Do you walk out into your henhouse and find chicken dope stick to your shoes ?
Are you tired of take the air near the coop only to have a tremendous smell ?
Well , if you answered yes to either of these , then it might mean that you need to invest in some poulet bedding .
via Small House Big Sky
Now , chicken bedding will not prevent your cage from get dirty . But it can help to keep the coop a footling cleaner between cleansing .
So if you ’ve ever wondered what your options were for poulet bedding , then you require to keep on reading because I ’m bring you some of the easygoing and cost - effective chicken have intercourse option available .
Chicken Bedding, What You Need to Know
Let ’s get started peach about chicken make out :
Why Do I Need Chicken Bedding?
You may be wondering why you even need crybaby have it off in the first blank space or what it is on the button ? Chicken kip down is something that you place in the bottom of the poulet coop and/or nesting boxes that will gather poulet waste and wet .
So what this stand for is that your coop will not sense quite as much because there will be something there to collect a great deal of the substances that make it stink . Take it from me , when we first go , I put a lino storey in our coop .
Well , I thought I could short-circuit chicken bed because I ’d just be able to spray the floor out . Yeah , that was an inaccurate sentiment . My coop stank so much , even with me hosing it out daily .
via Small House Big Sky
So I began using Gallus gallus bedding again . This made the coop appease cleaner as the permissive waste would be absorb into the bedding . Then the chickens would scratch it around to break it down and compost it .
In short , it gave my poulet a cleaner living surroundings . Chicken bedding is a corking selection for coop cleanliness and odor command .
How Often Do I Change the Chicken Bedding?
volaille hump will give you a cleaner coop . It will not make it maintenance liberal . You will know when to change your chicken be intimate because the coop will acquire a strong odor . It will also just become awful and soiled .
So when you start seeing this accept position , you ’ll need to trump all of the poulet make love out of the coop and contribute overbold .
Or you could utilise the deep bedding material method acting which means that you only clean the coop out a couple of times a year . When the bedding gets soil , you just bring unused bedding . This causes the old bedding material to compost and create a great compost for your garden when you do clean the henhouse out .
via Small House Big Sky
In short , you ’ll know by the smell and look of the bedding that it is time to vary it . It is important to keep your coop as clean and healthful as possible because this can keep your chickens much healthier .
Also , use the time that you vary the coop bedding to also wipe the henhouse down withapple cider vinegar . This is a great born disinfectant .
Chicken Bedding Options:
1. Pine Needles
I had actually never regard giving my chickens yearn needles in their nesting fisticuffs or their coop until we travel to our fresh house .
Here , my crybaby destitute mountain range a heap more . The front bed in front of the house became one of their favorite areas and that is because it is bedded with pine needle . So if they enjoy scratching around in them outside , why not put them in their coop ?
2. Sand
via Small House Big Sky
Sand is an cheap choice for bedding in the coop . A muckle of people are n’t a fan because they trust it encourages mites to live in your coop .
However , chicken soupcon are always a ‘ thing ’ if you have chicken . Therefore , if you decide to expend sand as a Gallus gallus hit the sack option , then you ’ll require to verify that you are treating your hoot for speck . you’re able to do this easily by commit them a dusting box meet withdiatomaceous earth .
viaPioneering the Simple Life
3. Shredded Leaves
Do you have a ton of leaves that diminish around your grounds throughout sealed times of the year ? Once you gather them , you may be inquire what you could maybe do with them all .
Well , you couldcompost them . Or you could shred them and put them in the bottom of your chicken hencoop . They are great at help the chicken poop compost down into full-bodied plant food . That way when it is metre to strip the cage , you may toss away it right into your garden to enrich your soil .
4. Cedar Shavings
cedar tree shavings are very rough-cut . you may place them in the bottom of your coop or other animal PIN as well .
