Shavings, Hay or straw?

It's getting time to start to clean out the coop for the winter. Last year we took all of the bedding out and washed the coop down with a disinfectant (we used alfalfa because that was all we could get besides pine shavings which we use for the nest boxes) We found that when the alfalfa got wet it really smelled bad. We have now heard that the mill will sell/give bags of shavings to us to use in the coop. We were told that they have cedar shavings (heard it was not good for chickens and ducks), fir shavings (not sure about the effects on poultry) or alder or pine if they have it. The alfalfa that we bought last year was $19 a bale, a little expensive I think although the girls make their own money so if that is what is suggested, that is what they will have. Any thoughts?

Peat! Its acidity will counteract the ammonia of the droppings.

Shavings are easier to clean out after use. I have used pine, fir and alder shavings without any problems. I'm using straw at present because it is cheaper than shavings. I have used hay at times, but the chickens eat the hay so over time some of the litter will be changed into poop. I have not tried peat.

I would bet Sue is right, but if your choices were only shavings or hay/straw, shavings are the better option, and most likely pine would be the best. You want to avoid any dark wood shavings. I use LOTS in the coop, using the deep litter method and have found it works great.

Hillbilly, Sue is always right!

All kidding aside, I also use peat under my rabbit hutches and it neutralizes the ammonia from the urine immediately, and when spring comes it can go right out on the garden.

Unlike you, SmartypantsSue, I may not always be right, but I'm never wrong.

Hillbilly wrote:Unlike you, SmartypantsSue, I may not always be right, but I'm never wrong.

Hillbilly, one of my father's favourite saying was "I may be mistaken, but I am never wrong". The first time my husband met him and he said that hubby replied "I'm never even mistaken". I suppose that should have been a warning to me.....



I use peat and shavings. After I clean a coop I put the peat down first and then shavings on top. Then I usually top with shavings through the winter when needed and have a clean out again in the late spring. Works good for me.

Straw can harbour crawlies in the hollow stocks and hay gets very moldy when wet. That was some of the smell you would have had. I do give some hay in the outside pen in the winter, but that is more for entertainment than bedding.

Good luck with your choices.

Schipperkesue wrote:Hillbilly, Sue is always right!

All
kidding aside, I also use peat under my rabbit hutches and it
neutralizes the ammonia from the urine immediately, and when spring
comes it can go right out on the garden.

Where do you buy the peat
GEri

I take my trailer to the local garden centre and have them scoop a yard of peat into the trailer, then hoof it home and shovel it in. Wish I had a tipping trailer to make it easier. A yard of peat costs me $40. Once my yard is out of the trailer I return for another to top off during the year. I also use wheat straw and toss a little cracked corn over the top to use chicken power to keep the whole mess churned up and aerated.

I recently read a book that suggested chopped clover makes the best bedding for chicks, its digestible and good for them.

Peat? Like the peat moss you put in hanging baskets? Hrrrrmmmm..... That sounds brilliant!

I currently use hay as the property owner kicked out a bale that didn't have enough line in it right by the coop and said I could have it. I'm not turning down a 1000 lb round bale for free! Sometime, this week or next, I'll be binding it into small stacks and finding somewhere to store it where it won't get wet. Should be a nice treat.

Anyway, I've also used pine bedding and I find it more 'user friendly' in that it's easier to flip and mill through and does tend to smell better. The straw/hay usually breaks down in the cement floor coop for the boys, however it doesn't on the dirt floor, at least, not as fast. I also found on shavings that my birds sneezed a bit more?

I know they say not to use cedar shavings, however I've read a lot of people do do it, especially in nesting boxes, saying it has natural disinfectant properties (which I think is true) and that they haven't had ill effects. I'm not really sure where I stand on this issue.

As a side note, I also thing the shavings would break down in the compost quicker than hay?

Does anyone use the leaves gathered in the fall?

ChickenTeam wrote:Does anyone use the leaves gathered in the fall?

I don't have enough trees for that but it sounds like a good idea. The chickens could knock themselves out scratching through them for bugs!

I have taken the dried grass left on the lawn after cutting to use in small rabbit hutches or travel containers for chickens.

