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For years I used pine shavings in my incubators and farms while raising backyard chickens. There are a few different ground cover materials, but pine shavings are easy to use and make good compost. If you go to your local garden store, there are several types of wood chips.
Make sure to stay away from cedar shavings! Cedarwood contains oils that can irritate the respiratory tract of chickens. Pine shavings are a good option. When I put the chicks in the incubators, I use finely chopped chips. They are much softer for the little ones. As they grow, I move on to medium or large flakes. This reduces the amount of dust these little fluffy birds create! Chickens are dusty! So I decided to add straw to our bedding this winter and the girls love it! It also reduces the dust problem. It's a victory!
Many people confuse straw and hay because they are both in a bale. If you didn't grow up in farm country, this is actually a bit confusing. But when you buy bedding for your flock, it is very important that you get straw! Hay is greener and is animal feed. It is also more likely to become moldy and harbor bacteria. This is not good for your chickens and can be dangerous to their health. Straw is safe, dry and a great option! You can find straw bales at your local farm stores or, better yet, from a local farmer.
I love having straw in the nest boxes. I even have a few pine shaving nesting boxes and the girls prefer the straw nesting boxes! The straw boxes remain reasonably clean, are easier to keep clean and easy to clean! How many times can you use clean in a sentence? Haha!
We usedeep soil methodin our loft. So instead of scooping and replacing the waste litter regularly, the deep litter method allows manure and litter to build up and decompose in the garden. With this method we only have to clean our chicken coop a few times a year!
When we clean up, we throw the dirty bedding into our large compost pile. This allows the "hot" chicken trimmings to break down along with the bedding material and create an incredible, nutrient-rich compost for our garden. I sprinkleCoop to Garden™ over the compost so that it breaks down faster and valuable nutrients are added to the soil.
Although there are different types of bedding, I have found straw and pine shavings to be economical and effective for our chicken coop!
Until next time,
- The wing lady
The chickens love to scratch around the litter looking for a leftover treat that one of their flock mates has missed! The straw adds an extra layer of scraping fun! Goose, the rooster in the photo here, is busy choosing snacks for his girlfriends. Roosters are great for this! They rummage around and find special treats and then watch for their ladies to come and get it.
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