Chicken Coop Bedding

The floor of your chicken coop might be dirt, wood or concrete. On top of that goes bedding.To pick out the right bedding you have to understand what it does, so first I’ll explain its purpose, and then list some of the options.

Birds don’t pee – everything comes out in one plop, and that pile is more than 75% liquid. As the manure breaks down it gives off caustic and smelly ammonia fumes, and water evaporating from the manure makes the air damp. Healthy poo is an almost solid pile that is streaked with white. But once a day, a hen leaves a runny brown mess which is expelled from her cecal pouch. This is perfectly normal, although rather nasty. It’s not something easily cleaned off of a bare floor. Chickens produce manure all day and all night long. In fact, they poop so much while sleeping that there will be piles of it under the roosts in the morning. A hen is not like a rabbit, which is a tidy animal that likes to have its bathroom area in one place away from her den. Chickens poop everywhere, and they cannot be trained to do otherwise. Each hen will defecate about four ounces a day. So, if you’re going to have chickens, you need to plan for how to keep the coop clean and how to handle that manure. The first step in manure management is to have bedding inside of the coop.

I want a coop that I can walk into without saying ewww! The right bedding on the coop’s floor will function to dry up the manure, and keep it as whole as possible, until you, the “farmer” skips it out into a muck tub and remove it to the compost pile.

The right bedding can also keep the hens occupied. They need to scratch, and hard floors cannot satisfy this ingrained behavior. Bare earth doesn’t work either. It stays damp, and the hens will make big craters. Some people tout the use of a deep litter system for their coops, which certainly gives the chickens a thick layer of bedding to scratch in. However, for many reasons, this is not a good choice for most backyard flocks. I write about that here.

Chicken Coop Bedding Options:

Pine Shavings: Wood shavings are excellent bedding; bags of pine shavings are widely available at feed stores and are not too expensive. Shavings are absorbent, and it’s easy to use a fine-tined pitchfork to sift through them and clean up manure. Some people have access to the leavings from a friend’s woodworking shop. It’s great to get free material, but make sure that there are no metal bits (chickens will down anything sparkly), that it’s not dusty, and that it’s sized so that the bedding is absorbent (big chunks of wood won’t do!) Sawdust is not good bedding because your active chickens will kick up a fine dust and that will cause respiratory issues. Also, be aware that not all types of wood makes for good bedding. Cedar and oak can be caustic, and black walnut is very dangerous for some animals.

DSCN2000

Pine shavings used as chicken coop bedding.

 

Hay and Straw: These two are not the same. Hay is made of green, tall, grass that has been dried and baled. The tough yellow stalks left over from harvesting grains like wheat makes up straw. Straw, like hay, is sold in large rectangular bales. Both have drawbacks as coop bedding. One serious issue is that chickens can get impacted crops from trying to eat them. Also, both are poor absorbers of moisture and will mold rather than dry out. Additionally, it is difficult to clean manure out of a coop layered with hay or straw without removing all of the bedding, too. Years ago, farmers had chaffing machines, which chopped hay and straw into small bits. Although not as absorbent as wood shavings, chaff is acceptable bedding. There is a new product for backyard flocks that combines chaff with a naturally absorbent mineral. It’s more expensive than pine shavings, but the chickens love scratching in it, and the coop stays very dry. I’ve written about it here.

DSCN7471

Koop Clean used for chicken coop bedding.

Other Plant-based Bedding: There are all sorts of things available on a regional basis – peanut hulls, pine needles, and dried leaves to name a few. Although they are not absorbent, if you have enough, and they are free, and if you remove and replace the bedding weekly, then they are possible options. You’ll know if they’re working okay if the air in your coop smells fresh and feels dry.

Sand: I do not like this option. Although it is easy to clean, sand holds moisture. I’ve heard from enough people who have had respiratory diseases and frostbite due to sand flooring to caution against its use. Also if your coop has a sand or dirt floor, rats and predators can easily burrow their way into your coop. I always like to see a solid floor in a coop. Personally, I prefer concrete, but wood floors are also a deterrent to vermin.

To tell if you’ve chosen the right bedding, and that you’re keeping it dry and refreshed, stand in the coop (or put your head in if you have a small henhouse.) Breathe the air. If you aren’t comfortable – if your eyes water, if you cough from dust, if it feels damp, then your hens aren’t comfortable either. If, though, it’s so nice in there that you want to pull up a stool and spend time with your chickens, then the bedding is just right.

At The Poultry Show

Despite the unexpected snowstorm (with whiteout driving conditions), the Northeastern Poultry Congress was well attended by both birds and spectators.

IMG_5787

 

 

It was great to see so many kids in the junior showmanship classes. A lot of them walked around with chickens in their arms.