Thanks for all of the suggestions and sharing what your personal favourites are. What about ducks? Do you duck keepers use the same thing for your duck houses? We are in the process of building something seperate for the ducks as there seems to be a rivalry between them and the chickens. Perhaps due to overcrowding?

I am so curious about the peat. I phoned the 3 nurseries along the coast and of course they don't sell it. Guess I am stuck with shavings for now. Thanks again. Nancy

.

Yep, I'm with Higgins here... straw for my chooks. It is by far the most cost effective so I can make a nice deep bedding if I want to insulate them from a cold floor and give them a nice soft landing when they jump from the roost. This is important for heavy breeds. I replace it weekly without worrying about the cost, because for us it is almost like free. The chickens love searching around in there for kernels of grain and that's good for keeping them busy and fit. I'm not actually picky about whether it is wheat or oat straw, it all seems to work fine for me.

Are oat straw and oat hay the same thing?

.

.

Tara, I do not have personal experience with this, but it is a very common problem in Australia. The straw does not come with the crawlies, but gives them somewhere to hide once a place is infested. I am sorry, not a documented thing, just old timers telling me not to use it when I started out so I seldom do. The climate is very different down there, so it may not have a similar impact here, but my choice is not to use it. I also find it tougher to clean up at the end of the winter. Again, just personal laziness. Sometimes I try it in the nesting boxes, but they find it far to entertaining!!!

I like pine shavings and I'm going to try peat too. I was using straw (not sure what kind) and I found the ammonia smell to be unbearable. Since I've switched to pine I like being in my coop A lady told me my birds were dying because I was using shavings but I highly doubt it. She wanted me to put straw back in my coop.
I am going to disagree with her My birds are happy and healthy so I am happy.

rosewood wrote: I'm using straw at present because it is cheaper than shavings.

Hi, Rosewood, where are you getting your straw? I got a bale in Kamloops last week for $7.95, just to get the dog's house winterized, and it was crappy to boot. The bales of compressed shavings are cheaper than that in the 'loops, I think. I shoul probably go down to Armstrong and find a farm that has it for sale...

Hi, Rosewood, where are you getting your straw? I got a bale in Kamloops last week for $7.95, just to get the dog's house winterized, and it was crappy to boot. The bales of compressed shavings are cheaper than that in the 'loops, I think. I shoul probably go down to Armstrong and find a farm that has it for sale...

The straw in Kamloops is cheaper (ours is $8.00) if it is the same size bale. A bale of shavings is half again as much but does not provide as much litter as the straw. We buy straw from the Barriere Feed Store. Straw is occasionally listed on Kijiji a long with my roosters that no one wants.

calliope wrote:

rosewood wrote: I'm using straw at present because it is cheaper than shavings.

Hi, Rosewood, where are you getting your straw? I got a bale in Kamloops last week for $7.95, just to get the dog's house winterized, and it was crappy to boot. The bales of compressed shavings are cheaper than that in the 'loops, I think. I shoul probably go down to Armstrong and find a farm that has it for sale...

Yikes! I bought square alfalfa bales for $4 this year and wheat straw for $2! I had three round bales delivered for $60 and they are huge! Kamloops straw must be gold plated!

I use CEDAR. 100% pure cedar from the moment the chicks hatch and in the nest boxes and on the coop floor and everywhere else inbetween. IT drives me batty when I hear this talk that cedar is somehow bad. What horse crap! I have never once had a death from cedar and yes, the little ones eat it. Then they poop it out and keep on going.

If you can get cedar cheap, get it, you would be foolish to avoid a cheap source of bedding based on some phantom prejudice that you have heard but never actually experienced. I have used straight cedar since the beginning of my chicken keeping and this notion that cedar is somehow bad simply does not hold up in reality. At least not my reality.

Cedar does contain volatile oils, which are supposed to make it a natural bug repellent. But I still have problems with lice and mites like every other chicken keeper which says the volatile oils quickly evaporate out of a chip or shaving, thus having no repellent qualities, where as a cedar board holds onto its oils much longer. Cedar does take more time to break down in the compost pile than other wood shavings since it is naturally more rot resistant. If you plan to garden with it your main concern should be that it stays wood longer than other shavings, therefore requires longer rot times for gardening, but it will NOT HARM YOUR BIRDS!