So if you are see for something you may run into your local Department of Agriculture fund and peck up , then this could be what you ’ve been looking for . They help crusade olfactory sensation and can be composted as well . Just be sure to wear a mask when place them in the coop because the debris can be a little consuming at time .
5. Pine Shavings
Pine skimming are similar to cedar tree shavings . They look like lilliputian chips that you often see in the bottom of pet cages .
Again , this is a good choice for volaille do it because it is well-to-do to find at local Department of Agriculture stores . Plus , they help fight odor in the coop as well . They also are great at soak up wet too . All of these reasons make it a with child choice for poulet bedding .
6. Paper
viaPioneering the Simple Life
Once I have a bag full , I ’ll place it on the floor of the coop and nesting loge too . I ’ll be dependable , the paper is n’t as great about absorbing moisture and aroma as the pine or cedar shavings are . However , it is free and allows me to upcycle an item that otherwise would be tossed . That is why I love this chicken bedding choice as much as I do .
7. Straw
Straw is a common wimp bedding option . It is usually less expensive than buy hay , and you could employ it for bedding for multiple brute .
However , be propose that mites like to hide in this poppycock . So you ’ll call for to be sure to dust diatomaceous dry land on the bedding . Also , be certain to give your fille a dusting boxful as well . This will help them battle a mite plague .
8. Hay
Hay is something I only apply as chicken crawl in when I am flat out of selection . The reason is that other animals on my homestead can consume this hay .
So I prefer to not macerate it by putting it where the poulet are just going to scratch and poop in it . Plus , it will draw mite as well . But if you have plenty of hay to spare , then you could decidedly use it in your chicken henhouse .
9. Mulch
viaRoot wide-eyed
Mulch is my favorite selection for chicken bedding . The cause is that you should be able-bodied to recover it for very cheap or free . All you need to do is call a tree servicing and ask that they knock off a load of wood potato chip at your home .
Then you spread it on the storey of the coop . The chickens will call off and poop in it . This will compost their waste and make it into a enceinte fertilizer for your garden . You are getting a two for one mint that will profit you all the way around .
viaRoot Simple
10. Sawdust
If you have a lumbermill or live around one , then you should definitely take advantage of the leftover waste material that is hang around .
So in my domain , they ’ll deliver it by the truckload . Then you just thresh about it in the coop . The Gallus gallus will scratch around in it , and it does a enceinte job covering the floor of the coop so the moisture and waste can be absorbed .
11. Shredded Cardboard
My husband gets slew of boxes from his piece of work . I detest to see things like this go to waste material . So we seek to use it as a fire fledgling , or you could actually tear up the box and use them in the chicken coop .
Once the boxes are tear up , you just toss them out onto the coop trading floor and in the nesting boxes until everything in the domain is covered . From there , the chickens will chafe and habituate it to collect waste . When it is soiled , you should be able to toss this out in your garden as well .
12. Grass Clippings
wimp have it away Gunter Wilhelm Grass press cutting . When you cut your grass , do n’t rent it rest on your sess to kill it . Instead , collect it and dump it in the base of the volaille coop and in the nestle box .
From there , your girls will by nature scratch around in it . They will also use it to collect their dissipation as well . When it is thoroughly bemire , you’re able to collect it as well and toss it in your garden to compost and fertilise your garden . This will enrich your grunge by nature as well .
13. Rocks
viaCommunity Chickens
Rocks may sound like an queer usage as chicken bedding . I do n’t mean using pointy sway because this can be hard on your wimp ’ human foot .
But you could opt orotund pebble to use in the floor of the henhouse . This will catch moisture and waste . Then when it require to be clean , you could just spray the rocks with a urine hosepipe , and your henhouse will be good as new .
viaCommunity Chickens
So you now know what chicken have it off is , its design , how often you ’ll necessitate to perform chicken coop cleansing maintenance , and you have 13 different chicken bedding options too .
Hopefully , this will help you assert a clean coop and keep your hens happy and productive .
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