IMG_5698

 

 

By the end of Saturday afternoon, Championship Row was beginning to fill up. Proud owners had their bird’s photos taken.

IMG_5771

 

 

Some of the winners were smaller than the ribbons.

IMG_5774

 

 

These show chickens don’t always look like the hens we have at home. The winning White Leghorn was much heftier than Twiggy, and this Buff Orpington is larger than any I’ve ever owned.

IMG_5704

 

 

Winning birds are trained to show off, to be comfortable when handled by judges, and to feel at home in the show crates. Not that they all looked pleased about it. Although I have a feeling that this Wyandotte always wears this expression!

IMG_5712

 

 

With that many beautiful birds to look at, of course there’s always a few that I wish that I could take home. How pretty is this little Blue Wheaten Old English Game Hen?

IMG_5722

 

 

There were also geese, ducks and turkeys. Even though I’ve seen turkeys countless times, their heads, with their fluorescent blues and strange snoods, always make me look twice in surprise.

IMG_5744

 

 

Sometimes I think that the modern game birds should be put into a “dinosaur class.”

IMG_5729

 

 

Speaking of classes, there was a new one this year, and it is already my favorite. For birds that don’t fit into the American Poultry Association list of accepted breeds and the standard of perfection, there is now the Funky Chicken Class.

IMG_5791

 

 

Don’t we all need a “vividly vibrant violet funky chicken” in our flocks?

IMG_5792

Steaming Trees

After weeks of bitter cold temperatures, we had a January thaw. Then it rained. Then it froze overnight. Early in the morning, I was sitting at my desk, drinking coffee and writing, and looking out the window. I saw shadowy movements. I saw strange, glistening fog. The sun rose and hit the icy trunks of the maples in the front yard, and it looked like the trees were steaming. This lasted for only a half-hour, and then the conditions changed yet again. Keep your eyes open. Remarkable moments are all around us.

 

Nap Time

I think that Scooter has been sending Tonka ESP lessons on napping. Or, maybe it was the January thaw with temperatures in the 40s, and the pasture, finally clear of snow and ice, that induced him to lie down and doze.

Yesterday afternoon, I brought a friend to the barn to meet Tonka, This is how we found him.

DSCN7482 - Version 2

 

He looked so cute. I wanted to make sure that I got the photograph before he stood up, so I snapped this from a distance. I shouldn’t have worried. As we came closer, he rested his nose and snoozed on.

DSCN7484 - Version 2

 

Eventually, he drowsily looked up. Oh, he thought, Here comes my person. No need to budge.

DSCN7487 - Version 2

 

We talked for a bit about the joys of naps in the winter sun.

DSCN7490 - Version 2

And then Tonka did stand up and we went for a very nice ride.

Horse Training Note: Obviously, Tonka was very happy where he was, but I wanted to go riding. I needed him to get up, but I didn’t want to have to yank him with the halter and lead rope, or jump up and down and wave my arms at him to spook him up. I wanted Tonka to get up on his own, because he wanted to come with me, and I knew just how to do that. I’ve been teaching him the “touch” cue and I put it to good use here! I’ve trained him to gently press his nose against the palm of my outstretched hand when I say “touch.”  I mark the correct behavior with a distinct click (using a box clicker) and then I treat with a piece of carrot. Today, while he was still lying down, I asked him to “touch” when I was next to him. Then I asked for a “touch” which required a neck stretch. Then I stood up and moved about 5 feet away, held out my hand and said “touch.” He unfolded himself and stood up, walked over to me and touched his nose to my hand. That willing compliance and calm attitude carries over into the riding. Every interaction matters!

Backyard Poultry Magazine Giveaway

UPDATE: This contest is now closed. Katie Zack is the winner!

Sure, you can go on-line to search out the answers to your questions about poultry care, and yes, there are books, too. But, there is nothing so cozy and relaxing and indulgent as reading a magazine devoted to a topic that interests you. For us chicken people, there’s Backyard Poultry Magazine. Sit on a couch (and if you’re lucky, you’ll have a dog like Scooter curled up with you) and flip through. There might be an article on a breed of chicken you’d never heard of. Or an advertisement for just the heater you want to splurge on for your next batch of chicks.

BYP-dec-jan-cover-700width

I have a one-year’s subscription to Backyard Poultry Magazine to giveaway! If you already subscribe you’ll get an extension. This contest is only open to addresses in the US.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I’m trying out a new contest format, which will give you multiple ways to enter. Let me know what you think of it. I’ll contact the winner via email. The winner will have two days to respond. If I don’t hear back, I’ll pick someone else. Good-luck!

For those of you on FaceBook, Backyard Poultry Magazine has a page to like.