ladies.

I don't know what I was thinking- my parents grow chickens commercially and have a ton of shavings I can use.  I'll head over there sometime this afternoon for a load.

[Sandlappersue]

We have always used shavings as well because many years ago we had done research and found that anything slick such as straw or paper can deform young chickens legs. We use pine as James said he read that cedar shavings are not good for chickens (toxic??). 

[Cheryl]

Yes, I've read that cedar is toxic for the chickens.  I got my load today and spread it on their floor.  I did top it with some leaves I raked up because they love scratching in them looking for bugs.

[Andrea G]

We use pine shavings too. Very soon I will be cleaning our coops and dumping the used shavings right on the garden.  I have been doing that for the past four years and it is amazing how much that helps the soil.  I clean the coops twice a year.  In the spring I put it in the compost since it would still be too hot to add right away.  I will add the compost from the spring at the same time as I do the fall cleaning. 

[MN_Mom]

This might be a dumb question, but do the wood chips provide any help with the cold? Right now we have hay in our coop - mainly because it seemed like the right thing to do. We've "winterized" the coop, but I'm still concerned since our temps can get down to -20 (or more) in the dead of winter. 

[Cheryl]

Not sure if it would keep them warm, but it seems like if you had a deep layer of wood shavings that would be helpful.  They could "fluff" them up around their bodies (I've seen mine do this with the hay) and it would be better than sitting or standing on a bare floor.  Think of it like walking on carpet versus tile in the winter.

[greyhoundgirl]

Seems like it would at least insulate your coop on the bottom.    If your chickens can roost, though, they put themselves down over their feet and put their head under their wing and do pretty well that way.  We use a heat lamp if it gets too cold, though here that's not a whole lot.  With negative temps it might be the way to go.

[jrejhkids]

This might be a dumb question, but do the wood chips provide any help with the cold? Right now we have hay in our coop - mainly because it seemed like the right thing to do. We've "winterized" the coop, but I'm still concerned since our temps can get down to -20 (or more) in the dead of winter.

We don't get quite that cold.  How we winterize our coop is to cover the windows with heavy duty clear plastic.  We have little doors that can be closed at night.  We have a vent up at the top of the building that we close off as well.  When we built our coop, we did insulate the walls, so that helps as well.  On top of all that, we do have a heat lamp in there that is on a thermostat so it turns on when it is cold.  As our hen house is big, we use alfalfa on the floor.

[Andrea G]

It doesn't usually get that cold here, but it does get below 0 degrees F.  Our coops are not insulated.  We make sure there is a thick layer of shavings, and we keep adding more as the chickens poop on it.  I think that the poop starts to compost and that will add a bit of heat.  The chickens don't seem to mind the cold.  They don't lay many eggs, but that has more to do with the short daylight hours than the cold.  We don't use a heat lamp because there's no electricity in our coops and they are too far from the house for an extension cord.  We do try to make sure there are no drafts, although we do have vents so they get fresh air.  The only thing we really worry about is frostbite.  Breeds like Ameraucanas are good in the cold because they have very small combs, so frostbite is less of an issue than breeds with large combs and wattles. 

[MN_Mom]

Thanks everyone for your help with bedding and helping to keep chickens warm(er) in the winter!