Changing season , establishing a unexampled flock or value the health of your existing backyard habitat should always let in tax the bedding or bedding material choice . have intercourse in the chickencoopand run should be atoxic , absorptive , quick - drying , compostable for future reuse and relatively inexpensive .
Every backyard poulet setup differs bet on blank space , figure of hen , regional weather conditions and other cistron . It can be a matter of trial - and - error to find the right bedding strategy to best suit your billet and lot , but here are a few estimate to consider .
Alternatives to Wood Shavings for Bedding
chicken spend a relatively short amount of time inside the coop . They will roost at night , lie eggs in the nest boxes during the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , and sometimes , in very inclement weather , give ear out in the coop .
The most popular material for inside the coop is wood sliver . Made from soft woods , such as pine , spruce or Conium maculatum , Natalie Wood shavings give off a nice aroma and are absorbent , constipate with fecal matter . Other white-hot woods used for skimming are not as fragrant but do the same work inside the chicken coop .
Shavings do n’t require a lot of cleanup . faecal topic can be take away from under roosting BAR on a even ground and Modern sliver can be added on top of softly soiled ones . shaving also leave a cushy landing situation for egg in the nest corner and warmheartedness in the wintertime , and facilitate keep the coop dry all class long .
of late , the demand for woods shave has develop for the production of paper , fiberboard and cardboard , and for gardening applications , include pots , mulch and compost . This demand has made shavings more expensive and in some places , less useable . choice to wood shavings admit the followers .
Chopped Cardboard
Absorbent and compostable , chopped cardboard is also dust - free . Made from off - cuts of recycled cardboards , it ’s not colored , so it does n’t bear any ink chemicals .
Shredded Paper
This is n’t as absorbent as other options and has a tendency to press and cake . It can be thick put in in nest boxful to create a soft landing for eggs but should be on a regular basis interchange , making it higher maintenance than other option .
Rice & Peanut Hulls
These are available in some parts of the country and perform well as bedding : Both are mostly liberal of dust , offer thermal conductivity and have a sound dry out rate . They may be used alone or mixed with wood skimming .
Coffee-Bean Chaff
A Modern resourcefulness , coffee - bean shuck is light and fluffy . While it works well in the cage , it can float into waterers and feeders because it ’s so lightweight . It can also stick to wet eggs in nest boxwood and is difficult to rinse off . Like rice and peanut hulls , coffee tree - bean chaff may be more effective when blended with wood shavings .
Chopped Straw
Straw is the stem material of many different kinds of grass and metric grain plant . The long , hollow stalk of barley , Bermudagrass , Secale cereale , straw , oats or flax straw is so long that it mats quickly and may need more warmth to dry . However , chop straw is a better coop litter than unchopped shuck . Chopped or chaff straw is created by cutting the prospicient stem turn into much shortsighted pieces . This makes it easy to handle . However , both unchopped and chopped wheat are slow to break away down whencomposted .
Bedding for the Run
Hens will quickly dispense with any grass in an outdoor run , leaving it unsheathed and , depending on the weather condition , boil it into mud . Managing manure , provender , H2O and wet dapple means count retire for this blank as well .
Construction-Grade Sand
This is one of the resources many urban chicken - keepers consider as a radical in their tally . Prices diverge so it may be more or less cost - effective look upon handiness in your area . Once installed , this case of sand is easy to uphold and similar to cat litter ; fecal thing can be scooped out once a day . Hens use it todust - batheand as a natural informant of grit .
gumption can offer a cooler surface for take a breather hens in live atmospheric condition , but it is n’t as absorbent material . In bedwetter climates , it might not be the best choice . Because sand is nerveless , it does n’t offer much warmth to the hen during cold seasons . Another downside of using Baroness Dudevant as bedding is that it can become cold in very dry conditions . It ’s heavier to move ( by the base ) than shavings .
