litter help for a newbie!
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- Fuzzy Dinosaur Stage
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- Location: Mt Pleasant
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litter help for a newbie!
So starting out on this journey I didn't even think about litter to be honest. But the more I look at forums and Facebook pages the more confused I get!!! Deep litter, turning, shavings, hay, pellets, oh my! Our coop is almost ready (we had a surprise freeze that halted the run building). What are your recommendations for a newbie? Definitely hay for our nesting boxes but what for the ground? We converted an outbuilding that has electricity and is 10x7 feet so not huge. Planning to start with 10 hens. My hubs grew up on a chicken farm with about 1000 meat birds at any given time. He doesn't seem to think it matters so much but ours are going to be layers and I am a bit obsessive so worried about bubble foot etc etc etc. And also looking for something that will compost well. Planning on putting a couple containers under the roost to catch the night and preserve the litter a bit. Thanks in advance!!!
Last edited by ChickenLittle on Tue Mar 28, 2017 11:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
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- WLLady
- Stringy Old Soup Pot Hen of a Moderator
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litter help for a newbie!
I would sooo love to use flax but cannot find it anywhere around here
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Pet quality wheaten/blue wheaten ameraucanas, welsummers, barred rocks, light brown leghorns; Projects on the go: rhodebars, welbars
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- Fuzzy Dinosaur Stage
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litter help for a newbie!
Please read the info at the following link. Good luck.
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/0 ... itter.html
Yes my vote goes to sand, it is good in the hatcher also.
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/0 ... itter.html
Yes my vote goes to sand, it is good in the hatcher also.
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- windwalkingwolf
- Poultry Guru - pullet level
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litter help for a newbie!
With only ten chickens, any one of those will work fine, and it will come down to your management style--how often you clean, what ventilation is like inyour coop, etc. Only thing I would add is to use straw rather than hay, because with hay, chickens will peck at the green bits and eating hay can cause crop problems. Wood pellets should be misted with water to expand them (otherwise they look like food) which might not be great for winter
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- Happy
- Poultry Guru - pullet level
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litter help for a newbie!
My coop is roughly the same size as yours (8x10) Raised wooden floor. I have 12 in there right now. I've used wood shavings since I started. Thin layer in summer then build up to deep litter for winter. I love deep litter in winter because I know the coop is warmer that way. I have boards so a lot of the waste never hits the floor. What I HATE about wood is the dust. Chickens themselves are very dusty then you add that fine sawdust floating around. As much as I hate it I have 3 banties that seem to suffer from it. They get Sneezy when they are cooped up for too long. I've recently been considering painting the inside of the coop so it's easier cleaning and switching to sand floor just to cut down on the dust.
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Re: litter help for a newbie!
XBRIT we are switching to sand. Here is another link from the chicken chick on the reasons not to use straw in chicken coops.
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2017/0 ... ng-in.html
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2017/0 ... ng-in.html
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- Jaye
- Poultry Guru - chick level
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Re: litter help for a newbie!
Flax bedding, all the way, for as long as I can get it here. Very forgiving in the cold months, plus it's easy to spot clean.
I don't like sand because it holds moisture and smell, and is cold in the winter.
Plus, it needs to be renewed - I believe Chicken Chick does it annually - big heavy lifting job, shoveling all that sand out, and where do you put all that disgusting spent sand anyway? I would not use it in my coop in this climate. JMO.
p.s. I use straw in the run.
I don't like sand because it holds moisture and smell, and is cold in the winter.
Plus, it needs to be renewed - I believe Chicken Chick does it annually - big heavy lifting job, shoveling all that sand out, and where do you put all that disgusting spent sand anyway? I would not use it in my coop in this climate. JMO.
p.s. I use straw in the run.
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"Until one has loved an animal, part of one's soul remains unawakened" - Anatole France
"Until one has loved an animal, part of one's soul remains unawakened" - Anatole France
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- Fuzzy Dinosaur Stage
- Posts: 59
- Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2017 2:10 pm
- Location: Mt Pleasant
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Re: litter help for a newbie!
Thanks all! I almost forgot I posed this question. We decided on pine shavings. Cheap, easy for me to shovel into the tractor bin and nicely decompose. Pretty happy so far.
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