poulet hencoop bedding is n’t just a luxury . Sufficient litter provides a unafraid foundation for chickens ’ legs and feet , a soft landing for egg , a way to gather droppings promptly and the ability to easy cleanse your birds ’ housing . Here are a few of the more wide used bedding materials — plus a few nontraditional single — and how best to use them .
7 Chicken Bedding Options
Traditional chickencoopbedding materials and nontraditional ones have their pros and cons , but your options are manageable .
Sun - colored drinking straw , with its sweet , earthy smell and springy texture is what many newchicken keepersreach for to line their coop and nest loge .
A pop and prudent choice for litter is pine shavings , find at many feed - supply computer storage , big - box seat stores and even pet - supply stores . Pine shaving dry out tight , are cheap and do n’t burst down rapidly , make them an idealistic bedding material . The balmy pine scent is pay for , though it does slicing over prison term .
Also Read : How To Use moxie As Coop Bedding ?
Speaking of a pleasant odour ( and that ’s a uncommon subject indeed where chickens are concerned ! ) , an alternative to pine shavings is cedar shavings . There ’s much debate as to the strong redolent nature of cedar tree shavings and their effects on volaille ’ delicate respiratory systems , and it seems the panel is still out . To play it dependable , I recommend avoiding the use of cedar tree shavings with very young chicks confined to a incubator .
However , many chicken keeper have used cedar shaving with winner in their coops with adult flocks , so long as the birds have other areas to inhabit besides the coop . If you prefer for true cedar shavings , they ’re easy to witness at best-loved - supply stores but are a short more expensive than pine tree ; they do really smell slap-up and work as a raw dirt ball - repellant .
Sand , when used as coop bedding , is an fantabulous and very unclouded choice for those who have the time to give to it . While expensive ab initio , compared to the alternatives heel here , sand as bedding in the coop need only be supercede once or twice a year if diligently cleaned and contained .
Sand dries very quickly and can be turned over with a rakehell to utilize the deep - litter method ( hash out below ) or scoop with a computed axial tomography litter scooper when used in small henhouse . gumption is the flooring cloth of choice for outside runs that are exposed to the element frequently : It does n’t break down , it dries fast and it replicate as a groovy stuff for dust bath . Your chickens will love it , as mine do . Be sure to use constructor ’s guts ( found at base - betterment computer memory ) , as sandbox gumption is too fine and tend to clump .
If you have enough , pot clipping are one feasible cage bedding option , but they have a few disadvantage . clipping tend to retain wet and break down chop-chop . They also dry out , shrink and odor . If you opt for grass cutting in the hencoop , be sure they come from a one thousand that has n’t been spray with pesticides , antimycotic agent , herbicides or other chemical . Chickens will pick at anything and everything in their coop – hit the hay is no exception , especially if there are hemipterous insect in it !
This is an option if the leave are finely rip up so they dry quickly . Whole leaves take a long sentence to break down and are susceptible to harboring moisture , gravel together and matting . moisture leaves make a tricky surface that could run to splayed legs or bumblefoot , especially in younger , growing birds .
A horde of reclaimed and recycled manmade materials , such as tear up newspaper or shredded office report , are option . While they are free , use them with circumspection . Ink can be toxic to poulet , and office paper is hard process and do by . Glossy newspaper — the kind found in cartridge holder and flier — also contains a with child amount of ink and can make a matte and/or slippery surface .
What Are the Best Bedding Options to Use?
In my opinion , pine or true cedar shaving are the best bedding materials for nest boxes . They dry quickly , offer substantial padding for eggs , and smack fresh and woodsy . If you ’re untrusting of using cedar tree shavings in the hencoop , the nest box is a great spot to try it out . Chickens are rarely in a nest loge long enough for any redolent oils to disturb their respiratory systems ( unless brooding , of course ) .
Also scan : Choose The ripe Bedding For Your Coop and Run
immix in some crushed , dry out herbs , such as mint , rosemary or lavender to keep sure pests at bay . This is a common practice to naturally campaign pests , and most chicken do n’t stand any contrary effects from redolent oil of the herb .
For the Gallus gallus hencoop , it seems pine and true cedar shaving would win again . ( Again , this is my article and my belief ! ) For all the reasons mention previously , sliver are the ideal material to line the coop . Using the rich - litter method check that even the bedding does n’t go to waste and does n’t require a significant investment funds in bedding to have a healthy option for your mass .
For an outdoor run , grit is the victor . Again , it dry out fast , does n’t break down , can be well turn over to use the deep - bedding method , and your troop will bonk to dust - bathe in it . I ’ve never replaced the sand in my run ; I ’ve only added to it , as the dust - bathe chickens toss it out !
What is the Deep Litter Method?
The deep - bedding method of coop cleanup involves a little readiness , well timed attendance and some measured laziness . The idea behind the rich - litter method acting is simple-minded : Begin with several inches of bedding stuff , and work up the bedding , lasagna - dash . tally a few more inch of textile about once per calendar month , give or take , look on the sizing of your coop , the number of birds you keep and how much meter they spend in their coop .
Also Read : Bedding : 11 Options for Your Chicken Coop & Run
Include a bit of food - grade diatomaceous earth with each layer . Keep a rake ready to hand to turn the bedding over periodically — broadly speaking , about once a week . If you begin to see fly , pest or an excess of manure , add more bedding and turn it more often .
The abstruse - litter method acting requires no more bedding material than any other method , but it does accumulate over clock time and tends to trickle out as the razzing come and go . Use a plywood board or something alike at the coop doorway to hold the bedding material .
The idea behind the deep - litter method acting is to take into account the Old bedding and crybaby waste product to break down , slowly decompose ( and fundamentally compost ) in the chicken coop while providing a bit of natural heat . It ’s also a fabulous method design to save the chicken keeper ’s prison term , energy and back . The abstruse - litter method of cage upkeep expect a full coop clean about once a year , and even that may be more frequent than is postulate . Use your center , olfactory organ and good judgment to square up when you need to replace the bedding and start again . A clean , cared - for henhouse should never give off odor .
How to Save Money by Using a Dropping Board
wimp make the majority of their barren during the night when rest , so the good manner to be frugal about the bedding you purchase and habit in your henhouse is to instal and employ a dropping display panel or tray placed under the roosts . The boards will catch all the nighttime waste , spare your bed clothing of large sum of waste trafficked across the chicken coop and will remain ironical and ( mostly ) clean .
Dropping boards also make transport of pure waste material to composts prosperous and effective . A board can efficaciously be used in addition to the deep - bedding method , and with both method merge , might save additional costs in bedding than if you were just employing one .
Unless your birds are kept in conducting wire - bottom hutches ( something I do n’t urge ) , all coops demand bedding . recall , lining the coop with well-to-do , caliber litter is n’t spoiling your birds ; by offer them a soft foundation and keeping it clean , you are ensuring the health of your flock , their comfort and clean eggs . Your birds ( and their uncracked testicle ) will give thanks you !