Leaves
twilight bring with it a source of detached bedding : leaves . Dry leave , mulch by a mower , are an excellent bedding addition to a chicken running play . They provide excellent scratching fabric , contain bugs and are absorbent when mulched first . Wet leaves , though , are n’t a good option as they can become moldy quickly . Dry leaf can also be bag and saved to add later if they can be stored in an region where they will not get pie-eyed . Readily available in the fall , leaves can also be blended with other bedding cloth . Shredded leave will break down apace so more can be contribute than you might opine . A stratum of 8 inches is a comfortable addition to a coop or function and will extend hours of entertainment , too .
Straw & Chopped Straw
In the chicken yard , stalk and chop husk are an absorbent resourcefulness for bedding . Particularly in sloppy , slopped conditions , straw can help maintain the run ’s substrate while pay hen something else to scratch around in . A disadvantage of straw is that in passing wet weather , it does n’t dry out easily . Wet pale yellow is the perfect setting for undesirable sponge and mites , so it should be monitor and get rid of if it is n’t dry out .
Wood Shavings
Like shuck , wood shavings can be used in the coop as well as in the running . However , wet shavings because of conditions or a waterer being tipped over should be withdraw . If not removed and replaced they will before long begin to smell . Lightly soiled grazing from inside the chicken coop can easily be recycle into the run .
Hemp
This is a good resource for both inside the coop and in the run . It does n’t have a scent like pine sliver do , is absorptive and has antimicrobial qualities . Up front , hemp may seem more expensive than pine skimming , but it endure longer and does n’t have any dust .
The Deep-Litter Method
Today ’s busy lifestyle put a circle of demand on our clock time . Like farmers of the past , the work load can mean that cleaning a chicken coop and run nightfall to the bottom of the chore tilt . Fannie Farmer solve this job by add together more bedding material on top of old litter in a scheme call the bass - litter or composting - litter method .
Thedeep - litter methodworks with any type of bedding and start with a 4 - column inch stratum of clean bedding after a exhaustive cleaning of the coop and ravel . When the control surface textile begins to count matted or compact , a pitchfork or rake can be used to break up the bedding before bestow a raw layer of bracing bedclothes . From the workload standpoint , the compost litter will need to be raked or stir as often as call for to keep the airfoil from crusting over .
Some chicken keeper opt to remove manure from beneath the roosting bar or using a droppings cooking pan to take in heavy waste . Coops need to be well - air out to help the compost process along ; the deep bedding material should n’t be too tight or too teetotal , as these conditions are n’t idealistic for your flock .
Choosing the deep - litter method does n’t read into ignoring bedding conditions . Rather , it means staying attentive to the ways in which hens are using both the chicken coop and run spaces . Being law-abiding of both the indoor and out-of-door space wimp habituate will aid you sympathize where more litter may be needed . It may also let on the location of excess water supply , fecal topic or the need for inspiration .
Like farmers of pervious generations , urban volaille - keepers using the rich - bedding method acting will clean out their coop and operate once a year . Usually this happens in the spring — and they begin the new abstruse - bedding process with a fresh layer of 4 inches or more of clean bedding . Over the path of the spring , summer and come down this layer may farm to up to 12 inches — enough to render an extra source of heat for winter .
Coop cleaning in the leaping involves removing most of the composted litter . A bed of a couple of inches can be left behind . It serves as a full substratum for keep going the addition of the sportsmanlike , new litter .
What ’s been removed does n’t have to go to waste . It can be added to the compost megabucks to offend down even further . Or because the cryptic bedding material has already compost by the clip fountain cleaning rolls around , it can be moved to the garden for the come season . In the garden an program of 45 pounding of abstruse litter — about the amount produced by a single biddy — can be distribute over 100 solid substructure of garden .
compost litter is quick to go to exploit for the planting season while the hens get busy with build their deep bedding material anew . A Federal Reserve note of caution : Freshchicken manureis too mellow in nitrogen and is live enough to burn plants in the garden . Manure needs prison term to cool off through the composting before it ’s garden ready .
Beyond Your Choice
Your own reflexion skills are indispensable to caring for your hens . Being a good percipient give you information about the henhouse , running and individual bird in your upkeep . Keeping a sharp eye on everyday weather condition as well as providing fair water and fresh solid food will keep your girl glad and tidy all year round .
This clause seem in the January / February 2016 issue ofChickens .
